Braveheart Movie Review

Rating: 9.5/10

Braveheart is an Oscar winning 1995 film, directed and starred by Mel Gibson. It won Oscars for best picture, best director, best cinematography, best sound effects, and best make up. Although hugely successful and a highly praised movie, Braveheart was criticized of its historical inaccuracies for its portrayal of the English and the historical events that took place in the film.

Braveheart follows the story of William Wallace, a commoner, whose father and brother died in a battle against the English when trying to free their country, Scotland. After years of absence, William Wallace returns to his hometown in peace, not wanting anything to do with the ongoing war between Scotland and England. However, after another of his loved ones dies, William Wallace sets out to unite Scotsmen to overthrow the English rule.

Braveheart is a masterpiece. It’s almost 3-hour long and I enjoyed every second of it. Everything in this film is perfect: the directing, acting, soundtrack, cinematography. Everything blends in together so well. Randall Wallace wrote a wonderful script which turned out to be a great movie that was superbly directed and acted by Mel Gibson.

First things first, the person that truly shined in this film, Mel Gibson. He took a great risk directing Braveheart, this being his second film as a director. Not only did he direct this film, he acted in it. A lot of things could have gone wrong for Mel Gibson. He took a great deal of risk but he pulled it off. He did a great job both as a director and an actor.

As a director, he was superb. He filmed one of the greatest battle scenes I have ever seen. Together with the great cinematography in this film, he brought the 13^th century setting to life. The film looks incredible. The make-up is also incredible. He created numerous iconic scenes in Braveheart, particularly the scene at the end of the film showing William Wallace’s hand and the sky. If you have seen the film, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  He won an Oscar for the work he did in Braveheart and he clearly deserved it.

As an actor, he carried the film to perfection. With Mel Gibson being Australian-American, I was surprised to see him nail the Scottish accent. His facial expressions and line deliveries in this film are great. I could feel the emotions and feelings through his facial expressions and he delivered every single line perfectly conveying his different emotions throughout the film. He makes William Wallace a likable and a character to root for. He is the reason behind this film’s huge success.

 This film is almost three hours. It could have bored its audience to death if it wasn’t paced right. And it was. It was paced perfectly. I was not once bored during the film. The film is not slow paced at all, it goes on and on and on without losing my attention a single second. It balances well between the battle sequences, dialogs, and the soundtrack.

Without the soundtrack of this film, I would not have enjoyed Braveheart as much as I did. The soundtrack of this film brought the epic feeling to the film. When the scene seems to be normal and ordinary, the soundtrack makes that scene extraordinary. Once again, it balances well between battle sequences, dialogs, and the soundtrack. These three elements, together with the superb pacing, Braveheart is a masterfully crafted film.

The script Randall Wallace wrote in this film is outstanding. Every scene and every dialog is powerful and necessary to the story. He is also the reason a 3-hour long film is not boring. The subject matter in this film is exceptional. Every story arc in this film is interesting, making the audience eager to see what happens throughout the film. His characters are not one-dimensional. They are all superbly written which went on to create a number of brilliant performances.

Other great performances alongside Mel Gibson include: Patrick McGoohan as the evil English King who wishes to take over Scotland. Sophie Marceau was also great as the wife of the soon to be King, Prince Edward. She wasn’t in a lot of scenes but her storyline is interesting and she gave a great performance. Catherine McCormack, as the love of William Wallace, gave a fine performance. Although she was only in the beginning of the film, her chemistry with Mel Gibson was great and you could clearly see their love that was bonded right in front of your eyes. You could also feel the anger and pain that William Wallace suffered.

Brendan Gleeson also gave a good performance as Hamish, William Wallace’s friend that fought alongside him in battle. It was interesting to see the relationship between him and Wallace, and him and his father. Last but not least, Angus Macfadyen, who portrayed Robert the Bruce. He, in my opinion, gave a great performance portraying a very interesting character. The storyline for his character is fascinating and he did a great job.

I understand how people could easily get upset from watching this film and where the criticism comes from: the historical inaccuracies. I had no knowledge of the history of Scotland, England, or William Wallace before watching this film. This film shows the English in a bad light, which according to the history, weren’t as evil. Whether or not the film was truthful to the history, it doesn’t take away the fact that this film is a superbly written, directed, and acted film. I wish people could look beyond the inaccuracies of the film and enjoy its fascinating plot and story the film has to offer.

I loved this film. It’s one of the best films I have seen. It was well written, acted, directed, and cinematographed. I have no problems with the film. I loved every minute of it. It made me laugh and it also brought me to tears. It is thought-provoking and inspirational. I recommend anyone to see this film despite his long duration which might be a problem for some people. It was a three-hour well spent. Braveheart is a masterpiece.