DVDs

Braveheart

Region 1

Region 4

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%