However, when their perfect battle order is broken, they become easy prey for the Scots, who thrive in chaos, where their individual valor can shine. They are the masters of conventional tactics. This draws parallels between themselves and the Roman Empire, which fought in a similar manner (Knighton). The English can hold the line and fight in groups. They are well-equipped, as all of their soldiers possess armor and helmets. They love an open-field battle, where their superior archers and cavalry can win the day. The English are uniform, disciplined, organized.
#Hold the line braveheart movie
The movie plays on contrasts between two fighting forces. Mel Gibson did a great job at portraying battles and combining different types of soldiers together in a way that does not make armies look like incoherent mobs. Braveheart delivers just what the posters and trailers promised – gritty medieval large-scale battles, involving foot soldiers, archers, and cavalry. No, they came to watch the movie to see Mel Gibson fight giant battles and swinging that two-handed sword. The majority of moviegoers did not go to watch the movie because they were interested in the intricate and elaborate politics of 13th-century Scotland.
One of the strongest points in Braveheart is the battle scenes. Even during his last scenes, when he is drawn and quartered, he shouts out “Freedom!” which became an iconic line of the movie, sowing fear in the English and creating a long-standing memory in Robert’s son, who was later inspired by the memory of William Wallace to betray the English and conquer freedom for its people (“Braveheart”). Only the treachery of Lochlan, Mornay, and later Robert the Bruce help defeat Wallace (“Braveheart”). He would stop at nothing to defeat Wallace, especially after the battle of Stirling, which results in the British army being crushed, and the city of York burned to the ground. While William Wallace rules the battle scenes, Longshanks dominates the stage with his Machiavellian view of the world, dry wit, and refined cruelty. Wallace joins the rebellion after the English soldiers execute his wife for resisting their attempts to rape her.īraveheart is built around sequences of battles with scheming and politics in between. King Edward was a cruel king, who offended not only the Scottish people but their noblemen as well by granting lands to his lords and enabling various offensive laws and regulations, such as the “First Night” privilege, where the ruler of a fief would be granted the right to bed any bride before the wedding (“Braveheart”). The motivations of Wallace, as well as his supporters, are just and noble. The movie follows the tale of William Wallace – a freedom fighter who rose to liberate Scotland from the rule of King Edward “Longshanks” following the death of the king of Scotland, who died without leaving an heir. Despite being considered old by modern standards of cinema and having certain flaws and loops in the storyline and historical accuracy, Braveheart can easily be considered one of the best movies of all time, enjoyable even by the modern standards of cinema in 2018. With such a stunning and impressive list of features, it can truly be considered an all-time classic.
It was truly ahead of its time, having not only scored over 210 million dollars in the box office, but also winning five academy awards: for the best picture, director, cinematography, makeup, and sound editing (“Braveheart – Awards”).
An iconic movie with Mel Gibson portraying William Wallace – a charismatic and cunning leader of the Scottish rebels, provides great entertainment value even 23 years after being first released into movie theaters across the world. Everybody has seen Braveheart (1995) or at least heard of it.
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