Mel Gibson and the Revolutionary War

Rating: Null/10 (16 December 2002)

This movie has its good and bad points. What is good: 1. It focuses on the war in the Southern colonies. This is a unique approach to what is commonly known about the Revolutionary War. 2. Mel Gibson's character is abruptly brought into the war. The events that force him into the war are compelling. The viewers get to explore the emotional and psychological nature of Mel Gibson's Character. 3. The guerilla war. This is very interesting because the movie takes the viewer from the very beginning of a guerilla band through the end of the war. 4. Tom Wilkinson. He is a joy to watch. He's kind of like the Sir Laurence Olivier of our day. Tom plays General Cornwallis, a decent man with good military skills who is confronted with moral dilemmas as he fights the war in the South. 5. Clean sexuality. For people tired of seeing teenagers and 20 somethings endlessly talk about sex, engage in sex, or being addicted to pornography and extremely foul language, this movie is refreshingly clean. The young people in this movie wait till after the wedding ceremony to engage in the sexual acts and they don't talk about it.
Here are the minuses:
1. The British as villians. This movie is trying to portray the as the bad guys to the endth degree. This is not WWII and there aren't any Nazi,SS, or SA troops in the Revolutionary war! The British were actually fairly humane and reasonable throughout the war, for the most part. 2. The battle of Cowpens. This movie tries to make the battle of Cowpens into a big hollywood style blockbuster action sequence. 3. The movie is too long. Maybe some scenes could have been cut out.
All in all, I liked this movie. It's an enjoyable way to learn some history. Mel Gibson is always a good draw.