Braveheart (1995)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Mel Gibson

Writer (WGA):

Randall Wallace (written by)

Release Date:

24 May 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Biography | Drama | War

Tagline:

The courage to face fear

Plot:

William Wallace, a commoner, unites the 13th Century Scots in their battle to overthrow English rule.

Plot Keywords:

English | Scotland | Fight | 13th Century | Scot

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 15 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	William Wallace
James Robinson	...	Young William Wallace
Sean Lawlor	...	Malcolm Wallace
Sandy Nelson	...	John Wallace
James Cosmo	...	Campbell
Sean McGinley	...	MacClannough
Alan Tall	...	Elder Stewart
Andrew Weir	...	Young Hamish Campbell
Gerda Stevenson	...	Mother MacClannough
Ralph Riach	...	Priest #1
Mhairi Calvey	...	Young Murron MacClannough
Brian Cox	...	Argyle Wallace
Patrick McGoohan	...	Longshanks, King Edward I
Peter Hanly	...	Edward, Prince of Wales
Sophie Marceau	...	Princess Isabelle

MPAA:

Rated R for brutal medieval warfare.

Runtime:

177 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Latin | Scottish Gaelic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Malaysia:18SG | Brazil:16 | France:U (with warning) | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KT | Canada:18A (DVD rating) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:15 (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15 (original rating) | South Korea:18 (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (cut) | USA:R (certificate #33700) | Greece:K-13 | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Aonach Eagach, Highland, Scotland, UK

Company:

Icon Entertainment International

Trivia:

Its Oscar win was the only award it won for "Best Picture" (no other award or critic group named it the best film of the year).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the battle of Stirling, you can clearly see that the stuntman (playing the English negotiating officer) that Wallace beheads after cutting down him from his horse changes in different shots before as he approaches on horseback.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: I shall tell you of William Wallace. Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes. The king of Scotland had died without a son, and the king of England, a cruel pagan known as Edward the Longshanks...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Angel: Hero (#1.9)" (1999)

Best movie ever

Most on this site pick the Godfather, or the Shawshank Redemption, but this is it, this is the best film ever made. People will complain, will argue that I am wrong, but I will say it again...Braveheart is as close to perfection as a movie can be. The acting is superb, the man who played Lonshanks, the actor who portrayed Robert the Bruce, both should have been nominated for Oscars due to their powerful rendering of evil and a man who is saved from losing his humanity (from becoming evil) by meeting William Wallace. And let us not forget the direction, the cinematography. Braveheart is glorious, beautiful to look at. The slow motion pictures of horses preparing to charge armed combatants, the entire landscape of Scotland that Mel Gibson captures with the camera. Braveheart is artwork, it is as good as any picture. That the film is number 93 on the list of the top 250 movies ever is a shame. Yes there is violence in this film but that violence does serve a point...that freedom isn't free and sometimes it takes death, gruesome and horrible, to let ones people taste what it is like to be free. Braveheart is a great movie and it deserves to at least be in the top ten of IMDb's list of greatest films.