Very Well Done Historical Fiction

Rating: 9/10 (17 September 2000)

WARNING: This review may reveal portions of the plot.
When a film is done well, the length doesn't matter -- it can be long or short, and people will enjoy it. When a film is done VERY WELL, then the amount of time needed to tell the story should be used -- whatever that length of time. In the case of "The Patriot," it takes almost 3 hours.
"The Patriot" succeeds best by taking a story that we all think we know -- the War for Independence -- and making it personal. It succeeds in showing what the cost of war is, even when the ends seem just. It shows how a man can be pushed in war to a point no one in his family or friends -- including himself -- could believe he could reach.
But don't take this movie as historical fact. While wrapped around history, there was no Benjamin Martin. Martin is the war's everyman, the militia leader called into action to save a family that he desperately tried to save by staying OUT of the war and couldn't. He knew how bloodthirsty he could become, and it scared him. What the film will show is the historic events that created the war, the division of the country on both sides of the issue, and how close we came to losing this war as it dragged on for almost 6 years. (Be honest -- did you know that the War for Independence was more than 5 years long? Or that it only STARTED in 1776, not that it ended then?) It takes our history books and puts a face to them, although that face is the face of a fictional character. Somehow, that's okay, for it takes the statistics from history and makes them real for us today.
When "Saving Private Ryan" came out many veterans described it as the most accurate portrayal of WWII ever made. Roland Emmerich has attempted to do the same with "The Patriot." By showing the strain the war put on family and friends, he has succeeded valiantly. He also succeeds in creating some of the most gruesome and horrific battle sequences ever put on film. At one point, I found my stomach starting to churn in disgust.
As the father of the film, Gibson is concerned what his young children have seen him do. Likewise parents should be concerned if their young children see this film. It is bloody and grusome. Hand-to-hand combat is extremely vivid. Children are shot, stabbed, and burned to death. There are hangings and firing squads. This film does not withhold any of the horror of war, which is why it received the R rating.