All men lose heart...and this movie will give it right back to them!

Rating: 10/10 (22 August 2002)

Although hundreds of good comments have already been posted for this movie, and mine will probably not be a stand-out among all the others, I still felt compelled to add my own; because after seven years, Braveheart is still my favorite movie, and still one of the most impressive movies I've ever seen.
I saw Braveheart for the first time in June of 1995, at a local theater; and it was one of the most satisfying moviegoing experiences of my life. Not many movies cause me to feel a little transformed after I've seen them, but Braveheart certainly did: From its opening scene of breathtaking landscapes and stirring music, to its final shot of a sword planted in a seemingly endless field, it truly was and still is a tour de force of storytelling.
Braveheart is a movie blessed with many qualities, but more than anything a dual sense of achievement: on the one hand William Wallace, a legendary figure who accomplished the impossible by leading the Scots when no one else would; and on the other hand Mel Gibson, who demonstrated with this movie a directorial talent that we (or I, at least) never suspected he had. Previously, I had Gibson pigeonholed as a likable but goofy action hero from the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series: his flip personality never indicated a passion for directing an intensely romantic and dramatic epic. The Man Without a Face proved that Gibson could direct a good movie; Braveheart proved that he could direct a great one.
Gibson's greatest accomplishment in Braveheart (besides the battle sequences) is that he elicited excellent performances from the entire cast: every actor and actress (even those who appear for only a few SECONDS of the movie) hits exactly the right note. In fact, I'm outraged that Braveheart received no Oscar nominations for its acting: Why honor Gibson as Best Director of 1995, yet ignore the performances which are the fruits of his labors? I'm not saying that any particular person in Braveheart (Mel Gibson, Patrick McGoohan, Angus McFadyen) SHOULD have won an acting Oscar: it's the fact that NOBODY WAS EVEN NOMINATED that bothers me.
But I love this movie too much to waste my time complaining. Before I can mention more of what I love about Braveheart, however, I must address one more inevitable topic.
I am aware that this movie is historically inaccurate: Even in 1995, when I first saw Braveheart, I knew enough military history to know that the battles of Sterling and Falkirk were not being accurately presented. But this awareness did not and does not interfere with my enjoyment of the movie, because Braveheart exists outside of history: like Dances With Wolves, Robin Hood, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Three Musketeers, it is an emotionally rich epic inspired by history yet not confined to it, less concerned with accuracy to every detail than with the eternal struggles of good and evil, love and hatred, freedom and oppression. And isn't that enough? Braveheart is one of the most stirring movies I've ever seen: If you can't reconcile yourself to its inaccuracies and simply enjoy it on its own terms, then I feel sorry for you.
Patrick McGoohan's performance as Longshanks has, in my opinion, not received nearly enough praise: After seven years, it remains the best (and most entertaining) villainous performance I've seen in any movie. He masterfully plays the king as a man who embodies the phrase 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'; he commands an entire nation, yet covets what he does not or cannot have. He answers to no one, and can barely restrain himself: he does not even try to conceal his contempt for his homosexual son, his lust for his daughter-in-law, his rage against any obstacle to his will. The performance is also physically impressive (Significant SPOILER): we see the king gradually consumed by tuberculosis through the movie, and McGoohan makes the ordeal so believable that, though Longshanks is unrepentant to the end, we are moved to pity for him.
Besides McGoohan, Angus McFadyen (as Robert the Bruce) gives the most impressive performance in Braveheart. When I first saw the movie, I identified with William Wallace; but now I identify with Robert the Bruce, who is in fact the key figure of the story. He is not a great man like Wallace, but he wants to be great, and he idolizes Wallace so much that he is almost overwhelmed to hear Wallace tell him "If you would lead us, I would follow you." But the Bruce is warned by his sly, leperous father (played unforgettably by the late Ian Bannen beneath Oscar-winning makeup) to not live a life of action, but rather a life of calculation. As he wrestles with the dual influences of Wallace and his father, he embodies a theme at the movie's heart: the eternal conflict between youth and age, idealism and cynicism, uncompromising heroism and craven opportunism.
When I first saw Braveheart, I was most impressed by the power of its battle sequences; after seven years, I am most impressed by the enduring power of its story. It is a great movie because it seriously argues that one man's lifelong struggle can make a difference, if not in the world then at least in the lives of others; it is a great movie because it is ultimately an inspiring story of perseverance in the face of considerable brutality and heartbreak; it is a great movie because a thousand words are not adequate to express all its emotional power and impact. I could not give Braveheart less than a perfect score, even if I wished, because it is much more to me than mere entertainment: It is a constant reminder to me that I must never lose heart.
"You have bled with Wallace...now bleed with me!"
If that moment in the movie doesn't make a Scotsman out of you, laddie, then nothing will!
Rating: 10