Etalon of epicity from Mel Gibson The theme of the film, if viewed abstractly, is close and understandable to any person from any nation. In the history of every nation and nation there have been such dark times of oppression, and such heroes that they have inspired and led their people to freedom. William Wallace is not a worn or worn figure, so the film about him just had to be made.
And it was taken off - decently and on time! Ironically, Gibson played almost the same role in it as in the cult tetralogy (at the time - trilogy) "Lethal Weapon" - a desperate warrior who lost everything but his ideals. For Riggs, the ideal was the fight against crime, for Wallace – the fight for the independence of his people. By the way, the films could have even more in common - if the creators of "Lethal Weapon" confined themselves to a dilogy with a tragic ending, as originally intended.
The story of Wallace, unfortunately, has long been written by life itself, and without sinning against the truth, it cannot be rewrote. Here in the film a solid spoon of tar: a meticulous historian-pedant will look the film through his fingers from the eternal facepalm. For some realities almost belong to antiquity, other details, on the contrary, overtake the time of action for a couple of centuries ahead, and even in addition, the decisive battle takes place absolutely in the wrong scenery. But should the filmmakers be blamed? They only followed a long tradition - after all, medieval artists, for example, King Arthur in full armor. Epicity - everything, reliability - sideways: so it happened.
The rest of the film is flawless. It has everything – love, battles, charismatic heroes, no less charismatic villain, feats and selfless struggle, and, of course, the atmosphere of that cruel era.
The result: a true heroic epic. Not strictly reliable, but believable Middle Ages - a cruel time of bloody battles and great exploits. Great movie. 9 out of 10
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