Eight Reasons to Love Braveheart

8  Reasons to Love Braveheart

Cover of Braveheart [Blu-ray]

1)      The Epic Story

 13th Century. Scotland is ruled by the English – and Scot rebels are murdered. A young boy (William Wallace)’s father is killed. This results in two life-altering events for Wallace: Little Murron gives him a flower to help him with the pain and his uncle comes to take him. When he returns as an adult, he finds Murron and even though it is tragically cut short, we witness one of the loveliest romances in film history. Wallace wasn’t willing to fight The English before. But when they kill Murron, Wallace turns into one of the most dedicated warriors on screen. And he is a deadly combination of strength, intelligance and the raw desire for vengeance. The English never know what hits them. His fame spreads and his victories scare the king. He decides to use his daughter-in-love, the beautiful princess Isabelle to negotiate with William. After all, King Longshanks thinks he can distract Wallace. But what he doesn’t realize that Isabelle is already in love with Wallace- even from his heroic stories and why he started the fight in the first place. His romantic and courageous acts have mesmerized her. After all,  her husband is too feminine, spoiled and idiotic to do anything good or right. When she meets Wallace, he further impresses her with his dignity and intellect. She realizes more than ever that Wallace is the good guy.

There is a certain bond between Wallace and Isabelle, though they share a limited amount of time together. Wallace has always loved and will keep loving Murron.

The story is better watched than told. It involves good guys, bad guys, and a character in between- who can’t decide which side he should be on, further complicating the situation for Wallace.

2)      The Cinematography:

 The scenery is so amazing and is shot so beautifully; you can’t help but feel you are there. It also makes you wish to be there. I love Wallace’s every bit of riding scenes.

3)      Battle Scenes

Braveheart has one of the most impressive battle sequences ever. It has action, gore, anger, tactics, humor, encouraging speeches, cooperation, betrayal, disappointment, victory, loss…

You shouldn’t watch it with children but these scenes are glorious.

 4)      Acting

 I don’t care what Mel Gibson said or didn’t say about religion or racism or whatever. He is a terrific actor. He is not Mel Gibson here. He is William Wallace. He truly becomes his character. You feel every bit of passion and hope and anger and pain Wallace feels. He is an absolute hero. My favorite movie and Mel Gibson’s most challenging role to date.

Catheriene McCormack’s plain beauty and innonence makes her a perfect Murron.

 Watch out for Angus MacFadyen as Robert the Bruce. One of the best characters.

Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle. She is just amazing at portraying the woman who finally gets to meet a person who actually fights for something that is worth fighting for.

 
5)      Direction

 Mel Gibson is also behind the scenes in this one. His direction is flawless. He received the best film Oscar. He initially didn’t want to star in it. But when he played the scenes over and over in his head, he realized he just had to be in it.

 6)      Production

 Mel Gibson’s production company produced this film. The movie also received the best movie Oscar. Gibson gambled big, he put 60 million dollars from his own pocket for the movie since the budget provided was only 10 million. Watch the movie and you will know it could not have been shot with 10 million and what was the money spent on. Spears and other weaponry have been specially made for the film.

 7)      The Music

 Traditional Scottish music combined with some more dramatic elements. I own the soundtrack and still love listening to it.

8)      History

 William Wallace is a real Scottish hero. Screenwriter Randall Wallace (the surname is a coincidence) was visiting Scotland with his wife when he saw Wallace’s statues around and started asking about him. When he saw how greatly the public regarded him, he dug deeper and wrote this incredible story.

Braveheart is a masterpiece. You may disagree but I don’t think the effort and faith put into this film can not be underestimated.