simply the best

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 1999)

I am bewildered. It's been quite a while now that I've seen Braveheart, I'm not quite sure how long....maybe 6 months. Tonight I was all alone at home and I suddenly had the urge to see this awe-inspiring work of art again. I got all set for the film, put in the tape, got a beer, pizza was nice and hot, then I pressed "play" on my vcr......it's hard to explain this feeling that came over me......"I shall tell you of William Wallace...", but all you Wallace/Braveheart fans know what I'm talking about...I was like mesmerized throughout the entire film, although I knew nearly every line, each frame, I've heard Horner's soundtrack countless times ever since the Summer of '95......there's some kind of undefinable magic in this film (I wish I could use another word than just "film" or "movie", I find these terms not appropriate). Of course, needless to say, no other picture ever moved me to such an extent as Braveheart did and still does......and it doesn't seem to let go......before Braveheart I had various so called favorite movies, like star wars, ET, Raider of the lost arc....they were all indeed very nice, very entertaining, humorous, and warm movies, but in no way can they live up to Braveheart, 177minutes of love, hate, passion, anguish, despair, humor, hope, pride........you name it. Maybe this is the secret magic of Braveheart: it grips you by the heart, doesn't let go, takes you on a 3hour emotional rollercoaster ride, never giving you a break, taking you to extreme highs and in the next minute you simply feel you're going to die of sorrow. Of all the times I've seen Braveheart, tonight, I think was the first time I saw it in complete privacy, the phone didn't even ring! It's amazing, I'm a 32 year old guy, not the macho type, but it does take quite a bit for me to cry...but in specific scenes tears did escape my eyes: Hamish's dad passing away........the part where the princess tries to persuay William to beg for mercy..........the realization that strikes William like a hammer when he sees robert the bruce when he tears of his helmet after the falkirk battle............when the bruce feels like pure s**t (forgive me) wandering along the corpses at the blood-soaked Falkirk field, realizing what he had just done...........and , of course, William's FREEEEEEDOM.......what more can I say, I'm happy I could share my thoughts with you and I feel when so many different people react to a film in a such similar way, well, it makes me feel good, I mean, it's just a good thing to know that people react so positively, it's kind of a binding experience in a cyber sort of way:-) right, thanks for reading my personal notes.