Entertaining,gripping,puts you right in the middle of the war. Stirring and emotional. A little slow at the beginning. One dimensional British characters. Twists of historical truth for palatability and PC sake.
Direction emphasizes sadism and jingoism instead of true patriotism.
Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger and Jason Isaacs are all great. Gibson, Ledger and Isaacs give standout performances. Several contrived plot elements keep this from 5 stars. This met all my expectations. Worth seeing again.