Phenomenal--An Instant Classic Epic!

Rating: 10/10 (15 December 2004)

Braveheart tells the story of a young Scotsman, William Wallace, looking to live in peace after seeing his brother and father die at the hands of the English. It's an uncompromising story of love and loss, of life and death, of war and peace, and of beauty and ugliness.
The first thing one initially realizes, from the first few seconds of this beautiful film, is the score. James Horner wonderfully captures the sentiment of medieval Scotland. The romantic, elevating, crisp freshness of the bagpipes feels like the cool mist of a Scottish morning. It captures the self sacrifice, the pain in the heart, the emotion of all the characters and just makes the film that much more rich and alive.
With regard to sets, the production is just amazing. The little villages, the rustic and primitive houses, the marketplace, the reconstruction of Edinburgh and York, and other cities in that time, is absolutely amazing, it looks like one would imagine it looked back then.
The editing is phenomenal. Braveheart has some of the most relentless and graphic battle scenes ever caught on film. Both the filmed battles, that of Stirling and Falkirk, are amazing, and viciously real.
The acting is superb. James Robinson, who plays the young William Wallace, is excellent. Particularly in the scene where he mourns his father and brother, and he weeps as the little girl, Murron (Mhairi Calvey) runs up and gives him a thistle. Patrick McGoohan is excellent as the villainous Edward I "The Longshanks". He has a great voice, so much character, he really commands the screen in all his scenes. Sophie Marceau is graceful and elegant as Princess Isabelle, but at the same time she shows strength, especially in scenes where she is juxtaposed to McGoohan. The lovely Catherine McCormack plays the adult Murron, and her beauty and natural presence just gives the film so much fuel. Although her role isn't very long, her presence resonates throughout the movie, and she returns in key moments to remind the viewer of this phenomenal, pure, loving bond she has with William. Even Mel says of McCormack, "I fell in love a little". And so does the audience. Stephen the Irishman is, next to Mel Gibson, the best acted character in the movie.
Mel Gibson is excellent as William Wallace, and as a director, is insightful, ambitious and visionary. The sheer size of this film, let alone the size of the character, and the way he took on both with such passion and ease--one cannot help but applaud his endurance, his talent, his portrayal behind the camera and in front of it. Randall Wallace writes a wonderful screenplay, and Mel Gibson brings it to life.
Having said all this, I have to share some of my favorite shots: 1) Little Murron, running up with the thistle to give it to William. It illustrates wanting to console in times of pain. Both the gesture and the plant itself has a beauty--a flower--but it also illustrates the pain--a thistle has thorns--that is the other side of the coin. 2) The virgin bride who stops the feuding between the Scots and the English, when the lord comes and claims the rights of prima noctes. She, of her own will, takes the hands of the English soldier off of her, and off of her husband, and willingly offers herself in sacrifice, so gracefully. The flowers in her hair are not unlike the way the ancients would put flowers on the head of animal sacrifices. 3) The scene of William and Murron after they have been married, and they are about to consummate their marriage. The shot is all dark, but you can see the mist of their breath. The breath shows emotion, it shows life, it shows freedom. It is perhaps one of the most meaningful shots in the film.
Finally, I have to share some of my favorite lines: 1)"I know you can fight, but it's our wits that make us men". 2) "The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight, its drawn the finest people"! 3) "If he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse". 4) "And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all they days from this day to that for one chance--just one chance--to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom". 5)"The Lord tells me he can get me out of this mess, but He's pretty sure, you're fucked"! 6) "A lordship and titles, gold--that I should become Judas?" 7) "Every man dies, not every man really lives".
Braveheart grabs the viewer from the first shot and does not let them go until the ending credits. It is easily one of the greatest films ever made. 10/10