Movie Review for Braveheart

Summary: In the late 13th century, William Wallace returns to Scotland after living away from his homeland for many years. The king of Scotland has died without an heir and the king of England, a ruthless pagan known as Edward the Longshanks, has seized the throne. Wallace becomes the leader of a ramshackle yet courageous army determined to vanquish the greater English forces. At the historic battle of Stirling, Wallace leads his army to a stunning victory against the English. Knighted by the grateful Scottish nobles, Sir William Wallace extends the conflict south of the border and storms the city of York. King Edward I is astonished by the unexpected turn of events. Unable to rely on his ineffectual son Prince Edward, Longshanks sends his daughter-in-law Princess Isabelle to discuss a truce with Wallace.

                         Reviews of Braveheart
By Brian Webster of Apollo Guide (7/0)
            This impressive film is loaded with action, but a bit short of story and character development.

By Louis Black of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
            A grand cinematic adventure.

By Ali Barclay of BBC (7/0)
            A simplistic tale of good versus evil with large quantities of heroism thrown in for good measure...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            An action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of The...

By Madeleine Williams of Cinematter (7/0)
            Excellent battle scenes complement this historical epic about one man's quest to free his people.

By Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid (7/0)
            A great big splendorific Hollywood epic that's not exactly original or cliche-free, but fairly sa...

                         Reviews of Braveheart
By Chris Hicks of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (7/0)
            With a bit of restraint Gibson might have had a great movie here instead of merely a pretty good ...

By John J. Puccio of DVDTown.com (7/0)
            Gibson manages to keep his epic afloat by solidly grounding Wallace in the viewer's heart and min...

By Emanuel Levy of EmanuelLevy.Com (7/0)
            One of the weakest historical epics to ever win Best Picture, Mel Gibson's bloody thirteenth-cent...

By Christopher Null of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            ...a vastly entertaining and powerful film.

By Christopher Null of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            A vastly entertaining and powerful film.

By MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher (8/0)
            ...an extraordinary film...

                         Reviews of Braveheart
By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (7/0)
            The story itself is quite compelling, and the script is excellent.

By Bob Thompson of Jam! Movies (8/0)
            Mel Gibson's Braveheart is probably not good history, and it's no documentary -- but it sure make...

By Robert Roten of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
            In addtion to starring in the film, Gibson also directs it, and does so impressively.

By Peter Rainer of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
            As a filmmaker, [Gibson] lacks the epic gift, but the movie, scripted by Randall (no relation) Wa...

By Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
            A superior film and there is a lot to love about it.

By Michael Dequina of Mr. Brown's Movies (7/0)
            While the violence is raw, so are the emotions.

                         Reviews of Braveheart
By Caryn James of New York Times (7/0)
            ...one of the most spectacular entertainments in years.

By Nick Davis of Nick's Flick Picks (7/0)
            Gibson hews to a style that is visually elaborate without ever being visually complicated, scrapi...

By James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk (7/0)
            A violent, utterly passionate epic.

By Dragan Antulov of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            Larger than life.

By Mark R. Leeper of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
            [The film is] well-intentioned and ambitious, but is disappointingly flawed.

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/0)
            With its clashing armies, heartstopping action, and grand sense of romance, this is the sort of f...

                         Reviews of Braveheart
By Peter Travers of Rolling Stone (7/0)
            Though the film dawdles a bit with the shimmery, dappled love stuff involving Wallace with a Scot...

By Peter Stack of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            ...bumps along for at least one hour too many.

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
            Depicts the adventures of legendary 13th century freedom fighter.

By Geoff Andrew of Time Out (7/0)
            Pure hokum.

By John A. Nesbit of ToxicUniverse.com (7/0)
            I continue to enjoy watching and re-watching it, and share much of Mel Gibson’s enthusiasm for hi...

By Desson Howe of Washington Post (7/0)
            ...a rambling disappointment.

                         Reviews of Braveheart
By Hal Hinson of Washington Post (7/0)
            [Gibson] has created a completely adequate modern facsimile of the classic romantic epic.

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (3/4) No reference
            ...a fullthroated, red-blooded battle epic...

By Richard Schickel of TIME Magazine (3/4) No reference
            Everybody knows that a non-blubbering clause is standard in all movie stars' contracts. Too bad t...

By James Berardinelli of ReelViews (7/1) Not Reachable
            ...an exhilarating, and occasionally touching, experience...

Movie Distributors
20th Century Fox Distribution
Paramount Pictures

Production Companies
Ladd Company
The
Marquis Film
Icon Productions

Movie Studios
Paramount Pictures