Okay, so here goes my first review. And, for the first, I had to choose my favourite film of all time, Braveheart. Firstly, I must start by saying that this will probably be a very biased review. By no means do I think this is the best film of all time. For me, that would be the Godfather (all parts – It's one big ass film, not to be judged in parts) but the reason for Braveheart being my favourite film of all time, is purely due to the fact that it is the film I have watched the most during my life probably around 50+ times.
Secondly, the film received 1995 Best Picture and many other awards and nominations. At that time (1995) I was only 5 years old
Now I don't think I saw this film first when I was five. But I am pretty sure I watched it while I was in primary school, aged around 7 or 8. It was my Dad's way of teaching me history, his way of bonding. He was born in Scotland and I was born in England; therefore, he felt a need to educate me that the English are pigs. It was a bad history lesson though, as the film does not pay particular interest to being historically accurate, other than stating that Scotland and England had a bit of a bloody history together.
Thirdly, at that young age of being easily impressed and all things coming new to me, this film blew me away. It had me interested from the beginning, it had me gripped on the plot line, it had me believing in the characters, it had me screaming inside for freedom and justice and it had me in tears at the end. Now I'll be honest, I didn't cry the first time. I was a young boy and loved the real grit and rawness of the violence and battle scenes. The violence and the battle scenes were sprung from the pain and anguish of young lovers having their right to love stripped away with a clean cut of the knife. But this is predominantly a man's film, filled with blood, violence and hairy men. The love scenes between Wallace and the Princess are clearly just an extra bit of intrigue and probably placed there to keep the partners of the men at least thinking it's all about love. In truth, though, this film is all about violence, standing up for what you believe in and fighting for your right to live. If this film had been all action and not split up with love scenes would it have been any worse? I think not. It is, in reality, almost one long film of battles. But the side plot of secret lovers and other plots (fathers and their sons) do help to give the viewer some time to catch a breath before the next beautiful battle. And that is truly what this film is. A bunch of beautiful battle scenes.
So let's begin. . . Braveheart, for its time, seemed to come out of nowhere, with visually stunning and very, very, very real looking battle scenes. From the horses being impaled, to the legs being lopped off and even that sharpened wooden stake being stuck up some poor English pig's throat
The soundtrack throughout keeps your heart beating and the sound effects of the groans and thuds and clangs and twangs of swords keeps the hairs rising and the blood curdling. From beginning to end you are at the edge of your seat, gripping to hold on and rooting for William Wallace and Scotland to be victorious. Alongside Mel Gibson (William Wallace) you have Patrick McGoohan (Longshanks) who displays a truly powerful performance as the tyrant, King Edward I. You believe in him from the beginning and want to stab him in the back as soon as you realise what kind of man he is. Then there is Sophie Marceau (Princess Isabelle) not just a pretty face but with the acting ability to complement. Is she more beautiful than Catherine McCormack (Murron)? I think not. They are both beauties and they both have a power over Wallace and the audience alike with their phenomenal performances. There are also many other great actors/actresses to be seen in this film – Brendan Gleeson, Tommy Flanagan, though I shan't comment on them all for fear of the word count and blabbing too much! This leaves me really with only one thing left to express an opinion on. And this is probably where I come out of the closet. HA, I joke. But, seriously: Mel Gibson in this film, even with a wee bit of a dodgy Scottish accent, simply blows you away with his performance. As he is the main character as well as the director it is clear he truly had a real passion for the making of this film and that is shown throughout in his superb acting. He does everything he needed to do to have you believing in him and (as I got a bit older
and clearly more sensitive
) even crying at the end. When he looks out about the crowd who are watching his execution and somewhat smiles as the axe comes down, the handkerchief falls out of his hand as he holds the gaze of his 'original' lover's eyes (Murron)... It may be true to say I pretty much idolised Mel Gibson after this film. I wanted to be (as a young boy with not much to do with my days) William Wallace, fighting for what I believed to be right, fighting the English. And I did spend a fair few days in the garden attacking weeds and trees with wooden sticks
The powerful performance of Braveheart is relived inside you. That's it. It's simply one of those films that, no matter what happens, you will always take with you. It is a timeless classic and a truly great piece of cinematography
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