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DVDs
Braveheart
 By
Richard Moore
Every
time Braveheart appears on screen the thought hammers through
the old brain like a battlepick - what a fantastic movie.
Sure,
it won the 1995 Oscar for best picture and Mel Gibson earned the
best director statue, but how many award-winners are just the best
of a crap bunch?
No,
Braveheart is an astounding achievement because of its vision,
its scope, its realism and its passion allows it to sit well among
the best movies of all time.
It
has its faults - like a serious amount of historical errors - but
then it is not a 13th Century history lesson on Scotland's fight
to free itself from English rule, it is more a powerful, emotional
look at a bloody period of Scots and English history. And, boy,
is it bloody.
On
DVD, in particular, the sharpness of the still frames and slow-motion
replay allows you to really check out the gory action in eye-averting
detail.
The
scene where a vengeful William Wallace caves in a skull with a flail
makes even the heartiest gore-lover go "oooook".
But
Braveheart is more than blood and guts. It is an earthy adventure,
a love story, a tale of treachery, a line-up of memorable characters
and the story of one man's vision for his country.
Just
how Gibson managed it all is mind-boggling, but it is a tribute
to his talents that he pulled it off so well.
Okay,
he had a ripper cast to help out, with Patrick McGoohan being the
absolute star of the whole thing as an imperiously sinister Edward
I, better known as Longshanks. McGoohan absolutely revels in his
scenes-stealing performance with such great lines as: "Not the archers,
arrows cost money. Use up the Irish, the dead cost nothing." And,
when questioned by a surprised commander over his order to shoot
arrows even if it meant hitting his own men: "Yes, but we'll hit
their's as well. We have reserves. Attack."
Braveheart
also boasts two of the most stunning female actors around, in Sophie
Marceau and Catherine McCormack, who add much-needed grace and beauty
to a grim story.
Newish
face Angus Macfadyen is terrific as the unsure Robert the Bruce
and Alun Armstrong puts in a great performance as a side-switching
Scottish noble.
In
addition, you can spend hours going through and spotting many familiar
faces in lesser roles - such as the uncompromising James Cosmo as
a stalwart Wallace supporter, Ian Bannen as the scheming, leperous
father of the Bruce and Brendan Gleeson as Wallace's childhood friend.
The
transfer on to DVD is up and down, with shadow areas prone to film
artefacts but, when you consider the amount of action going on across
the screen, it's pretty good.
Braveheart
is an awesome movie that should be in every home DVD library.
Conclusion:
Movie:
95%
DVD
Extras: 85%
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