An OK, but highly flawed story of the American Revolution

Rating: 5/10 (31 December 2006)

Now despite the inaccuracies thrown throughout the film, the sets, battles, and the acting is very well done in comparison to other films of this same genre. However these does not erase the wrong message from this film. I am an American, and I also know a thing or two about history, and The Patriot is not a piece of history. All British characters in this film are portrayed as evil. And all Continentals are portrayed as something just under being saints. First of all the British never did ANYTHING remotely close to what was shown in this film. They never burned towns, or killed women and children on the levels shown here. They are not some evil race hell-bent on our destruction. The Continentals on the other hand did do many of those things throughout the war against many British citizens. In fact Sam Adams, a "patriot," did many things to Loyalist settlements that the British in this film did to Americans. What is worse though is the fact that this movie portrays these misconceptions as facts worthy of a textbook. All this movie does is alienate the British, and become good propaganda for militaristic right-wing groups. So I would not recommend this movie for anything other than being an action film, other than that it is offensive, inaccurate, and militaristic.