Mel Gison has gone (at least temporarily) from relatively forgettable action comedies like the Lethal Weapon series to an incredibly intense and historically accurate epic film with Braveheart.

Rating: 10/10 (9 July 2000)

What you have in Braveheart is a spectacular portrayal of the struggle of the Scots against English rule in the 13th century. Mel Gibson's directing in awesome, and the film does an excellent job of illustrating the suffering and brutality that the Scots went through at the hands of the English.

Gibson portrays William Wallace, a Scot who lost his wife to the English in a horribly violent display of cruelty on the part of the English. It is that event that inspires him to fight for the freedom of the Scots from the English, and he becomes the leader of the Scots' tremendous revolt. The battle scenes between the two sides are both tremendously large and breathtakingly real. Some people will say that this film is too violent, and yes, it is incredibly violent. But the thing that makes it okay is the fact that it's all REAL. None of the brutality on the battle fields was thrown in to appeal to Males Age 18-24. These were all occurrences which were taken out of history books, this is what the Scots sacrificed for their freedom, and Braveheart provides an intense learning experience about that. The violence is acceptable in Braveheart for the same reason the the violence in Saving Private Ryan was acceptable; it really happened.

Braveheart tells a greatly important story, and it tells that story very well. The directing, the acting, the script, the cinematography, music, everything was put together with painstaking attention to historical accuracy and thoroughness, and the result is an intense and spectacular movie event that is destined to become a classic.