Great Scots! Watch this movie! Every man dies, not every man truly lives to see a great film like this.

Rating: 9/10 (3 March 2014)

Braveheart is one of the best medieval films ever made; but also been described as one of the most historically inaccurate modern films of all time. Directed by Mel Gibson, the film is about a 13th-century Scottish warrior, William Wallace (Mel Gibson). King Edward I AKA 'Longshanks" (Patrick McGoohan) of England invade Scotland in 1280, murdering many of Scotland's people. Patrick McGoohan is just chilling as Longshanks. What a great performance from him. In the film, Wallace, at first, tries to live a normal life with his childhood friend turn wife, Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack), but the horrors of life under Longshank's reign became too much for him. With his fellow Scots, he launched a revenge attacked against the English causing the First War of Scottish Independence. Randall Wallace, the writer of the screenplay, has acknowledged that Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem 'The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie' as a major inspiration for the film. The film takes creative license on the piece, to make the film, more gripping like the like the hanging of Scots nobles at the start of the film or Wallace's getting help from Princess Isabelle of France (Sophie Marceau). I have to say, Sophie Marceau was a great actress for this role. In real life, Isabella was 3 years old and living in France at the time. She was not married to Edward II until he was already king and Edward III was born seven years after Wallace died. This aspect of the plot may however have been inspired by the play, 'Wallace: a triumph in five acts' by Sydney Goodsir Smith, which historically has adult Isabella present at the Battle of Falkirk longing for a real man. Yes, it's a bit historical inaccuracy, but it's brings something to the table that works. Little things complains like the Scots not wearing kilts at the time could be passed over. The belted plaid (feileadh mÃ³r lÃ©ine) was not introduced until the 16th century, 500 years after Wallace's death. Things like Jus Primae Noctis plot that supposedly allows the Lord of a medieval estate to take the virginity of his serf's maiden daughters is still up to historical mystery. Still, there were some historic inaccuracies, I couldn't accept, like the film showing England's occupation and rule of Scotland being much longer. In fact, the English occupation of Scotland was just 2 years old before the battle of Falkirk. Prior to that, the Kingdom of Scotland was separate and fully independent. It was the Scots that gave power to Longshanks when they couldn't decide a king. I will defend the film for the depiction of the Prince of Wales, Edward II (Peter Hanly). His appearance in the film as an effeminate homosexual drew accusations of homophobia against Gibson. In real life, Edward II was believe to be bi-sexual who was very unpopular with his wife, the royals and the people of England. Many historians believe Edward II wasn't gay at all and that it was made up to discredit him. One of the few things, the film go semi-right was the portrayal of Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen). Angus's performance is amazing in the film and my favorite character in the film. Some Scottish people got offended of the negative portrayal of Robert the Bruce whom is more a Scottish hero than Wallace. Even, the title 'Braveheart' is often refers in Scottish history to that of Robert the Bruce, not William Wallace. He got to play second fiddle. Other key figures in the war of Independence was cut out in the film like Bishop William de Lamberton and Andrew de Moray. They were replace by other characters such as Brendan Gleeson as Hamish, and the Irish Steven (David O'Hara). Madman Steven has some of the great one-liners of the film. A lot of Scots might hate the film, due to this misleading history, but in my opinion, a lot of Scots should be thankful because the movie brought a lot to tourists to their country. Some of the English media accused the film of harboring Anglophobia. Yes, because there is going to be a negative portrayal of antagonists in any war film. Doesn't matter if English or not. The action scenes were great. The battle of Stirling was missing the bridge part. The war tactics are not historical right, but it was still well done. It was brutal, bloody, and in close quarters. It's scary to think that men fought this way for years. Even the fake horse dying look real, that even Animal Welfare investigated the film. Gibson toned down the film's battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, with the final version being rated R. Some gory scenes are still disturbing, and disgusting for some viewers. Not a film for any young children. Still, there is some beautiful scenes in the film. I like the way, he shot the landscape even if it's Ireland, not Scotland. Braveheart theme song by James Horner is just beautiful to listen to. It's a very smart film. Then there is the famous quotes that continue to be overplayed whenever, the film comes on such as "They may take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEDOM!" The film quote capture the spirit of Celtic heroism. The quote 'Every man dies - Not every man really lives' is from 19th century, American poet, William Wallace, no relation to the William Wallace in the film. I still love it. Overall: it was worthy of winning the Best Picture at the Oscars in 1995. It's still worthy to watch even with today's films.