A stirring epic

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2000)

Never before has the American Revoloution been dramatized so well. British forces engage the American forces in battles so vivid, you'd swear you were there. But the battles aren't the only reason to watch this epic, Mel Gibson gives one of his best performances, and that's reason enough to go. Gibson's Benjamin Martin is a veteran of the French-Indian Wars and he knows what warfare will bring. After an incident that occurs at the hands of Col. Travington (wonderfully played by Jason Issacs) Martin resurrects a side of himself that he hoped he could escape. Muskets flash and tomahawks soar through the air as Martin tears his way through British forces. The film has everything you could ask for in a historical epic. A good attention to period detail, rousing action, wonderful cinematography and larger than life characters that pull you into the story and push all the right emotional buttons. See it, and be moved.