Gripping though unhistorical portrayal of Scotland's legendary hero

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2006)

This is undoubtedly a remarkable film and a magnificent tribute to the people, pride, and spirit of Scotland. Few movies involve more gripping emotion, more intense passion, or a more compelling hero than this depiction of William Wallace, a peace loving farmer who just wants to settle down raising a family, and has no desire to fight. However, he is driven to rage against English tyranny and a passionate battle for his country's freedom after the murder of his lovely new wife.
The film depicts the 13th Century struggles of the famous Scottish rebel, William Wallace. As a youngster, his father and older brother, Malcolm, are both killed in battle against the English and he is then taken under the wing of his Uncle Argyle. When he reaches adulthood, Wallace marries a local girl named Murron, but does so secretly in order to avoid the right ('primae noctis') claimed by English lords to take new Scottish brides for themselves on their wedding night. However, an English soldier tries to rape Murron, Wallace intervenes and in the ensuing struggle, she is brutally executed. Wallace is enraged and leads a series of battles against the English, involving conflict both with King Edward I (Longshanks) and the treacherous Scottish nobles, led by Robert the Bruce.
Mel Gibson is constantly compelling as the heroic Braveheart, William Wallace, depicting both his heartbreaking personal story and his courageous struggle to free Scotland from English oppression. He conveys Wallace's intelligence, bravery, integrity, and passion for Scotland. Gibson's face perfectly mirrors Wallace's emotions in every scene. Personally, I found his Scottish accent quite adequate. Patrick McGoohan gives a chilling portrayal of Wallace's ruthless and despicable adversary, the callous Edward Longshanks, and Angus MacFadyen is brilliant as the traitorous Robert the Bruce
So many intensely moving scenes...little Murron handing the grieving young William a thistle, the heart wrenching wedding festivities in which the English lord arrives to claim his rights to the innocent young bride while the enraged groom looks helplessly on, the beautiful romantic scenes of William with Murron, the devastation in Wallace's eyes following Bruce's betrayal. The musical score featuring Scottish bagpipe music is a haunting accompaniment to many of the scenes.
However, it is not a film for the faint of heart with brutal, gory medieval battle scenes involving long pikes, endless mud and blood. There are incredibly effective slow motion sequences of some of the battle charges, especially of oncoming horse mounted calvary. I have read that the historical reality of Wallace's tortured execution was even more brutal than depicted here.
The film should be taken as at least half fiction, since it does feature a wealth of historical inaccuracies, which Gibson himself openly admitted and I'll point out for any who may be interested. For starters, the historical time frame wasn't right for young William to have witnessed the mass hangings of his fellow Scots as a child. Wallace is shown in battle painted blue with woad, a practice that had not been used for centuries. Robert the Bruce did not betray Wallace at Falkirk as shown. The courtship between Wallace and the French Princess Isabelle never actually took place as she was only a child at the time, thus Wallace could not have been the father of the future Edward III as implied here. Also, Edward Longshanks in fact died two years after Wallace, not at the same time. Finally and perhaps most important, while the English are naturally portrayed as completely villainous, the heinous 'primae noctis' law which elicits such outrage in most viewers apparently did not actually ever exist in England or Scotland.
Nevertheless, despite these inaccuracies and my general distaste for depictions of brutal medieval warfare, this is an amazingly well crafted movie. While it definitely should not be considered an historical source, it provides a passionate and incredibly wrenching portrayal of Scotland's great hero, his personal heartbreak, his leadership in battle, and the just cause that consumes him. It leaves many images unlikely to be forgotten by most viewers, including this one.