Visually stunning with a wonderful score, but deeply flawed

Rating: 4/10 (3 September 2010)

Before you flame me, I tried to like this film, I really tried. While it does have its strengths, and far from the worst film ever made, it is deeply flawed, and no it is not just the historical inaccuracy.
I'll start off with the good things first. Braveheart is very well made, the scenery and landscapes are beautifully realised and the cinematography is beautiful. The music is absolutely wonderful and gives plenty of dramatic and emotional weight, easily one of James Horner's best scores. The battle scenes are very well staged, while James Cosmo, Brian Cox and Sophie Marceau among the cast do good work.
However, to say this film is inaccurate historically is a understatement in itself. Granted I am no historian, but I took an interest in the subject and even I could tell that any history text-book was literally thrown out of the window. Like I said with The Patriot, the inaccuracies are the least of Braveheart's problems. How about the hackneyed dialogue, the uneven pacing and the stodgy story? And don't get me started on its presentation of some of the characters, especially King Edward I, and sorry but homosexuals being stereotyped as wimpy and effeminate didn't bode well with me either. While some of the actors did a good job, some didn't do so well. Mel Gibson, who I personally don't care for though he has done some films I like, did a better job directing than acting. Here he comes across as very monotone and his hair doesn't fit the period I don't think. Plus he reminded me too much of Mad Max. Patrick McGoohan didn't work for me as Longshanks(King Edward I) either. McGoohan certainly was NOT a bad actor, I loved him in the Columbo episodes he guest starred in where he plays one of the more interesting murderers, but he overacts quite wildly here. It doesn't help that Longshanks has been turned into a sneering cliché.
All in all, not completely terrible but a deeply flawed film and I am sorry but I didn't care for it. That said, I can understand both viewpoints, there are those who love it and Braveheart certainly has some great assets to it, but there are also those who dislike it for its presentation of the characters and its "distortion" of history, both of which are understandable. 4/10 Bethany Cox