A Ripoff!

Rating: Null/10 (9 March 2001)

An interesting epic which deserves its Oscars, but nevertheless a couple of things really annoyed me:
1) On many levels 'Braveheart' is a ripoff of 'Lion of the desert' (Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger) - another war epic that deals with the libyan resistance against the Italian fascist regime. Here are some examples:
(minor spoilers)
-In both movies the star was an uncompromizable patroit, who knew how to outsmart the opponent, either by using guerilla tactics or on the battlefield.
-In both movies the invaders needed "time" to get their forces organized. (Some of the lines used are the exact same)
-In both movies the main character faced an unfair trial at the end of the movie
-Both movies ended with the execution of the main character
2) Too many historical inaccurate details
This really was a problem for me watching the movie. How can the audience tell what was real or not? 'Based on a true story' should have been 'Based on a poem by a blind man'.
Don't get me wrong, I like Braveheart as much as the next guy, but maybe it is a bit overrated. Actually, when it comes to struggle-against-strong-oppressors kind of movies, I prefer 'Lion of the desert', which is one of those hidden movie gems, one that deserves credit for inspiring the moviemakers of Braveheart.