One of the Best

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2003)

There's just something about this quasi-historical big sweeping epic that gets me every time. The schmaltz and romance works, perhaps because it is wonderfully balanced by gorgeous Scottish vistas and some of the grittiest and most gut churning battle scenes ever put on the big screen. This is the movie that every battle scene in every movie since has tried to top in terms of amazing choreographed carnage. Mel Gisbon makes William Wallace out to be a mythic sized hero and freedom fighter whose most heartfelt desire was to be left alone to raise a family on his own terms and by the sweat of his own brow. Powerful stuff beautifully shot, appropriately scored, reverently acted, and ultimately unforgettable. The revenge plot is a familiar and archetypal story that is often told, but not often told this well (much like "Gladiator" in that respect). This is grand epic film making at its most heartfelt best and sincere.