Not the greatest, but not bad at all...

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2000)

For the first time in around three years, Roland Emmerich has actually managed to direct a good film.
Make no mistake, this is a film (proper); not some silly movie like Independence Day or Godzilla. Over the course of three hours, The Patriot presents a panorama of interesting three-dimensional characters, spectacular battles, and a relatively tight plot. For a change, there are no weak performances, and the film manages to break away from the Braveheart mould (something I feared it wouldn't do).
However, there are one or two flaws. While the beginning dealt with the actual historical issues behind the conflict (such as taxation without representation), modern patriotic rhetoric appeared every now and then in the middle (lines such as "Soon this will be a free country"). Also, for the first time in ages, the score by John Williams was less than inspiring, making me wish that Emmerich had used the music from Gettysburg.
All in all, though, The Patriot is a very decent film, and well worth seeing. While it isn't quite as powerful as Saving Private Ryan or Gladiator, it does stand on its own two feet quite nicely.
Final mark: 4/5; less modern rhetoric would be nice, but worth seeing.