Almost BRAVEHEART, but a few small flaws.

Rating: 7/10 (2 September 2000)

THE PATRIOT is an excellent movie. It is an excellent example of how to do an epic action film, but it tries to be a sweeping action, romance, family, and to a lesser degree comedy epic. However, the PATRIOT doesn't quite deliver the romance portion very well, and truth be told, the portion of the film focusing on the family could have been better. But what do you expect from Roland Emmerich, whose best attempt at a story about a family was INDEPENDENCE DAY? Nevertheless, Emmerich did a good job on that aspect of the film, it just could have been better. This is by far Emmerich's best film, and a quite surprising turn-around after the God-awful GODZILLA.
Also, THE PATRIOT, in my opinion, did not take advantage of the American Revolution to it's fullest. In the final segments of the film, we see a quickie detail of the end of the war, but this film makes the Revolutionary War seem as if it was completely centered around stopping the band of men led by Gibson's character, which is, in my opinion, a mistake in story direction. The patriotism could have been pumped up, and that would have done for THE PATRIOT what Wallace did for Scotland: given the audience a surreal sense of honor and pride to be an American. I saw this movie on the Fourth of July, and at no other time of year could this movie have made me feel more patriotic, yet it still didn't completely deliver. Another slight annoyance is with the name Gibson takes on: "The Ghost" which is to say the least, not a very original idea nor a very original name to give the character. As well, the final confrontation, while excellently shot and gripping, it a bit contrived and unoriginal, a fault that BRAVEHEART did not have to carry by any degree. My last gripe is with the female love interest that Gibson takes on. She is not very well established, and personally, seems a bit wrong for Gibson's character. The floundering relationship acts like a sharp kick to the gut, taking a potentially flawless movie like BRAVEHEART and making it a mere great movie. Still, the movie is excellent, and to be quite honest, the scene where Martin (Gibson) rescues his eldest son is the most intense and vivid scene I have ever watched in my entire movie-going experience. That counts for something, and so does this fine example of an epic film. *************************************************