Written by: Randall Wallace
Directed by: Mel Gibson

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             Based on a true story of 13th Century, William Wallace (Mel Gibson), a Scot who was enslaved and terrorized by English rule Longshanks, King Edward I (Patrick McGoohan). Driven by revenge for the murder of his love Murron (Catherine McCormack), William Wallace led his people to fight for freedom to liberate Scotland from the evil clutches of the English empire.

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Hamish and William
 

The English

The Scots

         The most entertaining part was the first major battle set on a grassy foothill in Scotland in what resembled a valley. Both powers on either side of the landscape. The English king called forth the archers to pierce the defending Scottish egos, Wallace then sent his mounted horses to flank them so it looked as if they were fleeing their clan mates. Seeing this, the King sent in his cavalry with great confidence. The Scots countered with extra long spears, �twice as long as a man�, which worked magnificently as a back up plan against the English horses. The king then sent in the infantry to their dismay to find that the barbaric methods of the Scots were no match for them. Seeing the Scot horsemen coming around to flank them the English fled in a cowardly fashion. William Wallace screamed �Freedom�. Winning one of the first battles in a long gruesome and bloody war for the independency that is now known as Scotland.

          To be able to direct such a large scale battle with so many people and capturing their power and imagery on such grandiose scenes is definitely pushing the boundaries of film direction. A rare, difficult part of creating movies that very few directors could convey or express to the audience in a visually pleasing fashion, as precisely and accurately as Mel Gibson. 

          This three hour long film is an epic movie of a historic event. Its cinematic battle and picturesque scenes of beautiful Scotland almost justify what it may really have been like. Although other films have had very large scale battle scenes like the 1959 three and a half hour, wide-screen epic film Ben-Hur with actor Charlton Heston or the timely biblical tale The Twelve Commandments also with Charlton Heston and the more recent Gladiator with actor Russell Crowe but no other films have brought to life the realism of the battle sequences, which were perfectly choreographed in the moving pictures called Braveheart.

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