Brave Heart...This is a great historical adventure film only as far as the characters really existed and the events portrayed were loosely based on real events.
It is the story of Sir William Wallace who after a quarrel about the succession to the Scottish throne fought against the English King, Edward I and won a few decisive victories against the odds.
The film portrays Wallace (Mel Gibson) as a sort of medieval freedom fighter trying to free the Scottish people against the evil English oppressors. This is good for the script but not tremendously accurate. The beautiful scenery (mostly N Ireland not Scotland) and the battle scenes are what is best about the movie. The latter was researched well and a lot of the weapons and tactics used are realist.
The events described have been juggled around a bit to suit the script but overall this is a superb adventure film in the style of the old Hollywood swashbucklers.
The rather gruesome end is probably a little over the top but overall it is an enjoyable spectacle.
’’They’ll take over our lives but they’ll never take away our FREEDOM’’