I will start off my review of Braveheart by stating that I was very eager to watch and review it. I respect cinematic historical epics in general, and for the most part, enjoy watching them. What I appreciate about historical epics is that they are usually set against the backdrop of history (I am a big history buff as well), deploy many, many different characters, and also because they are made on a grande scale. If performed well, historical epics can form some of the most long lasting and memorable movie experiences an audience is ever likely to remember. Braveheart is set against the backdrop of history, it deploys many characters and it is made on a grande scale. The principal problem though that practically ruins the movie is that it is not performed well. As a big fan of history, I went into some deep research into the facts surrounding Braveheart’s hero, William Wallace, and the wars that Scotland fought against England for its independence. Braveheart is terribly inaccurate left to right, up and down, from the simplest things like the clothes the people wore, to how the real life people themselves were portrayed, to the battles (the scene depicting the Battle of Sterling Bridge was shot on an open plain) and the entire history as a piece. In addition, there is not much that’s overly impressive about the direction or the acting. Don’t get me started on the script writing, which uses modern English for the 1300s time period. Talk about anachronism. Nevertheless, Braveheart manages to be generally entertaining even though many scenes do drag and others are overly preachy. The cinematography, however, is very respectable, and captures in the vast panorama of the European landscapes. As a whole, Braveheart is by no means a bad movie (for all of its serious flaws I may find myself watching it again in the future), but it is a seriously overrated one, and by no means any sort of achievement in the historical epic genre. Can’t believe this one took home five Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. Directed by Mel Gibson.
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