Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10708 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-01-29
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 170 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A stupendous historical saga, Braveheart won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for star Mel Gibson. He plays William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish commoner who unites the various clans against a cruel English King, Edward the Longshanks (Patrick McGoohan). The scenes of hand-to-hand combat are brutally violent, but they never glorify the bloodshed. There is such enormous scope to this story that it works on a smaller, more personal scale as well, essaying love and loss, patriotism and passion. Extremely moving, it reveals Gibson as a multitalented performer and remarkable director with an eye for detail and an understanding of human emotion. (His first directorial effort was 1993's Man Without a Face.) The film is nearly three hours long and includes several plot tangents, yet is never dull. This movie resonates long after you have seen it, both for its visual beauty and for its powerful story. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Amazon.co.uk Review
Mel Gibson's birth-of-a-nation epic Braveheart does for England what Spartacus did for Rome: every Englishman in this film is weak or nasty or a fool, or all three. Gibson plays William Wallace, the highland warrior whose fierce fighting spirit prompted Robert the Bruce's memorable victory over the English at Bannockburn. The film opens with boy Wallace losing his father and brother to the murdering English. Gibson's over-age Wallace then indulges in an unintentionally risible spot of teenage romance with the chaste Murron (Catherine McCormack), who is promptly despatched by yet another wicked Englishman. Gibson swings into action in some truly impressive (and horribly gory) fight scenes, culminating in the battles of Stirling and Falkirk.

When not separating English body parts, Gibson finds time for a clandestine romance with Isabelle, the Princess of Wales (Sophie Marceau), whom he manages to impregnate, thereby ensuring that the current British monarchy are all descended from him and not from William the Conqueror as they might heretofore have supposed. He trounces the weak and venial English at every turn, causing England's nasty Edward I (Patrick McGoohan) to cough and splutter a lot. Only treachery by the Scotch nobility (lowlanders to a man) stops Wallace's triumphant crusade. His final apotheosis, complete with pre-Passion of the Christ crucifixion imagery, posits Wallace as the redeemer of his country's lost independence.

The set-piece battles are a feast for the senses: a combination of the scale of Spartacus with the mud of Branagh's Henry V. But the continual use of slow motion in tandem with the gorgeous scenic backdrops and James Horner's cloying "folksy" music score of indeterminate national origin, enhances the feeling that this is a slick promo for the Scottish tourist board (ironic, perhaps, that much of it was shot in Ireland). Gibson and his Caledonian costars give the impression that a good time was had by all. --Mark Walker

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Mel Gibsons Braveheart A Filmmakers Passion Documentary
Audio Commentary By Mel Gibson
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
Czech\Danish\Dutch\English\Finnish\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Customer Reviews

Not too bad, only terrible..
Without bleating on about historical accuracy (hollywood needs to go back to school) it has to be said that I'd get about as much entertainment from reading a large historical book on the same subject matter. It has little to offer when compared to the true fantasy epics in terms of story or action. Same applies when compared to other histoicaly inspired movies out there.

Scotlands tourist info office is able to provide plenty of footage of splendid scenery and rolling hills on DVD if thats what you're into. Couple that with a panpipe moods album and you're on your way to creating a hollywood blockbuster.

That said in terms of raw entertainment value, little can compare to watching Mel Gibson go all wobbly and big eyed as he screams "freedom!".

About as historical as Thomas The Tank Engine...
It's fun, yes, and it's momentarily inspiring, provided you can get past the two-dimensional characterisations.

In point of fact, this film is equally insulting to Scottish and English sensibilities. The English are all evil, despotic or cowardly, whilst the Scots are all tartan barbarians living in dry-stone crofts in the highlands (Edinburgh was a large stone-built city at the time, with fine architecture and a strong tradition of scholarship).

So enjoy it for what it is - a fun historical action film. Just don't see any real history in it, because the truth is easily found and far more interesting.

Fanciful, but why not?!
This wasn't the best film ever made, but it's definitely watchable and even enjoyable if you like a bit of romance and battle scenes. The more critical reviews seem to fixate either upon the fact that the reviewer has anti-Scottish sentiments or that it is historically inaccurate. Well I'm sorry guys but if you've got anti-Scottish sentiments then I really don't care(you're meant to be reviewing the product, after all) and if you want historical accuracy then learn to read a book. You may then be able to learn something without depending on spurious accounts of British history provided by big money in Hollywood, most of whom have never even been to Britain.
If we try to treat the film as a film rather than a history lesson, it suddenly becomes a lot more enjoyable, and if you're buying this then I'd recommend that you approach it in just that way. Admittedly if you're looking for reliable history you are likely to be bitterly disappointed. Mel Gibson is well enough as Wallace, although I don't feel that it's his best performance. Maybe his focus was split by the fact that he had to direct too? Sophie Marceau is a revelation, and Gibson is supported by such actors as Brendan Gleeson, Tommy Flanagan and Patrick McGoohan, all of whom turn in performances which they quite clearly believe in.
A particular point of interest for me was the way in which the execution scene at the end was dealt with. As someone who is NOT in favour of violence for violence's sake (it has its' place in most films, but it does aggrieve me when directors use blatantly unnecessary violence as a filler where none is required)I have to say that I thought it was handled appropriately- the viewer is left in no doubt as to what is happening, but at the same time is not expected to sit through a barrage of over-bloody, graphic nonsense. For a demonstration of how such scenes can be done wrong and to the utter detriment of the entire production see Elizabeth I starring Helen Mirren (though be warned that you won't know whether to vomit or laugh, it really is that pathetic a misadventure in an otherwise top-notch piece of film). In any case, Gibson got that bit spot-on, proving (in my opinion) that he can pull off direction even in a film where his acting COULD have been better.
All in all a very good movie. It is well directed, and (for the vast majority) well acted. If nothing else you get some lovely aerial shots of Irish countryside for your money! I confess that I would be more inclined to some of the adaptations of Henry VIII (the Ray Winstone offering in particular), or Gladiator over this film- it certainly isn't the favourite DVD in my collection. Plus, if you are one of those viewers who simply can't accept that it isn't Hollywood's job to teach accurate history, you'll be moaning about this one for months after you see it. Approach with an open mind.