Follows a formula ... for bad movies

Rating: Null/10 (14 December 2000)

Really bad. That's about all I can say. I expected historical inaccuracies, but this movie outdid those expectations. Moviemakers seem to think they have the whole problem of anachronisms licked now that they have complex, expensive wardrobes and CGI. But that doesn't defeat anachronistic, bad, hammy dialogue. Statements like "It's a free country", and general manner of conversation are completely inaccurate for the time.
Another reviewer brought up the point that the women in this movie are horribly portrayed. I agree, but they are horribly portrayed in a way many people don't recognize. It's not that they weren't given anything meaningful to do or say - that's true of all the actors. The simple fact is that, at that time, no woman would have stood up in a church and verbally berated the men of her village. It just wouldn't happen. Sure, it makes everyone feel good and gets the women cheering, but it just wouldn't happen. If you're going to portray a period, you must portray that period as honestly as possible.
As for the concerns with the villainy of the British - believe it or not, that was rather accurate. I suggest the doubters read some of the documentation of the way British settlers behaved at the time. They were absolutely brutal. So that was an interesting element. But the way the filmmakers used their brutality - senselessly burning a village full of people in a church just to reiterate how evil the main bad guy is - that was pretty shameless.
What else is there to say? Oh, there's the standard cliche of the villain who gets mortally wounded, then the hunky hero (Heath Ledger - Mel 2.0) decides to stand unnecessarily near to his obviously undead enemy, and gets impaled. It's made even funnier by the fact that the villain then jogs away and gets into an even more intense battle. And Mel beats and stabs some people with an American flag, which actually caused my beverage to shoot from my nose.
I don't care if you see the movie, but I urge you not to pay for it. Stand outside your neighbor's living room window or something. But don't fork over your hard-earned cash for what is essentially a Braveheart expansion pack.