❶ 求勇敢的心观后感一篇，英文的，300字左右
1
Wags enjoy razzing the 13th-century Scottish epic Braveheart, starring Mel Gibson in the role of freedom fighter William Wallace, as Die Hard in a kilt. Wait till they get to the knobby question of how Gibson's knees stack up against Liam Neeson's in Rob Roy. No matter. Gibson gets the last laugh. Braveheart resists glib categorization. This rousing, romantic adventure is laced with sorrow and savagery. The audacity Gibson shows as the film's director extends to the running time, which is nearly three hours. Hamlet, with Gibson playing the melancholy Dane, was shorter, and Braveheart isn't Shakespeare. Don't panic. 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. With breathtaking skill, Gibson captures the exhilaration and horror of combat in some of the most vivid battle scenes ever filmed.
Wallace was knighted for leading his people in the fight against domination by England. Few facts are known about his personal life, which frees Gibson and screenwriter Randall Wallace (no relation) to run with the legend passed down mostly from the rhyming verse of a poet known as Blind Harry. It's a shame that Harry predates Hollywood by five centuries -- he could have made a killing cranking out kick-ass crowd pleasers.
Gibson's Wallace is a potent blend of Robin Hood, Attila the Hun and, yes, the wags were right, Detective John McClane in Die Hard. Wallace could relate to any story that pits one pissed-off fighter against the system. He faced an English army led by bad-to-the-bone King Edward the Longshanks, played by Patrick McGooban in a classic portrait of slithering sadism. Wallace also had to inspire Scottish peasants and nobles to follow his lead against daunting odds.
It's a ripping yarn, and Gibson could have slid by with the usual hack heroics. Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves did just that and still earned a pile. Gibson does it the hard way with attention to detail. He has retained the keen eye for character he showed in The Man Without a Face, his promising 1993 directing debut. Wallace doesn't spring to life as a full-blown legend, though he does speak Latin and French when he returns to his village in Scotland to settle down as a farmer and marry Murron (the meltingly lovely Catherine McCormack), his childhood sweetheart. It's the brutal fate dished out to Murron by the English that makes the farmer an outlaw.
That's when Wallace organizes the villagers into a ragtag militia. Brendon Gleeson's Hamish, James Cosmo's Campbell and Alun Armstrong's Mornay register strongly, as does David O'Hara's Stephen, the Irish warrior who joins the Scottish cause. The teasing camaraderie botched in Robin Hood is expertly handled here. Gibson's impassioned performance as the hero who would not trade his freedom for English gold doesn't shrink from showing the barbarian who emerges at a call to arms.
"Are you ready for war?" Wallace shouts to his outnumbered troops at Stirling. It's the film's first major battle scene and a triumph for Gibson. Trying to stir hundreds of fatigued soldiers to action, Wallace rides his horse back and forth in a frantic effort to be heard. In most historical films, the stationary star manages to move multitudes with a throaty whisper. Gibson jettisons the Hollywood fakery. Riding among the men, his face streaked with woad (a blue dye used to terrify the enemy) and his voice hoarse from yelling. Wallace is a demon warrior crying out for vengeance.
Cinematographer John Toll, an Oscar winner for Legends of the Fall, thrusts the audience into the brutal frays at Stirling, York and Falkirk. Superbly edited by Steven Rosenblum (Glory), these sequences recall the blood poetry of Welles' Chimes at Midnight and Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Sophisticated weaponry was centuries away. The Scots used hammers, axes, picks, swords, chains and even farm tools to crack skulls as they battered the English in the mud. They also set oil traps on the ground to burn their enemies, though shields and chain mail offered scant protection against the rain of English arrows. "Quite the lovely gathering." says Longshanks, surveying the carnage and dispatching his officers to send in Irish volunteers instead of expert English archers. "Arrows cost money," he sneers.
Gibson's handling of Wallace at war is so thrillingly done that one regrets the subplots that distract from the action. Wallace's flirtation with the king's French daughter-in-law, Princess Isabelle (Sophie Marceau), is fanciful fluff that undercuts his undying love for Murron, and the king's homophobic revenge on his preening son, Prince Edward (Peter Hanly), and the son's boy toy, Phillip (Stephen Billington), comes off as inexplicable gay ting. Judicious cutting might have sharpened the film's focus and impact.
Still, don't get your kilt in a bunch over a spectacle that provokes such lively debate about the method and madness of war. Filmed with furious energy and surprising gravity, Braveheart takes the measure of a hero with a taste for blood to match his taste for honor. Wallace is an inspiring, unsettling role, and Gibson plays him, aptly, like a gathering storm.
2
Braveheart is an action/drama movie about William Wallace (Mel Gibson). The film is no less than amazing in any way. Though the movie sports us with a 177 minute run time, it is amazing to see the interesting way in which, Mel Gibson behind the camera, works his magic. As the acting is magnificent, and the war sequences are brutal and violent, the film works out as a movie which will always be remembered as a classic.
The film focuses on William Wallace, growing up as a kid, his father was a fighter. After his death, his uncle took him in to watch over him, and teach him how to fight. When he is older though, he meets Murron MacClannough(Catherine McCormack). After he weds with her, she is murdered. Now avenging her death, William sets out ot fight for his freedom, his justice and the right to live.
Mel Gibson did really an amazing job on capturing the character of William Wallace. Putting on the Irish accent, he shows us that he is a great actor and can do some things which we never thought he could do. Behind the camrea though, Mel is a completely different kind of person. He captures the fight scenes perfectly and beautifully. The one thing that was done well though, was the greatly realistic violence and brutal warfare of the film. The violence is spilled nicely, and realistically.
3
Braveheart is another film directed by its star, Mel Gibson. Close on the heels of Rob Roy, this is the second tribute to a legendary Scottish hero, this time round William Wallace, the great medieval warrior leader. Though less clever than its predecessor, it is much grander in its nearly three-hour epic sweep.
The obvious comparison is with Henry V (the Olivier, not the Branagh), and even though Randall Wallace may not be quite so good a screenwriter as Shakespeare, the movie can hold its own. Randall Wallace calls himself the spiritual descendant of William Wallace, and he has deftly incorporated the not many known facts about his namesake, and addressed the legend with gusto and eloquence. The result is an epic that, a few excessively romantic touches notwithstanding, is more realistic than most. These medieval Scots live in ferocious-looking hovels, seem (at least the men) heroically unwashed, and have coiffures in which a kestrel could nest. The friendly punches with which they communicate could easily kill a lesser fellow -- an Englishman, say. Braveheart aims to be a thinking man's epic. ``It's our wits that make us men,'' young William's da tells him, and, after da and big brother are killed by the English, Uncle Argyll continues the boy's ecation along similar lines. Pretty soon William has turned into Mel Gibson, a young man who wants to settle down and live in peace. But the English are making things hard, what with such things as ius primae noctis (in the film, more tersely but less correctly, the prima nocte) giving the English magistrate the right to deflower each lassie on her wedding night. Braveheartrending business, that. Finally William secretly marries the bonniest of lasses, Murron -- played by the breathtakingly beautiful and talented Catherine McCormack -- but the English get wind of it, and when she won't put out for them, slit her throat in a shattering scene irradiated by Miss McCormack's performance. So William turns avenger and, by one small further step, leader of the Scottish populace (as opposed to the nobles, suborned by Edward Longshanks, the Machiavellian English king). There are plots and counterplots as the nobles sabotage William's efforts, and Robert the Bruce, who wants to help him, is prevented by his leprous father (well played by Ian Bannen), who expects the nobles to crown his son king. And much, much more. The love scenes are so-so, the political scenes ho-hum, but the fighting -- both indivial contests and mass battle scenes -- is first-rate, barbaric, and sublime. You might think that so much battle stuff would pall after a while: how much slashing, chopping, stabbing, and skewering -- not to mention mangling and incinerating -- can there be without diminishing returns? Quite a bit; Gibson, to give him his e, comes up with new forms of warfare, better ways to turn charging men and horses into shishkebabs, new modes of battering down castle gates in a rain of boiling pitch from the battlements, fresh tricks to outsmart the enemy. And whereas this much violence with modern weapons would be unbearable, with medieval arms it becomes heroic and exhilarating. There is something appealing about Mel Gibson -- the ruggedly masculine countenance, the quick half-smile, the knack of conveying blue-eyed hurt (as when he discovers the Bruce under an enemy helmet), and a squarer-jawed determination than Dick Tracy's -- that sustains Braveheart even through the unlikely scenes with Isabelle, the Princess of Wales (indifferently played by Sophie Marceau), and through the Wallace's -- or the Gibson's -- unconvincing displays of polyglotism. Add to this the beauties of Scotland, searchingly chronicled by John Toll's inexhaustible camera, the solid supporting performances among which Patrick McGoohan's sardonic-sadistic Edward I is especially noteworthy (never before have terminal consonants been drawn out to such ironic length), and the intelligently deployed music by James Horner. A Scottish acquaintance, George Campbell, questions the use of the sweeter uilleann (Irish) bagpipes rather than the fiercer Highland ones ring the battle scenes, but these scenes are so exciting Horner could have used marimbas and I wouldn't have noticed. The film put me in mind of a four-line poem by Scotland's greatest modern poet, Hugh MacDiarmid: The rose of all the world is not for me. I want for my part Only the little white rose of Scotland that smells sharp and sweet -- And breaks the heart. And that is high praise.
4
What is there that can be said about Braveheart that hasn’t been said before? It’s an epic movie that ought to be in the conversation about the best films of the past thirty years. And actually, “epic” might be too small of a word. Braveheart is as much about the inner drama of William Wallace as it is about the life-and-death drama of the war for Scotland’s independence in the late 13th, early 14th centuries. It’s a story told on a grand scale with a great deal craft – and flair (and humor). This is a movie that offers both style and substance. It’s a direct precursor to the success of the Lord of the Rings movies – indeed, one can argue that the success of Braveheart set the stage for those films. True, Braveheart may not have universal appeal in terms of genre, story, or its brutal portrayal of war. But there can be little doubt of the value of a film that is, simply, one of the best I have ever seen.
The success of the film rests on the balance with which the story unfolds. Put simply, there’s something here for everyone: romance, action, character, philosophy, conflict, cinematography, great lines, music, and so on … and it all fits together almost flawlessly. I’m sure if you looked hard enough you could find fault with some parts of the movie, but considering its nearly three-hour run time it manages to avoid pitfalls remarkably well.
This is William Wallace’s story. And through him, the audience is allowed a mirror with which to view itself. This is the true measure of a great story: its ability to not only provide commentary, but also to provoke introspection. And that happens here quite often. One of the film’s most quoted lines is “Every man dies, not every man really lives.” Within just those seven words there is a great deal of thought and sentiment. It encapsulates a philosophy, a raison d’être, that anyone can immediately identify with. And it’s a beautiful philosophy – like carpe diem. And it encourages us to find the purpose and meaning within our lives on a daily basis.
This is also a love story, between William Wallace and Murron – a childhood friend. Theirs is a story that flows effortlessly from childhood tragedy and bonding, to althood romance and marriage. Indeed, it is Murron’s murder that proves to be Wallace’s motivation to launch his personal war against England whose king, Edward ‘the Longshanks’ is portrayed with a powerfully brutality in the film, making him a very compelling villain.
Wallace’s quest is joined by a cast that is quite adept in their roles. There are hardly any weak links in the acting of this movie, which means that the underlying themes and conflicts are portrayed to maximum effect from start to finish. Mel Gibson’s directing certainly has to be credited for some of that success.
This is, without question, Gibson’s film. And it’s not without a certain part of vanity from the lead actor and director. If you were looking for a critique, this would be the most fertile ground for it. But for the most part, whatever vanity Gibson may have been displaying is overshadowed by the craft of everything else. The action is riveting, the dialogue is crisp (and profound) and the music is deeply, deeply moving.
James Horner’s score successfully taps into the heritage of Scotland while displaying a full orchestral presentation. The instrumentation and arrangements are all very well done, from wavering flute to the bagpipes to the thunderous percussion ring battle sequences.
5
I used to think that the history of Scotland around the end of the thirteenth century was one of those really complicated and messy affairs that could send any historian into a fit of sobbing. So imagine my surprise as I discovered it's really all about a bunch of rowdy guys mooning each other across a battlefield and then playing dodgeball.
"Braveheart" is one of those audacious films that implies that war is "bad" by putting the violence at the forefront, slowing it down and tossing in lots of extra blood, piercings, stabbings, castrations, amputations and assorted mutilations with random insertions of Mel's butt -- just to make sure that the women get into it too. This is all topped off by a really long and protracted moment where the camera lovingly dotes on Mel Gibson as he is taken to a platform to be tortured. It's the kind of moment that makes preschoolers point to the screen and say, "Christ figure! Christ figure!" Either that or: "Look! He's shamelessly grooming himself for the Oscars!" (Oscar committees love Christ figures.)
After three delirious hours the message is clear: Buy an ax, kill a lot of people, wear a kilt, show your butt, screw a princess and (if you have some time left over) repeat this over and over and over and over and over... until you get caught. If ever a movie cried out for a halftime break, this was it.
❷ 英语观后感50字
英文电影英语观后感【一】
《勇敢的心》--观后感Set in the late 13th century, Braveheart is the story of one of Scotlands greatest national heroes Sir William Wallace. leader of the Scottish resistance forces ring the first years of the long, ultimately successful struggle to free Scotland from English rule...
Crucially charismatic in the title role, Gibson plays the heroic figure and emerges as a remarkable hero with wit and romantic soul, determined to rid his country of its English oppressors... Wallaces revolution was set in motion, with great obstacles from his countrymen...
Many Scottish nobles lent him only grudging support as most of them were more concerned with wealth and titles than the freedom of the country...
In fact, the Scottish leaders are in favor of revolt-or not-depending on English bribes...
Wallace, by comparison, is a man of honor, incorruptible and righteous... He was knighted and proclaimed guardian and high protector of Scotland, but as much as he railed against the Scottish nobles, submitted to Edward I, King of England,
he was astonished and in shock to discover the treachery of the leading Scot contender for the throne—Robert,
the Earl of Bruce—to whom he confided , The people would follow you, if you would only lead them. Sophie Marceau is exquisite as the distressed princeIsabella of France who ends up falling in love with Wallace,
warning him out of several traps……Catherine McCormack is a stunning beauty who ignites Wallaces revolution……Patrick McGoohan is chilling, brutal, and vicious as the ruthleEdward I, known by the nickname Longshanks. This king remains simply the embodiment of evil……
While Angus McFadyen moves as a nobleman torn between his conscience and political aspiration, and Brendan Gleeson brings strength and humor to his role as the robust Hamish, David OHara is very effective as the crazy Irishman who provides much of the films comic relief from even the most tensed moments……Mel Gibson has reason to be proud of Braveheart. It is a motion picture that dares to be excessive...
Gibson presents passionately the most spaciously impressive battles (yet staged for films) even excessively, and it is his passion and excethat make the motion picture great...
The horror and futility of massed hand-to-hand combats are exciting rather repulsive...
It is epic film-ma-ki-ng at its glorious best……
Gibsons Braveheart focuses on the human side of Wallace, a character so immense, so intelligent, and so passionate, exploring the definitions of honor and nobility, pushing us to follow the hero into his struggle against injustice and oppression.
喜剧动物片【二】
my personal favorite "101D" medium is Disneys "101 Dalmatians: the Series". It combines many themes of the existing material (Dodie Smith book, 1961 and 1996 movies). But still does its own things, too.
Our main pups include brave Lucky, who gets a strong personality mirroring his character in the book, lovable Rolly, the gourmand of the pups, and sweet little Cadpig, who is the true runt of the litter. Also there is Spot the chicken, who longs to be a dog. I find them all extremely amiable and enjoyable to watch. They are usually foiling Cruellas schemes for their land, or outwitting Lt. Pug (Ill get to him later), or sneaking into Grutely, or...just having fun, ma-ki-ng a very likable show
喜剧动物片101真狗
我个人最喜欢的“ 101D ”中等是迪斯尼的“ 101只花斑狗：系列” 。它结合了许多主题的现有材料( Dodie史密斯书， 1961年和1996年的电影) 。但是仍然没有自己的事情了。
我们的主要只包括勇敢的'幸运，谁得到的性格反映他的性格在这本书中，可爱Rolly的美食的幼崽，而很少Cadpig甜，谁是真正的侏儒的垃圾。也有现货的鸡，谁多头是狗。我觉得他们都非常和蔼可亲和愉快的观看。它们通常是挫败克鲁拉计划，他们的土地，或outwitting中将哈巴狗(我会向他更新版本) ，或者潜入Grutely ，或...刚刚获得乐趣，使一个非常可爱查看
动画喜剧 海底总动员
Somewhere, under the sea, weak-finned clown fish Nemo (Alexander Gould) lives with his fretful father, Marlin (Albert Brooks). Smothered by pops paranoia, he ventures away from the reef, but his dads dread is justified when a passing diver whisks him away.
Taken to a tank in a Sydney dentists, Nemo meets Gill (Willem Dafoe) and co - friendly fish who dream of escaping to the ocean. Meanwhile, Marlin bumps into a blue tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), and sets out to save his son...
The splendour of natural history hit The Blue Planet is matched by the wit of the script and stars. Barry Humphries has a terrific cameo as a great white shark whos sworn off killing (Remember, fish are friends, not food!), while DeGeneres provides perfect timing and tone as Dory, whose short-term memory lois a gag that never stops running
一部英语电影的观后感的延伸阅读——陈子良：从管一部车到管八百人
陈子良学历上的最高记录是小学五年级，在深圳，他从中巴司机做起，到现在他的名片头衔是深圳市众鑫科实业发展有限公司董事长。公司旗下有800多名员工，电子产品广泛出现在全国各大城市和美国、荷兰、法国、俄罗斯等市场。
一个只念过几年书的年轻人，完全凭借着自己的韧劲与灵气在人才济济的深圳找到了自己的人生坐标。陈子良从10年前的每月420元工资到现在企业每年有6000多万元利润，这是一个奇迹。但这不能用偶然和幸运一语概括。
❸ 电影勇敢的心，英文观后感
I
remember seeing this movie for the first time in late 2003, and I was
impressed. I saw it again last night, and I was even more impressed. The
acting is amazing, and the ending was brilliant. For me, all my guesses
were incorrect. Everything that happens in this movie in unpredicted.
The last half hour itself was highly unpredictable, and it had a
powerful message. When a scene was meant to be dramatic, they did a
great job at it. I don't know about everybody else, but the ending did
make me cry. The message the movie sent kept me thinking for a while.
The amount of courage and bravery was inconceivable, there was barely
any faults or anything wrong with the movie. For a movie of 1995, they
did a great job.
I absolutely guarantee this movie to anybody who
enjoys action and war with a bit of drama mixed in. One of the best, or
maybe even the best movie of the 20th century.
19 November 2005 | by Sheldon Eyzenga
(Canada)
❹ 急需电影勇敢的心英文影评一篇100到200字就行，要简单易懂的最好是先写的，谢谢啦！
The Review of Braveheart
I am deeply impressed by William Wallace’s courage and the efforts that the Scottish created to resume soverienty.It reminds me of my dream.Dream,whatever it is,really should be pursued heart and soul.Compared to Wallace,I am so lazy and passive.I watched it,giving free outlet to my thoughts and tears.
There are two scenes over which I really feel melancholy.The initial is when Meilun is buried. The same point happened when Wallace was yong,weeping at the death of his father.Tiny Meilun sent him a purple thistle .to console his sorrow.Even so,Meilun is dead now,no a single would send him a purple thist any much more.He has only himself in this world following losing the two persons he loves most.The second one particular is the very first war against England in the battlefield.,in which they were much weaker in regard to weapons and numbers.Confronted with immense difficulties,they had been not afaid,thinking we would drop.Instead,they fighted bravely and confidently.
Life will not usually be what we want. Wallace’s father died when he was a small boy.He did not want this tragedy transpire but it did take place,so he had to accept it；when his uncle came and would part him with his hometown,he obeyed with reluctance；moreover,his heart was broken facing the death of Meilan,but he had to accept it and be strong.Adversity leads to prosperity on situation that we can turn sorrow into strength.
Much as what is stated above,courage alone won’t guarantee success.Wallace’s uncle informed him :”you have to find out to use your thoughts,then weapons.”Being flexiable and conscious is even more critical,that is to say ,you know how to obtain your goal prior to you take actions.Additionally,it is worth notifying that pals are also extremely important in the pursue of dream.A life devoid of a pal is a life with out a sun.Wallace has Hamiss,who accompanied him to the end.
以上为整篇影评，你可以按自己的要求摘取某段或某句，这里的单词也不算很生
❺ 求 电影 勇敢的心 的英文评论或介绍
Braveheart review :
One of the most powerful and emotional scenes in Mel Gibson's epic film Braveheart is when William Wallace uses the remains of his strength to cry out his "Freedom!" at the end. We owe much of the magic in that scene to James Horner and his music. When he lets the mighty sound of the horns, supported by the rest of the orchestra, take over the entire stage, we know that in the end Wallace has won, in one way or another. This scene is just one of many in Braveheart where the music takes the leading part, and thus dictates the story for us. Another example is the revenge scene, after Murron has been executed. Wallace's rage and almost mental aberration are reflected in the music, which consists of shakuhachi, eerie voices and strings, drums and subtle synths. It perfectly matches the action on screen and the sparse, but incredibly effective sound effects, as Gibson's character seeks, and gets, revenge.
Many regard Braveheart as Horner's best score to date, and it certainly belongs in the absolute top five of all his scores. That this score didn't won an Oscar is a huge disappointment, although not very surprising. James Horner's superb score for Apollo 13 was also nominated. This split the votes and instead Luis Bacalov won the desired throphy, with his score for Il Postino. The somewhat strange and bizarre consequence is that it is better for a composer to get only one nomination, instead of two or more.
But back to Braveheart. James Horner's score is the reason I started to listen to filmmusic in the first place. I remember being blown away by the music in the cinema and I decided to pick up the soundtrack, with music by this James Horner guy. The rest is, well, history... The music is perfect for the film. It is big, romantic, lush, sweeping and dramatic. All with a Celtic twist. James Horner uses the sound of the Uilleann Pipes (which will forever be associated with Titanic) and other typical Celtic instruments. The result is a timeless, epic score full of wonderful music.
The music revolves around several different themes. Like the theme, or motif - mostly performed by horns - associated with the Scots and courage; and the wonderful love theme - one of the best themes Horner has ever written (although one has to admit it is rather similar to a theme in Holst's "The Planets"), given a wonderful rendition in "For the Love of a Princess". It give me goose bumps every time I listen to it.
The highlights are many, but some of the most memorable cues are "A Gift of a Thistle", "The Secret Wedding", "Murron's Burial", "For the Love of a Princess", "The Princess Pleads for Wallace's Life" - all full of romantic and wonderful music, and the latter with choir - "Betrayal & Desolation" - a superb and extremely sad and desperate sounding piece, which brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it; "Mornay's Dream", which is a short adrenaline pumping cue, with heavy percussion and dramatic brass, and finally the last two cues, both around seven minutes long, forming a perfect ending to a perfect soundtrack and score.
The music is orchestrated by Horner himself, something which is always very welcome. Performed by The London Symphony Orchestra, Choristers of Westminster Abbey and soloists such as Tony Hinnigan, Eric Rigler and Mike Taylor (and Horner) the performance, and recording, are top notch.
A second soundtrack was released in 1997. It contains mostly bagpipe music and is scattered with sound clips from the movie. But a couple of new Horner cues are included, being "Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes", "The Royal Wedding", "Scottish Wedding Music", "Prima Noctes" and "Visions of Murron", making around seven minutes of previously unreleased music by Horner. Only a must have for the real James Horner, or Braveheart, fan. But the original soundtrack is a must have for any serious film music fan.
review 2:
The crown jewel of 1995's summer blockbusters appears to have arrived early. It's hard to imagine any motion picture released between now and August matching Mel Gibson's Braveheart for spectacle. With its clashing armies, heartstopping action, and grand sense of romance, this is the sort of film it's a pleasure to see and review.
Let me state my preferences up front. I'm a big fan of the epic adventure, a category in which Braveheart, like cream, rises to the top. There's a lot in this film that's praiseworthy -- not the least of which is its ambition. Those viewing this picture may be easily reminded of Gettysburg, The Last of the Mohicans, Glory, and such classics as Lawrence of Arabia, El Cid, and Spartacus. The grandeur is certainly present; nevertheless, Gibson gives us not only memorable battles, but characters of real substance.
Borrowing from masters like Sam Peckinpah and David Lean, the actor/director has crafted an exceptional cinematic tapestry in only his sophomore effort. Most of the time, three hour movies have a few flat spots, but Braveheart is constantly on the move -- riveting from start to finish. When the end credits began to roll, I was hard pressed to accept that nearly 170 minutes had elapsed.
The title character is William Wallace (Gibson), a hero of Scottish history whose legend has surely outstripped fact (in its own unique way, the film acknowledges this). Wallace fought for Scotland's freedom in the late 13th century, wielding his broadsword and influence to defeat the forces of King Edward I (Patrick McGoohan), the British monarch who had declared himself king of Scotland upon the former ruler's demise.
Braveheart builds slowly to its first gritty climax. Much of the early film concentrates on Wallace's love for Murron (Catherine McCormack). Their courtship is unhurried, yet this is all preparation. The real meat of the story, which includes political mechanations, betrayal, and dramatic battles, is yet to come. Patrick Henry once said, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" That might well be Wallace's motto. "It's all for nothing if you don't have freedom!" The nobles of Scotland fight for land and riches, but Wallace stands for the indivial, and earns respect with words and deeds.
Bulked up and wearing a long-haired wig, Gibson brings his usual wealth of charisma to the title role. Patrick McGoohan, best known from TV's Secret Agent Man and The Prisoner, is almost unrecognizable beneath a snowy beard. His Edward the Longshanks exudes an aura of cold menace. He's a worthy foe for Wallace because his intelligence matches his ruthlessness. Sophie Marceau, the French actress who plays Princess Isabelle, and Catherine McCormack are both immensely appealing.
Braveheart is a brutal, bloody motion picture, but the violence is not gratuitous. The maimings, decapitations, and other assorted gruesome details make Wallace's world seem real and immediate. In addition, few theatrical moments make a more eloquent statement against war than when Gibson shows women and children weeping over the dead on a body-littered battlefield. War is a two-headed beast, and both faces -- the glorious and the tragic -- are depicted.
Lately, certain films have come in pairs: two Robin Hoods, two Columbuses, two Earps, and now two Highlander epics. Rob Roy, the first, is a fine motion picture. Braveheart, however, is better, offering an exhilarating, and occasionally touching, experience that has viewers leaving the theater caught up in an afterglow of wonder. These days, heros like William Wallace are as rare as motion picture displays of this high, uncompromising quality.