History Film / ThePatriot

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Tavington burning the Martin's farm and killing the wounded Americans. The militia killing surrendering redcoats, much to Gabriel's protests. Later the church burning by the British with Patriot townsfolk inside.

* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: For some reason, Tavington insists on taking Gabriel Martin back to British headquarters to be hanged instead of just shooting him on the spot. This is odd, seeing as he orders all the other continental soldiers he finds at the Martin farm to be to shot right then and there.

* Gideon Ploy: Inverted. Benjamin Martin and his men dress up scarecrows as Redcoat officers and hold them at gunpoint within full view of General Cornwallis' camp, specifically to convince Cornwallis that they held a large number of English officers captive so they could exchange the "officers" for Colonial prisoners Cornwallis had. It works, much to Cornwallis' later consternation.

* UnderlingWithAnFInPR: Colonel Tavington, the field commander of the British dragoons, adopts extremely harsh policies towards the Americans, having wounded enemy soldiers gunned down and setting fire to the homes of non-combatants who sheltered them. General Cornwallis berates Tavington for his savagery, calling it unbecoming of AnOfficerAndAGentleman and reminding him of the King's wishes that there will be a reconciliation with the colonists (their fellow countrymen) after the rebellion is put down. He later rightfully points out that [[CreateYourOwnHero Tavington's cruelty has directly motivated men like Benjamin Martin to take up arms]].

* BackFromTheDead/Blooper: John Billings is seen killed in the first Redcoat volley at the climactic Battle of Cowpens. This is several months after he committed suicide.

-->'''Capt. Wilkins:''' ''(after locking townspeople in a church)'' [[SaltTheEarth Ready to fire the town on your order, sir]].
-->'''Col. Tavington:''' ''(EvilLaugh)'' The town? [[KickTheDog Burn the church]].
-->'''Capt. Wilkins:''' [[EvenEvilHasStandards There's no honor in this]].
-->'''Col. Tavington:''' [[IronicEcho Didn't you say "All those who stand against England deserve to die a traitor's death"?]] Burn the church, Captain.

-->'''Col. Benjamin Martin:''' If [[AxeCrazy the conduct of your officers]] is the measure of a gentleman, I'll take that as a compliment.

** [[spoiler:Near the end of the Battle of Cowpens, a presumably-incapacitated Benjamin Martin watches the battle as he writhes in pain, having been slashed by Tavington's sword. Tavington, who is right behind him, insults Martin by declaring: "[[MeaningfulEcho Kill me before the war is over, will you?]] It appears that you are ''not'' the better man. " Just as Tavington is about to behead Martin, Martin dodges the killing blow and grabs a bayonet to stab Tavington in the stomach. As Tavington falls, Martin holds the bayonet on Tavington's neck responds to his insult by concurring with him, declaring that [[PreMortemOneLiner his]] ''[[PreMortemOneLiner sons]]'' [[PreMortemOneLiner were better men]], right before Martin delivers the killing blow to Tavington]].

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The roundshot fired by cannon actually was aimed toward the ground, and the cannonball actually does bounce repeatedly off the ground the way it does in the film.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: No one in the British Army, not even his '''generals''', likes Tavington and were visibly relieved when [[spoiler:Benjamin does him in]].

** The British in general get this, but BigBad Charles Cornwallis definitely does. While in the movie he is still portrayed as a NobleDemon in comparison to Tavington's plain demon, he still holds the colonists in open contempt and disdain. In reality Cornwallis was a Whig who was sympathetic to the colonials, and before the war was an MP who voted on their behalf several times (notably, he was one of only five MPs to vote against the Stamp Act, predicting exactly the hostile response it generated). He was also an effective governor of Ireland and India after the war, effecting major changes in both parts of the British Empire despite his defeat in the Revolution.

** The British in general get this, but BigBad Charles Cornwallis definitely does. While in the movie he is still portrayed as a NobleDemon in comparison to Tavington's plain demon, he still holds the colonists in open contempt and disdain. In reality Cornwallis was a Whig who was sympathetic to the colonials, and before the war was an MP who voted on their behalf several times. He was also an effective governor of Ireland and India after the war, effecting major changes in both parts of the British Empire despite his defeat in the Revolution.

** Although Banastre Tarleton, the prototype for Tavington, was a rather nasty individual (to clarify, note his actions at the Waxhaws Massacre[[note]]and even then, it was arguably more his troops' fault than his own[[/note]] and his fervent support of the slave trade as an MP), he was not nearly as bad as the film would have you believe. Many of the things Tavington does, such as locking up villagers inside their church and then setting it and them on fire were based on German war crimes from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII like the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane_massacre Oradour-sur-Glane massacre]] (though the English did do similar things to the Irish during the 1641 rebellion, even if more than 100 years beforehand).

* HonorBeforeReason: The redcoat segment who declares this is "the King's Road" and refuses to stand down despite being outnumbered.

This is where [[GeneralRipper Colonel William Tavington]] (Creator/JasonIsaacs) comes in. The commander of the elite Green Dragoon forces, Tavington orders the deaths of the rebel wounded, has the Martins' house burned down, and takes Gabriel in as a spy to be hanged. Thomas (Gregory Smith), his next oldest son, tries to intervene, and gets a bullet in the back for his trouble. This sparks Benjamin Martin's decision to join the Revolution to fight the Redcoats (and to ambush and slaughter the British detachment).

* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: General Cornwallis is the highest-ranking British officer opposing the Southern rebels, but American Colonel Benjamin Martin respects Cornwallis' military genius and at one point negotiates his men's release with the General. Martin's real enemy is the vicious Colonel Tavington, the field commander of the Dragoons, who murdered Martin's son and burned down his home.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: After Anne Howard and Mrs. Howard sew Gabriel Martin into a bundling bag when he stays the night, Mr. Howard listens nervously at the door. Mrs. Howard says, "Don't worry, I'm a better seamstress than my mother was." Mr. Howard looks mortified and replies, "I hope so!"

-->'''Capt Wilkins:''' ''(after locking townspeople in a church)'' [[SaltTheEarth Ready to fire the town on your order, sir]].
-->'''Col. Tavington:''' ''(EvilLaugh)'' The town? Burn the church.

This is where [[GeneralRipper Colonel William Tavington]] (Creator/JasonIsaacs) comes in. The commander of the elite Green Dragoon forces, Tavington orders the deaths of the rebel wounded, has the Martins' house burned down, and takes Gabriel in as a spy to be hanged. Thomas, his next oldest son, tries to intervene, and gets a bullet in the back for his trouble. This sparks Benjamin Martin's decision to join the Revolution to fight the Redcoats (and to ambush and slaughter the British detachment).

This is where [[GeneralRipper Colonel Tavington]] (Creator/JasonIsaacs) comes in. The commander of the elite Green Dragoon forces, Tavington orders the deaths of the rebel wounded, has the Martins' house burned down, and takes Gabriel in as a spy to be hanged. Thomas, his next oldest son, tries to intervene, and gets a bullet in the back for his trouble. This sparks Benjamin Martin's decision to join the Revolution to fight the Redcoats (and to ambush and slaughter the British detachment).

A 2000 war epic set during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, directed by Creator/RolandEmmerich and starring Creator/MelGibson, Creator/HeathLedger and Creator/JasonIsaacs.

The movie isn't about the actual Founding Fathers, but is instead about some of the biggest and most brutal engagements that were waged in the Southern colonies, as seen through an [[CallToAgriculture Officer turned Farmer]] turned Officer again. Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a [[OldShame veteran of the French And Indian War]] who was changed by the horrors he has seen (and committed). South Carolina has just voted to join the war, but Ben decides not to participate in the conflict. His eldest son Gabriel (Ledger) decides to go anyway; he isn't seen again until two years later, when he staggers home, wounded and carrying dispatches between two rebel leaders.

This is where [[GeneralRipper Colonel Tavington]] (Isaacs) comes in. The commander of the elite Green Dragoon forces, Tavington orders the deaths of the rebel wounded, has the Martins' house burned down, and takes Gabriel in as a spy to be hanged. Thomas, his next oldest son, tries to intervene, and gets a bullet in the back for his trouble. This sparks Benjamin Martin's decision to join the Revolution to fight the Redcoats (and to ambush and slaughter the British detachment).