Be prepared.

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2000)

This is a good movie if you love history. If you haven't seen it yet, please know this before you enter the theater: Yes, war was fought face-to-face until around the War of 1812, when tactics won out over "gentlemen's combat". I heard so many people saying "This is so stupid!" while I was trying to enjoy this film. Did they think it was some kind of bizarre, Hollywood interpretation of the foolishness of warfare? Well, it was, but that's not my point.
It bothers me that people don't know simple historic facts when going to be entertained at the cinema. I've been bugged by it since I actually heard some twenty-something college kid gasp "Omigod, the Russians are, like, right there..." during "Saving Private Ryan". (Saving Private Ryan, for those who may not have seen it, takes place during World War II, and the featured enemy was Germany, not Russia.) It makes me want to get up and go "Okay, stop the film! Let me give you all a quick history lesson..."
Movies are for entertainment. From my point of view, movies can be enjoyed even more if we take a quick look at some of the history involving the period of the movie before plopping down the $7.50.
About the film, "The Patriot": there's an interesting paradox to watching this film. It feels as though Emmerich took the cast and crew back to the 1700's to shoot the epic. You know it's a movie, but somehow it seems to have been made while America was occupied by the King's Army. This will illustrate the attention to detail and the respect with which the makers of this film created it. Watch for the cinematography and costume design nods come Oscar time next March. My rating: *** (out of four).