Braveheart
Academy Award × 5·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.
What critics thought
Braveheart earned a broadly favorable but genuinely divided reception: most critics admired the battle sequences and Gibson's command of large-scale spectacle, while a significant minority felt the film wallowed in self-indulgence and machismo. The historical liberties bothered some reviewers more than others, and the love subplots were widely seen as the film's weakest stretch. Audiences embraced it far more warmly than critics as a whole, and the Empire readers who voted it the best film of 1995 are the same readership that later voted it the worst film to win Best Picture — a split that captures the Braveheart experience almost perfectly.
“An action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of The Road Warrior.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“though the film dawdles a bit with the shimmery, dappled love stuff involving Wallace with a Scottish peasant and a French princess, the action will pin you to your seat.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“everybody knows that a non-blubbering clause is standard in all movie stars' contracts. Too bad there isn't one banning self-indulgence when they direct.”
Richard Schickel·Time
“Braveheart still serves up a great big steaming haggis of lies.”
The Guardian
Genres
Biography, Drama, War
Cast & Crew
DirectorMel Gibson
StarringMel Gibson, Catherine McCormack, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
ComposerJames Horner
Braveheart
Academy Award × 5·National Film Registry
Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.
What critics thought
Braveheart earned a broadly favorable but genuinely divided reception: most critics admired the battle sequences and Gibson's command of large-scale spectacle, while a significant minority felt the film wallowed in self-indulgence and machismo. The historical liberties bothered some reviewers more than others, and the love subplots were widely seen as the film's weakest stretch. Audiences embraced it far more warmly than critics as a whole, and the Empire readers who voted it the best film of 1995 are the same readership that later voted it the worst film to win Best Picture — a split that captures the Braveheart experience almost perfectly.
“An action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of The Road Warrior.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“though the film dawdles a bit with the shimmery, dappled love stuff involving Wallace with a Scottish peasant and a French princess, the action will pin you to your seat.”
Peter Travers·Rolling Stone
“everybody knows that a non-blubbering clause is standard in all movie stars' contracts. Too bad there isn't one banning self-indulgence when they direct.”
Richard Schickel·Time
“Braveheart still serves up a great big steaming haggis of lies.”
The Guardian
Genres
Biography, Drama, War
Cast & Crew
DirectorMel Gibson
StarringMel Gibson, Catherine McCormack, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
ComposerJames Horner
Rent/Purchase