"I shall
tell you of William Wallace. Historians from England will say
I am a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes.
The king of Scotland had died without a son, and the King of England,
a cruel pagan known as Edward the Longshanks, claimed the thrown
of Scotland for himself. Scotland's nobles fought him, and fought
each other over the crown. So Longshanks invited them to talks
of truce, no weapons, one page only. Among the farmers of that
shire was Malcolm Wallace, a commoner with his own lands. He had
two sons: John and William."
The movie is based on the real-life tale of William Wallace, a
Scottish freedom-fighter who inspired a rebellion in Scotland
and Northern England in the 13th century. The part of 
Wallace
is played brilliantly by Mel Gibson, who also directed the film.
The movie has a bit of everything including action, adventure
romance and drama. It's full of betrayal and greed but the William
Wallace character never loses what he has his sights set on and
that is freedom for Scotland. This is never more clear than in
the final scene when, with his last breath, he shouts "FREEDOM!!"
The
movie gets a little graphic at times, but in my opinion, most
of it is justified. In the Battle at Stirling, the first real
battle of the film, Wallace shows his tactical brilliance by overcoming
insurmountable odds. The British have the Scottish outnumbered
and the Scots are ready to flee when Wallace arrives and delivers
one of the most inspiring speeches I've ever heard in a movie.
Here is a transcript from the scene.
Young
soldier: (to William) William Wallace is 7 feet tall.
Wallace:
(to the young soldier) Yes, I've heard. He kills men by the
hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs
from
his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse. (All laugh. He
addressed
the crowd.) I am William Wallace, and I see a whole army of my
countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight
as free
men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom?
Will you fight?
Veteran
soldier: (to William) Fight against that? No, we will run, and
we will live.
William:
(in reply) Aye, fight and you may die, run and you'll live. At
least a while. (shouting to all) And dying in your beds many years
from
now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day
to that for
one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies
that
they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!
Alba gu
brath! (Scotland forever!)
Well
in my opinion this is one of the best film ever made. It was the
winner of five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director (Mel
Gibson), Cinematography (John Toll), Makeup (Peter Frampton, Paul
Pattison, Luis Burwell), Sound Effects Editing (Lon Bender, Per
Hallberg). I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who
can take a little violence and I give it 4 out of 4 stars.
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