This is a really stupid movie

Rating: 3/10 (11 July 2000)

I am aghast that this moronic film made the Top 250 list, faring even better than great films like KING KONG and NETWORK! Not to mention all the rave reviews listed here.
I'm not saying it's the worst movie ever made. It's just another mediocre, dumb action movie posing as an important film showing what our forefathers supposedly went through for freedom. Why it's holding everyone's interest is beyond me. I was very bored watching it, because I'd seen it all before in BRAVEHEART and ROB ROY, except it was done better then. But what would you expect from the director of INDEPENDENCE DAY, another stupid film that made lots of money by using every cliche in the book to pander to the lowest common denominator of an audience!
(BEWARE: SPOILER) For instance, when the oldest son supposedly killed the sadistic British colonel. C'mon, you knew the colonel wasn't dead because the cliched script dictates that he has to have a final showdown with Mel Gibson's character. For some reason, the director thinks he can surprise us, so he shoots the part where the son goes to make sure the colonel's dead in slooooowwwwww motion (an unimaginative way to convey suspense). And right at the last second, the evil colonel quickly turns around and kills the son with his sword. What nonsense! This son has shown that he is a cunning fighter. Why does he turn stupid all of a sudden and take his time (using a mere dagger yet!) to finish off this skilled opponent? The answer is that the director treats his audience like morons, knowing that they don't want to have to think -- they just want to be entertained. (Today's audience thinks `entertainment' is synonymous with `turning your brains off for a couple hours.')
Then there's the cue card factor brilliantly contributed by `vdasher' in an earlier review. He is right on target and I urge you to read and reread his viewpoints from July 10, 2000. I can add nothing more to them.
I don't mind the fact that people enjoy vapid crap like THE PATRIOT. I mainly criticize the idea that it belongs in the top 250 films of all time. It's not. And anyone who says it does is obviously very young and has no sense of film history and what riches the truly great films can offer.