Additionally, Gibson s inspiring performance as William Wallace, the 13 th Century Scottish hero, certainly rates as his finest work in front of the camera, even if the Academy failed to recognize it. Of course, this was an ambitious undertaking for second time director Gibson, who was spreading himself awfully thin by also wearing the hats of producer and star at the same time. Losing everything he has ever loved, Wallace finds his breaking point and begins to fight back against English oppression. Eventually, Wallace raises an army against Longshanks in an effort to free Scotland from English rule.
Lighting is very simple and completely naturalistic, which gives the film a very earthy quality.
The transfer faithfully conveys the look of the film, which lacks the extra layer of gloss that seems to be applied to almost all Hollywood productions. Because of this, one will notice some film grain in the picture, although it never takes one s attention away from the movie s brilliant storytelling. The image on the DVD is crisp and very well defined, as one should expect from a big budget 1990 s movie, recently transferred to the format. Colors tend to be muted and the flesh tones of the actors appear somewhat pale, which I would surmise to be historically accurate, considering the amount of rain that fell on the crew during the film s production. Blacks are flawlessly rendered, plus the level of shadow detail and depth in the image are truly amazing, especially when one considers the realistic looking nighttime scenes that depict an era centuries before electric lighting.