A mockery of true history!!

Rating: 3/10 (16 July 2002)

Any American who watches this movie and believes it to be a true portrayal of history is wrong...dead wrong! I don't understand what is wrong with making a movie about the American Revolution which actually sites the TRUE causes of the Revolution. The British soldiers DID NOT go around shooting wounded enemy soldiers or burning people locked in churches. To portray things like that is turning a blind eye and making a complete mockery of history. It almost makes me sick, as a Graduate student in British Colonial History, to see a movie like this be made and received as well as it was in the USA. Americans should stick to books and not movies like this for history lessons.
The whole point of 18th century warfare was to bring war and carnage AWAY from innocent people living in towns, hence the fact that all major battles were fought in fields. There was a "gentlemanly" sentiment among soldiers of that time and shooting wounded soldiers would have resulted in a court martial and subsequent execution for the offending officer or enlisted man. Moreover, the part where Tavington locks several dozen people into the church and burns it down is absolutely ridiculous. There was an incident that happpened just like that in France when the Nazis took over in 1940. Oh, and I love how they just white-washed the whole slave issue and turned it around against the Brits again. The notion of a free black man in 18th century America is plain stupid. Remember that one of the minor reasons the American colonies revolted was that Britain had banned slavery in England in 1772 and were planning to extend that law to all the Colonies soon after....the Southern colonies wouldn't have that.....which ultimately helped start the Civil War 90 years later.
Anyway, as a ficticious story, it isn't a bad movie. The battles are very realistic and true to history, which is more than I can say for the motives of the characters who take part in the Revolution.
The American Revolution was about British restrictions on land and high taxes, not about British officers massacring American colonists. Just remember, where did the American settlers come from? BRITAIN! It was actually a civil war if you think about it. No wonder this movie was lambasted in England. Even Spike Lee dismissed this movie as pure "revisionist history", as it surely is. Mel Gibson, after the historically flawed Braveheart, should be ashamed for accepting roles like this. Does he dislike the Brits or what?
Still, complete disregard for historical facts warrants a 3/10. Good 18th century warfare re-enactments.