Historically inaccurate-still good fun

Rating: 5/10 (19 August 2006)

Having watched this film several times and also having an interest in the American War of Independence I must say that while it is very entertaining the accuracy and portrayal of both the British and Americans was very inaccurate...For example although Tavington who was loosely based on Tarleton 'Bloody Ban' as he was known was not as bloody as he was portrayed in the film..The only real occasion that a church full of people was burnt in the war was at Gnadenhutten when American forces killed over 100 peaceful Christian men women and children of the Delaware and Munsee tribes.Scalped them for the bounty and then set fire to the church where the bodies were buried! A second really bad portrayal is of the way slaves were treated...The British under Cornwallis recruited runaway slaves in the South to serve in the army and as a special Pioneer Corps ( Rather creatively called 'The Black Pioneers') and when the war was lost a main sticking point for the British government was that freed slaves who served the British were not returned to their owners but allowed to go to Canada...Also the coastal village was a real place settled by free slaves however it was destroyed by the Americans towards the end of the war and all the people either killed or sold back into bondage!! The American war of Independence was also far more of a civil war with the usual atrocities committed on both sides but generally not by the British army. Although the whole skew of the film is very pro American it is an entertaining romp with good battle scenes and strong characters--Although Mel Gibson does seem to either be 'folksy dad' or 'Mad Max' the end battle based on Cowpens is quite an accurate portrayal of the engagement. If anybody this side of the Atlantic wants to see this film I would recommend it with a strong 'this is not history' warning!!