Braveheart

[Blockaderunner]

I mentioned William Wallace and 'Braveheart' on another thread. So this would seem to be the right place to continue.
Braveheart is set in late 13th century Scotland and Stars Mel Gibson as Wallace, with Patrick Mcgoohan (The Prisoner, Dangerman) as Edward I of England. English forces are occupying much of Scotland. The reasons are not really explained in the movie, but this came about in a roundabout manner.
Edward I was invited to arbitrate on a dispute over the rightfull successor to the Scottish throne. Edward agreed on the condition that he be recognised as 'Lord Paramount of Scotland'. John Balliol was eventually crowned King of Scotland. Not long after, Balliol renounced his allegence to Edward. Edward responded by sacking the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and defeating the Scots army at the Battle of Dunbar.
History does not accurately record Wallace's early life or the way in which he became leader of the forces in the war against the English. But suffice to say, he did raise an army.
The movie depicts two battles. Those being Stirling Bridge and Falkirk. Stirling Bridge was Wallace's finest hour. The movie however is completely inaccurate. The two opposing armies are shown facing each other across an open field. Had this been the case, then Wallace's army would have been slaughtered. The Earl of Surrey, who commanded a force of English troops and 'freelances' from throughout Europe, heavily outnumbered Wallace. Surreys army contained a large number of mounted knights. Wallace also had mounted knights but far fewer. Exact numbers are impossible to determine, but Surrey probably outnumbered Wallace by three to one. What really happened was military genius on the part of Wallace. The two armies faced each other across a burn. A narrow bridge crossed the burn between the two armies. Totally confident of victory, the English knights charged across the bridge. However, the bridge was narrow. Horsemen could only cross two abreast. Wallace would allow only so many across before cutting them down and pressing forward. This caused a crush, as retreating English knights pressed against advancing English foot soldiers. The bridge collapsed leaving troops stranded without support. They were massacred. None of this is depicted in the movie. I read a review a long time ago, where a Scottish historian questioned the movie makers about the innaccuracies. He was told "the bridge just got in the way". He replied "Yes, thats what the English found". The battle scene does graphically depict medieval warfare. Mens heads are split with axes, skewered on lances and sliced with swords.
The other battle depicted is Falkirk. This was Wallace's biggest defeat. His opponent in this battle was Edward himself. As a prince, Edward had served in several engagements in England and was a formidable foe. This battle was fought in open country, although the exact location is lost to history. Wallace arranged his troops in squares of pikemen, called schiltrons. Again the movie gets this wrong. The armies are shown in lines facing each other. Edward used his secret weapon, the longbow. The Scottish schiltrons were mown down then finished off with a charge of mounted knights. The movie contains some moments of silliness during this battle. Edward has recruted some Irish foot soldiers. When asked if he wants to use the bowmen, Edward replies "Arrows cost money! Use the Irish". The Irish charge towards the Scots, then stop and offer friendly greetings. Edward then uses his bowmen, killing both Irish and Scots. Just didn't happen.
Wallace was later captured and taken to London. He was hung drawn and quartered. This too is depicted in the movie.
As a true historical account of Wallace, the movie must be taken with a pinch of salt. As an action adventure movie with dramatic battle scenes then the movie is good but not excellent. Star of the show is undoubtedly Patrick Macgoohan, he really hams it up as an evil Edward I. The movie is much loved in Scotland due to the anti English sentiment. During the battle scenes, Wallace paints his face blue with woad. In the years following the release of the movie, Scottish football and rugby fans were often seen with blue faces when their team was losing to England. Sorry, playing England. A statue was recently erected at the foot of the Wallace monument. Unbelievably this is actually modelled on Mel Gibson. Wallace remains to this day the most legendary character in Scottish history. A direct equivalent would be the legend of Stonewall Jackson to the south.

[Nytram01]

This is a subject I can be a bit of an authority on as I do know quite a bit about the Scottish War of Independence that Braveheart was supposed to depict.

If anyone is interested in the ignored parts of the movie I would be happy to post it but until then I shall keep this short.

Braveheart was simply an action movie with very little historical accuracy attatched to it. It misses out too much to be considered anywhere near a true representation of the war but it was enjoyable none the less.

[Blockaderunner]

Did you find the innaccurate battle scenes as annoying as I did?

[Nytram01]

I didn't when I first saw the film but I didn't know as much about the war then and now it does annoy me somewhat.

Not as much though, it has to be said, as the inaccurate way they portrayed Robert the Bruce,

[samgrant]

What about the "mooning"?

-

[Blockaderunner]

Probably also innaccurate.

They didn't wear kilts at the time.

Quite funny though

[J_Man0507]

I see Braveheart much in the same light as I do 300; a great guy movie. Though a little bit better directed, and with just a bit more historical accuracy (though not much, as I am reading) it is just a great action movie. Not a movie that I would show to a history class and say "Hey, here is how it really went down." That would be sheer stupidity. It is a movie I would watch for the blood, the guts, and the inspiration to stand for freedom. But that is about it.

[mt155]

How about Mel Gibson's accent? Was that accurate? Wink Wink, nudge nudge!

Mike T.

[Blockaderunner]

Almost as good as Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins

[ole]

I'm certainly glad to get that information from the steed's mouth.

Inspired to insert "Braveheart" into the infernal machine and imagine the scenes just described.

Thanks, gentlemen! (See what you've started?)

ole