Year:
2000
Studio:
Columbia Pictures/
Centropolis Entertainment
Movie:
4/5
DVD:
3/5
Movie
The Patriot is a
story about the American Revolutionary War against her British parents.
Even in a 2-3/4 hour movie that is a long story, so the movie focuses
on one man, Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), and his family. Benjamin is a
widow with seven children. A reknown veteran during the French and
Indian War, he doesn't want South Carolina to join the Revolution.
Benjamin has seen the horrors of war and wants no part of it,
especially because he has a family.
Unfortunately, war won't leave Benjamin alone. First his eldest son,
Gabriel (Heath Ledger) joins the Colonial Army, then his second son is
shot by an overzealous British commander (William Tavington, played by
Jason Isaacs) when Gabriel is captured. To free Gabriel, Benjamin
butchers a British patrol and after that he is fully involved in the
war.
The rest of the movie tells the exploits of Benjamin's militia band as
they harrass and fight the British. Clashes between Benjamin's and
Tavington's forces are frequent and the two make the war a personal
battle between themselves. Both are willing to push civilized
conventions to accomplish their goals, though at least Benjamin has
Gabriel to counsel restraint. It all leads to a climatic battle, during
the course of which the two adversaries will finally settle their score.
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Actors
Mel Gibson plays a role somewhat reminiscent of William Wallace in Braveheart. He does the family
moments especially well, probably because he has a lot of kids so he
can relate. There is a lot of hidden depth to the character he portrays
and it does come out.
Heath Ledger. Not a bad portrayal of his character. I just keep
picturing him in A Knight's Tale
and can't quite reconcile that image with this movie. For some reason I
kept expecting him to be more... light-hearted.
Jason Isaacs played a good villain. Very menacing and cold blooded and
British. But not an evil man, just a ruthless one who wants to win no
matter the cost.
DVD
Director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin provide the audio
commentary, which is fairly interesting if a bit dry. There are two
visual effect "interactive" featurettes, which amount to nothing more
than clicking on the next button to move the segment along. There is a
10-minute "The Art of War" talking about fighting during the
Revolutionary War period. The other 10-minute featurette talks about
the movie itself. Photo galleries are also included.
Recommendations
The battle scenes are really good. The period feel is good. The story
is good. A movie well worth watching.
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