History Film / Braveheart

A 1995 film directed by, produced by, and starring Creator/MelGibson, and written by Randall Wallace, a self-proclaimed RealLife descendant of the main character. ''Braveheart'' tells the extremely fictionalized story of the legendary Scottish rebel William Wallace and his revolution against [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst King Edward the Longshanks]] of England, in which he battled for the freedom of Scotland and... well... got himself killed. This film is infamous among historians of being the apotheosis of movies messing up history, as it gets almost every historical detail wrong.

Wallace starts as a [[CallToAgriculture simple farmer]] who [[RefusalOfTheCall only wants to live a peaceful life]] with [[TheLostLenore his beloved wife Murron]] (Catherine [=McCormack=]), despite [[YouKilledMyFather his father's death]] at the hands of the English. Unfortunately, he stops the rape of his wife by marauding English soldiers, and after the evil English magistrate executes her in retaliation, Wallace continues the spiral of revenge and soon the other villagers rise up as well. As the whole of Scotland is drawn into the rebellion against England, Wallace takes command of the Scottish army to kick ass... for FREEDOM!

-->'''Wallace:''' I ''AM'' William Wallace!

* AloneWithPrisonerPloy: Princess Isabella demands some time alone with Wallace in his cell, so she could pass him the sedative which he refuses to take.

* AssholeVictim: The English magistrate of Lanark stands out among the English antagonists.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Wallace was hanged, drawn, and quartered for his troubles. This involved being stretched until his limbs dislocated, hanged by the neck but cut down before unconsciousness set in, strapped to a table, having his innards reeled out, his [[GroinAttack private parts cut off]] and eventually when his suffering had ceased to be entertaining, having his head cut off. The corpse would then be cut into four and displayed as a warning to any other would-be challengers of the Crown. Somewhat distressingly, this is one of the bits that's ''pretty accurate'' to history.

* DirtyCoward: The Scottish noblemen who sell out their own countrymen at the Battle of Falkirk in exchange for lands and title. Wallace gives several of them a very brutal payback for this.

* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes: Irish pipes though, not Highland.

* EvilOldFolks: Edward the Longshanks. After he throws his son's councilor/lover out a window, the enraged prince takes out a knife and attacks him. Longshanks effortlessly dodges the attack and delivers a massive pimp-slap that sends his son to the floor.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler: Robert the Bruce]] is ''definitely'' not a bad person, and really does seem to admire Wallace, but he is also weak and easily manipulated by his father, who convinces him to go along with the nobles' betrayal of Wallace at Falkirk. [[HeroicBSOD Seeing Wallace's face fraught with despair]] once he learns that Robert has betrayed him makes the Bruce realize he was wrong, and he saves Wallace's life while making a determined HeelFaceTurn in the process. When his father uses him to betray Wallace yet again, he makes it clear to his old man, in no uncertain terms, that he is now [[ThisIsUnforgivable forever dead to him.]]]]

* BilingualBonus: Princess Isabella of France has conversations with her handmaiden in French, though it is mostly subtitled. At one point her handmaiden reveals to Isabella that she heard her husband is sending a new English army north to crush Wallace's rebellion. Surprised at how she knows this, the handmaiden then explains that one of the members of her husband's war council let it slip while she was having sex with him. Embarrassed, Isabella says he shouldn't have told her sensitive information like that in bed. The handmaiden quips that Englishmen don't know what a tongue is for (i.e. cunnilingus). As a case of GettingCrapPastTheRadar, the TV edit doesn't leave out the line, it simply changes the subtitles to read "Englishmen don't know what a ''bed'' is for" - but anyone with a basic high school level knowledge of French can fully recognize what she really said.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Wallace was Hung, Drawn and Quartered for his troubles. This involved being stretched until his limbs dislocated, hung by the neck but cut down before unconsciousness set in, strapped to a table, having his innards reeled out, his [[GroinAttack private parts cut off]] and eventually when his suffering had ceased to be entertaining, having his head cut off. The corpse would then be cut into four and displayed as a warning to any other would-be challengers of the Crown. Somewhat distressingly, this is one of the bits that's ''pretty accurate'' to history.

** Scots understandably take a dim view of him, as do the Welsh with equally good reason, but the English quite correctly regard him as one of their best kings. He was also an excellent husband and father. Whether or not he knew of Edward II's proclivities, he certainly didn't kill any of his male lovers.

* AnachronismStew: The film depicts the medieval Scots as wearing both blue woad [[ThisMeansWarpaint face paint]] (which was characteristic of the ancient Picts and is seen in general use no later than the Roman occupation) and kilts (which [[NewerThanTheyThink didn't come into fashion in Scotland until the 16th century]]).

A 1995 film directed by, produced by, and starring Creator/MelGibson, and written by Randall Wallace, a self-proclaimed RealLife descendant of the main character. ''Braveheart'' tells the extremely fictionalized story of the legendary Scottish rebel William Wallace and his revolution against [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst King Edward the Longshanks]] of England, in which he battled for the freedom of Scotland and... well... got himself killed. This film is infamous among historians of being the apotheosis of movies messing up history, as it gets almost every historical detail wrong on purpose in this farbfest of a travesty of a film.

-->'''Robert:''' *slams table* '''''SO AM I!!!'''''

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: What happens to Wallace after finding out Murron was killed by English soldiers.

-->'''Robert:''' '''''SO AM I!!!'''''

-->'''Isabella:''' He proposes that you withdraw your attack. In return he grants you title, estates, and this chest of gold which I am to pay to you personally.
-->'''Wallace:''' A lordship and titles. Gold. That I should become Judas?
-->'''Isabella:''' Peace is made in such ways.
-->'''Wallace:''' ''Slaves'' are made in such ways!

A 1995 film directed by, produced by, and starring Creator/MelGibson, and written by Randall Wallace, a self-proclaimed RealLife descendant of the main character. ''Braveheart'' tells the extremely fictionalized story of the legendary Scottish rebel William Wallace and his revolution against [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst King Edward the Longshanks]] of England, in which he battled for the freedom of Scotland and... well... got himself killed.

* EternallyPearlyWhiteTeeth: For a 14th-century Scottish peasant, Murron has exceptional dental hygiene.

* GoOutWithASmile: William Wallace does this, in part because he sees the spirit of his dead wife among the crowd smiling at him as he is being brutally tortured to death.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant It should not be confused]] with real history or the [[IOSGames iPhone game]] or the leonine leader of the [[Franchise/CareBears Care Bear Cousins]]. Or a song from a certain [[Anime/DigimonAdventure anime]]...

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler: Robert the Bruce is [[SlidingScaleOfAntiVillains type II.]] He's ''definitely'' not a bad person, and really does seem to admire Wallace, but he is also weak and easily manipulated by his father, who convinces him to go along with the nobles' betrayal of Wallace at Falkirk. [[HeroicBSOD Seeing Wallace's face fraught with despair]] once he learns that Robert has betrayed him makes the Bruce realize he was wrong, and he saves Wallace's life while making a determined HeelFaceTurn in the process. When his father uses him to betray Wallace yet again, he makes it clear to his old man, in no uncertain terms, that he is now [[ThisIsUnforgivable forever dead to him.]]]]

* BadassGrandpa:
** Campbell the Elder.
** Edward the Longshanks. After he throws his son's councilor/lover out a window, the enraged prince takes out a knife and attacks him. Longshanks effortlessly dodges the attack and delivers a massive pimp-slap that sends his son to the floor.

* BadassBoast: "They may take our lives, but they'll never take our ''[[BattleCry FREEDOM!]]''" This has became a popular meme.

* ChekhovsHobby: As a boy, William mentions to his uncle Argyle that he doesn't know Latin, to which Argyle replies "Well, that's something we shall have to remedy.". As an adult, Wallace tells Murron he can speak Latin as well as French. His fluency in both help him as he faces Princess Isabella and her adviser, as mentioned in BilingualBackfire.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Wallace was Hung, Drawn and Quartered for his troubles. This involved being stretched until his limbs dislocated, hung by the neck but cut down before unconsciousness set in, strapped to a table, having his innards reeled out, his [[GroinAttack private parts cut off]] and eventually, when his suffering had ceased to be entertaining, having his head cut off. The corpse would then be cut into four and displayed as a warning to any other would-be challengers of the Crown. Somewhat distressingly, this is one of the bits that's ''pretty accurate'' to history.

** First William dresses as an English soldier to help his wife get out of town. His efforts are to no avail.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Robert the Bruce goes from neutral to allies, then betrays Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk, only to come to his senses again after a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment. Eventually he becomes an UnwittingPawn to Wallace's capture.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: When the Scots struggle to [[BatteringRam ram open]] the gates to York, the English help them unwittingly. First they pour boiling tar on the attackers and then they shoot ArrowsOnFire at them. The arrow sets the tar-soaked ram on fire which in turn sets the gate on fire. Problem solved for the Scots.

** In 1280, King Alexander III of Scotland was not only still alive, but his two sons were also alive. The younger son, David, died in 1281; the elder son, Alexander, died in 1284; and finally Alexander III himself died in 1286. Alexander III left a granddaughter, Margaret, acknowledged as his heir by the Scottish nobles. Rather than fighting each other over the crown, the Scots appointed regents who ruled until she died in 1290. At this point, the nobles did not fall into civil war, and Edward did not claim the throne of Scotland. Instead, the Scots nobles asked Edward to preside (as a neutral party) over a commission to determine the rightful king. While Edward did claim overlordship of Scotland and undoubtedly influenced the conclusion, the result was to choose John Balliol as King of Scotland by the normal rules of primogeniture. At no time did Edward invite the nobles of Scotland "to talks of truce -- no weapons, one page only". Balliol did start a war against Edward in 1296, because he felt that Edward was being overbearing. Unfortunately for Balliol, Edward was one of the best generals ever to sit on the English throne, and beat Balliol handily. Incidentally, Edward was in no sense a "pagan" -- there had not been any true pagans in Britain for centuries (he wasn't even a ''paganus'' in the Classical Latin sense of "peasant" or "yokel"). In addition, Malcolm Wallace had three sons in 1280. The one left out was the eldest, also named Malcolm.

* SceneryPorn: The Scottish highlands are given many lovely shots in this film. John Toll even won his second best Cinematographer Oscar for this film.

** After Longshanks's KickTheDog moment against his son's best friend and possible lover, Edward II finally snaps and tries to kill the old man in {{Revenge}}. Sadly subverted, though: Longshanks easily defends himself and then simply abuses his son even more.

** Surprisingly, the future Queen Isabella "[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the She-Wolf]]" of France got this one as well. Although she's [[AgeLift much older than she was at the time of these events]], the real Isabella is best known for trying to control her husband Edward II, being banished to France along with their son after her father the French King tried to force said husband to show him piety, having an affair with the ambitious Roger Mortimer, then taking Mortimer and a French army back to England to depose her husband and then ''murder him'' so that her lover Roger could rule as RegentForLife while her young son Edward III was an ineffectual PuppetKing until Edward and his supporters overthrew Mortimer in 1330, Isabella being placed under house arrest until she was deemed to no longer be a threat to her sons' reign. About the only accurate thing about her is that she opposed the wars with Scotland, although even that was likely due to Scotland just being a historical French ally, and she never met the long dead Wallace.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: King Edward Longshanks was a bastard (though many would call him a MagnificentBastard) in real life, but is a downright mustache-twirling thug in the film.

** Surprisingly, the future Queen Isabella "[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the She-Wolf]]" of France got this one as well. Although she's [[AgeLift much older than she was at the time of these events]], the real Isabella is best known for trying to control her husband Edward II, being banished to France along with their son after her father the French King tried to force said husband to show him piety, having an affair with the ambitious Roger Mortimer, then taking Mortimer and a French army back to England to depose her husband and then ''murder him'' so that her lover Roger could rule as RegentForLife while her young son Edward III was an ineffectual PuppetKing until Edward and his supporters overthrew Mortimer in 1330, Isabella being placed under house arrest until she was deemed to no longer be a threat to her sons' reign. About the only accurate thing about her is that she opposed the wars with Scotland, although even that was likely due to how costly and pointless they became later on, and she never met the long dead Wallace.

** Surprisingly, the future Queen Isabella "[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the She-Wolf]]" of France got this one as well. Although she's [[AgeLift much older than she was at the time of these events]], the real Isabella is best known for trying to control her husband, being banished to France along with their son after her father the French King tried to force said husband to show him piety, having an affair with the ambitious Roger Mortimer, then taking Mortimer and a French army back to England to depose her husband and then ''murder him'' so that her lover Roger could rule as RegentForLife while her young son Edward III was an ineffectual PuppetKing until Edward and his supporters overthrew Mortimer in 1330, Isabella being placed under house arrest until she was deemed to no longer be a threat to her sons' reign.

** Surprisingly, the future Queen Isabella "[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the She-Wolf]]" of France got this one as well.