No, It's not accurate, but...

Rating: 6/10 (9 June 2011)

I first saw The Patriot when I was 7 years old (yes, a bit young, but compare that to when I saw the Godfather at 4). I remember as this being one of the first truly well made films that I'd ever seen. Watching it today, I'd say it still holds up. However, seeing what people have to say about it here on IMDb, I suppose I'm part of a certain minority.
First off, I'd like to look at the director's work on this movie. Emmerich is probably not what most people would consider to be a "good" director, seeing his several movies following the exact same formula as his most famous film, Independence Day. However, this film truly shows his true potential. The cinematography is amazingly done. Emmerich captured the war sequences perfectly. I think everyone who's seen this movie remembers the moment where a soldier takes a cannonball to the face. -shivers-. Another good thing to remember is how well the scenery and costume design are. Just how good are they? Very.
Also, the acting is very good. As much of a jerk Mel Gibson has shown to be in the public light, he still does a great job acting in this. The rest of the cast does a good job as well, though few are necessarily remember worthy, except maybe the main villain. I believe this is how I segue into the controversial part of this movie.
The writing. And no, it's not lazy or poorly constructed or full of plot holes or rushed or anything along those lines, it's problem is how it paints its heroes and villains. The heroes are shown as valiant, proud rebels who love freedom, and the villains are just short of fanged beast that despise the very thought of equality. People complain that it's not historically accurate and that it has a bias. My only response is: so? To be honest, it's a movie. It didn't pull a Human Centipede and say it was "100% historically accurate". The movie was just that: a movie. Yes, it was dramatized and twisted from reality, but it's not any sort of documentary. Though it starts to get absurd, that's not enough to make the movie bad. Not even close.
One thing to keep in mind: forget that I was 7 when I saw it, this movie is gore-filled and violent. Kids under 11 would find it near terrifying.
Overall, if you get bothered by historical inaccuracies, either don't watch it or remember, it's not a documentary. 8 out of 10.