To quote the main character William Wallace (Mel Gibson); "FREEDOOOOOOMMMMMM!"

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2013)

To quote the main character William Wallace (Mel Gibson); "FREEDOOOOOOMMMMMM!" This is a story of the people of Scotland fighting for the right to be free. From the actions of the self-righteous English King Edward I (Patrick McGoohan), Wallace is forced to take a stand after his wife Murron (Catherine McCormack) is killed for fighting back as an English guard tries to rape her. Wallace, trained by his uncle Argyle Wallace (Brian Cox) after his father was killed holds nothing back in his vengeance on the English. Wallace does not see this fight as needing anyone else involved, but all of Scotland stands with him to rid Scotland of the English. Mel Gibson did a fantastic job taking the legend of William Wallace and adapting it to a modern day representation of what audiences want to see. Forbidden love, heart, honor, and action all rolled into one great movie portraying the underdog fighting back against a seemingly unstoppable foe. Braveheart has even more conflict than just that of Scotland and England. During Wallace's fight we also see King Edward fight with his son's choice of companionship as the attempt to produce an heir to the throne only causes more tension in the kingdom. Princess Isabelle (Sophie Marceau) from France becomes the bride of Prince Philip (Stephan Billington) and finds herself in the middle of the conflict and does a wonderful job of dealing with Prince Philip, Wallace, and King Edward I. Conflict also ensues with Scotland's Nobles fighting with each other for rights to land and succession to the throne. Battle scenes were done quite well by my point of view. Whenever you have that many actors there is bound to be some mistakes, I didn't even notice them until most were pointed out to me. The editing of the battle scenes must have been a long and painstaking task on its own. Matching emotion and lighting, blood stains and wounds, who had an arrow in their butt and who lost limbs, what a mess. Steven Rosenblum did a fantastic job with the editing. Mel Gibson seems to have a thing for the English, if you like Braveheart you need to also see The Patriot (2000). In this he also is wronged and sought out by the English, forcing him to fight back only to have all of colonial South Carolina stand behind him as he fights to protect his family. Braveheart is a great movie and very entertaining. As some reviewers and history buffs pointed out, there are many flaws compared to the original story and time line, but stories are written by those that want to entertain.