Cast Seems Like Thousands

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2009)

Braveheart is a film that can be called, in our modern way of story telling on screen, an epic. There are sweeping vistas, castles, teams of horses and loads of people all fighting at the same time. Yep, cool. Mel Gibson doesn't make any long lasting impression as Sir William Wallace, Scottish national hero in his country's fight for independence from English rule in the thirteenth century. But he is still Mel Gibson and this allows him to take a non-fiction based movie and beat the sense out of it when it comes to facts. I have to give Gibson some credit since it was his passion for the role that brought the movie into the sight of Hollywood and it gave Mel the chance to pull off the triple play - act, direct, produce. The film denied Mel is acting award on Oscar night, but the film did win five Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Makeup, and Sound Effects Editing.
If you're a medieval fan, there is a sure bet you'll love this film. From castles and swords to kings and princesses, the film delivers a bit on all levels. Playing Wallace's nemesis in the movie by was of England's King Edward I, known as Longshanks is scene-stealing Patrick McGoohan ("Secret Agent," "The Prisoner"). McGoohan makes Edward the perfect villain, a butcher willing to sacrifice any number of his own men to maintain his power. McGoohan's performance also contributed to making Gibson a villain in the eyes of much of the British movie going public, who felt that along with Gibson's "The Patriot" that he must be holding a grudge against them, unfairly giving a bad name to the country and its past. McGoohan's performance is excellent and while arguably award worthy, probably not egging the English on against Gibson all these centuries later.
Braveheart does some twisting and turning and even throws the Princess (Sophie Marceau) into Wallace's arms for sex factor. But in the end we know where this film is headed. Gibson handles his 3 jobs well and in Braveheart turned out a film close enough to fact to look enough like fiction to make a really good film. ***/****.
The posters are fairly the same as the posters of The Patriot in that it seems to just be Gibson with flashes of the background behind him. I'll be glad when the days of the headshot posters are behind us.