Theycantakeourlivesbuttheycan't take our ability to bore

Rating: 4/10 (19 March 1999)

possibly the dumbest film ever to win best picture. the battle scenes are undeniably impressive-brutal & well staged, but that can hardly compensate for the film's length, bombast, &, most offensively, it's self-importance. it's surfeited with blowhard sentiments about vague concepts like "freedom" & "honour", which are meant to stir the audience up against the cartoonishly evil british. it dares to give us blood & guts and then to lecture. it can't just be unpretentiously entertaining. in addition, it feels like a colossal ego trip for gibson (did he really win an oscar for best director?)
the ending is ludicrous. even though he's been torn apart, somehow, in the deep reserves of his being, he finds the strength to bellow "freedom!"
laughably bad & turgid.