Violence debauches the War of Independence

Rating: 5/10 (12 December 2005)

A well made action film to please all those who like Mel Gibson's style and his full throttle action. The film fits in to his search for ultimate violence, from the Mad Max trilogy, through the Lethal Weapon series, then The Patriot and finally the ultimate excess in The Passion of Christ where violence thrusts shatteringly deep in to the heart and soul of the viewer, adding little except possibly rekindling the curiosity to know more about Christianity in the Bible. The Patriot fails miserably as a historical film as it warps and lies about people and events in the American War of Independence. For instance: Why lie about the English general Cornwallis as a person who condoned atrocities? Why insert a bestiality which did not occur in the war but in Europe from Nazi actions in the Second World War (burning inhabitants of whole villages in churches, to name just one example from France Odour-sur-Glane, 642 inhabitants, men, women and children burnt in the church and shot in barns by SS Das Reich, 10 June 1944)? Vote 4 out of 5 for the action and pace, 1 for the somewhat distorted role of the Militias and 0 for the history which should have been the most absorbing part.