Mel Gibson’s performance as William Wallace in the 1995 historical epic Braveheart was enormously lauded. The movie was even presented with five Oscars, including the Best Pictures award. However, despite bringing out the authentic rebellious tone, the movie appeared historically inaccurate to its audience.
Calling the 1995 drama, Braveheart, epically wrong on different levels, critics disgraced the movie for its filmmaking and lack of fact-checking. Despite beating the tag of a biographical film about the Scottish national hero, Mel Gibson’s movie failed to do justice to William Wallace’s role.
Mel Gibson’s $213M Oscar-Winning Movie Braveheart
Twenty-eight years ago Mel Gibson won hearts with his epic representation of the Scottish national hero, William Wallace in his 1995 historical epic Braveheart. Following the release of the movie, Gibson etched his place in Scottish cinema history and even received applause and awards for the same.
Donning five Oscars including the Best Pictures award, Mel Gibson‘s Braveheart, catapulted his career and turned him into a legendary veteran star. Sending chills down the spine of his audience with his classic rallying cry like William Wallace, Gibson portrayed a rousing battle scene under the leadership of Wallace.
Portraying the key moments in the First War of Scottish Independence, Mel Gibson touched souls with his acting and helped the film earn a staggering amount of $213M at the global box office. Portraying the iconic image with blue face paint, waging a guerrilla war against the English, Gibson made the Scottish legend immortal through his film.
Braveheart Became The Most Historically Inaccurate Film
Although Braveheart appears among Mel Gibson’s greatest acclaimed movies of all time, it turned out to be historically inaccurate on different levels. Involving politics, laws, society, romance, war, and verdict, the movie is claimed to have disgraced every aspect that it dealt with.
The movie even damaged the chronology and timeline of history as it stated the Scottish king died in 1280 with no sons. While King Alexander III of Scotland actually died in 1286 and had two sons who were very much alive. The movie even portrayed William Wallace as a poor fellow, while in reality, Wallace was the privileged son of a noble landowner from Renfrewshire.
Not to mention the fact that in Braveheart, William Wallace whipped out a concealed nunchaku, while pretending to surrender to the English. Considering it a historical epic, the implication of medieval Scots importing arms from China appears nothing but disgraceful. Similarly, during the war scene, it is portrayed, despite losing Wallace still proceeds to invade England and sack York, which is impossible on incorrect on several levels.
The filmmaking is thus worth criticism, given the lack of fact-checking while making a historical epic. However, based on the mere storyline and the gravity of the human sentiments associated with independence, Mel Gibson’s Braveheart remained one of the greatest films of all time.
Watch Braveheart (1995) on Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max.
Source: The Guardian
