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Braveheart
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Braveheart
Braveheart imp.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Mel Gibson
Produced by
Mel Gibson
Alan Ladd, Jr.
Bruce Davey
Stephen McEveety
Written by
Randall Wallace
Starring
Mel Gibson
Sophie Marceau
Patrick McGoohan
Catherine McCormack
Angus Macfadyen
Brendan Gleeson
Music by
James Horner
Cinematography
John Toll
Editing by
Steven Rosenblum
Studio
Icon Productions
The Ladd Company
Distributed by
Paramount Pictures
(USA & Canada)
20th Century Fox
(International)
Release dates
May 24, 1995

Running time
177 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$72 million[1]
Box office
$210,409,945[1]
Braveheart is a 1995 historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The story is based on Blind Harry's epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace and was adapted for the screen by Randall Wallace. It has been described as one of the most historically inaccurate modern films.[2]
The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards and won five including Best Picture, Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Director.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Release and reception 4.1 Box office
4.2 Reviews
4.3 Effect on tourism
4.4 Awards and honors
4.5 Cultural effects
4.6 Wallace Monument
5 Historical inaccuracy 5.1 Ius Primae Noctis
5.2 Portrayal of William Wallace
5.3 Portrayal of Isabella of France
5.4 Portrayal of Robert the Bruce
5.5 Portrayal of Longshanks and Prince Edward
6 Accusations of anglophobia
7 Soundtrack
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
In 1280, King Edward "Longshanks" (Patrick McGoohan) invades and conquers Scotland following the death of Alexander III of Scotland who left no heir to the throne. Young William Wallace witnesses the treachery of Longshanks, survives the death of his father and brother, and is taken abroad to Rome by his Uncle Argyle (Brian Cox) where he is educated. Years later, Longshanks grants his noblemen land and privileges in Scotland, including the right of the lord to have sex with a woman subject on her wedding night. When he returns home, Wallace (Mel Gibson) falls in love with his childhood friend, Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack), and they marry in secret so she does not have to spend a night in the bed with the English lord. Wallace rescues Murron from being raped by English soldiers, as a consequence, Murron is captured and publicly executed. In retribution, Wallace slaughters the English garrison. Wallace sends the occupying garrison at Lanark back to England.
This enrages Longshanks, who orders his son, Edward II of England, to stop Wallace by any means necessary. Wallace rebels against the English, and as his legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans join him. Wallace leads his army to victory at Stirling and then sacks the city of York, killing Longshanks nephew and sending his head back. Wallace seeks the assistance of Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen), the son of nobleman Robert the Elder (Ian Bannen) and a contender for the Scottish crown. Robert is dominated by his father, who wishes to secure the throne for his son by submitting to the English. Worried by the threat of the rebellion, Longshanks sends his son's wife, Isabella of France (Sophie Marceau), to try to negotiate with Wallace hoping that Wallace will kill her in order to draw the French king to declare war. Wallace refuses the bribe sent with Isabella by Longshanks, but after meeting him in person, Isabella becomes enamored with him. Meanwhile, Longshanks prepares an army to invade Scotland.
Warned of the coming invasion by Isabella, Wallace implores the Scottish nobility that immediate action is needed to counter the threat and to take back the country. Leading the English army himself, Longshanks confronts the Scots at Falkirk where noblemen Lochlan and Mornay betray Wallace. The Scots lose the battle, and Hamish's father dies after the battle. As he charges toward the departing Longshanks on horseback, Wallace is intercepted by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be Robert. Remorseful, he gets Wallace to safety before the English can capture him. Wallace kills Mornay and Lochlan for their betrayal, and wages a guerrilla war against the English. Robert, intending to join Wallace and commit troops to the war, sets up a meeting with him in Edinburgh. However, Robert's father has conspired with other nobles to capture and hand over Wallace to the English. Learning of his treachery, Robert disowns his father. Isabella exacts revenge on the now terminally ill Longshanks by telling him she is pregnant with Wallace's child, intent on ending Longshanks line and ruling in his son's place.
In London, Wallace is brought before an English magistrate, tried for high treason, and condemned to public torture and beheading. Even whilst being hanged, drawn and quartered, Wallace refuses to beg for mercy and submit to the king. As cries for mercy come from the watching crowd, the magistrate offers him one final chance, asking him only to utter the word "Mercy" and be granted a quick death. Wallace instead shouts the word "Freedom!" and, impressed by the Scotsman's valour, the judge orders his death. Moments before being decapitated, Wallace sees a vision of Murron in the crowd, smiling at him. In 1314, Robert, now Scotland's king, leads a Scottish army before a ceremonial line of English troops on the fields of Bannockburn where he is to formally accept English rule. As he begins to ride toward the English, he stops and invokes Wallace's memory, imploring his men to fight with him as they did with Wallace. Robert then leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their freedom.
Cast[edit]
Mel Gibson as William Wallace
James Robinson as young William Wallace
Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabella of France
Patrick McGoohan as King Edward "Longshanks"
Catherine McCormack as Murron MacClannough
Angus Macfadyen as Robert the Bruce
Brendan Gleeson as Hamish
James Cosmo as Campbell
David O'Hara as Stephen
Peter Hanly as Prince Edward
Ian Bannen as Robert the Bruce's father
Seán McGinley as MacClannough
Brian Cox as Argyle Wallace
Sean Lawlor as Malcolm Wallace
Sandy Nelson as John Wallace
Stephen Billington as Phillip
John Kavanagh as Craig
Alun Armstrong as Mornay
Tommy Flanagan as Morrison
Michael Byrne as Smythe
Malcolm Tierney as Magistrate
Peter Mullan as Veteran
Gerard McSorley as Hugh de Cressingham
Richard Leaf as Governor of York
Mark Lees as Old Crippled Scotsman
Production[edit]
Gibson's production company, Icon Productions had difficulty raising enough money even if he were to star in the film. Warner Bros. was willing to fund the project on the condition that Gibson sign for another Lethal Weapon sequel, which he refused. Paramount Pictures only agreed to American and Canadian distribution of Braveheart after 20th Century Fox partnered for international rights.[3]
While the crew spent six weeks shooting on location in Scotland, the major battle scenes were shot in Ireland using members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras. To lower costs, Gibson had the same extras portray both armies. The opposing armies are made up of reservists, up to 1,600 in some scenes, who had been given permission to grow beards and swapped their drab uniforms for medieval garb.[4]
According to Gibson, he was inspired by the big screen epics he had loved as a child, such as Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus and William Wyler's The Big Country.
The film was shot in the anamorphic format with Panavision C- and E-Series lenses.[5]
Gibson toned down the film's battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, with the final version being rated R for "brutal medieval warfare."[6]
In addition to English being the film's primary language, French, Latin, and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken.
Release and reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
On its opening weekend, Braveheart grossed $9,938,276 in the United States and $75.6 million in its box office run in the U.S. and Canada.[1] Worldwide, the film grossed $210,409,945 and was the thirteenth highest-grossing film of 1995.[1]
Reviews[edit]
Braveheart met with generally positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 81% with an average score of 7.1/10. The film's depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge was listed by CNN as one of the best battles in cinema history.[7] In his review, Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of four, writing: "An action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of 'The Road Warrior'."
In a 2005 poll by British film magazine Empire, Braveheart was No. 1 on their list of "The Top 10 Worst Pictures to Win Best Picture Oscar".[8] Scottish actor and comedian Billy Connolly claimed Braveheart was "a great piece of work".[9]
Effect on tourism[edit]
In 1996, the year after the film was released, the annual three-day "Braveheart Conference" at Stirling Castle attracted fans of Braveheart, increasing the conference's attendance to 167,000 from 66,000 in the previous year.[10] In the following year, research on visitors to the Stirling area indicated that 55% of the visitors had seen Braveheart. Of visitors from outside Scotland, 15% of those who saw Braveheart said it influenced their decision to visit the country. Of all visitors who saw Braveheart, 39% said the film influenced in part their decision to visit Stirling, and 19% said the film was one of the main reasons for their visit.[11] In the same year, a tourism report said that the "Braveheart effect" earned Scotland ₤7 million to ₤15 million in tourist revenue, and the report led to various national organizations encouraging international film productions to take place in Scotland.[12]
The film generated huge interest in Scotland and in Scottish history, not only around the world, but also in Scotland itself. Fans came from all over the world to see the places in Scotland where William Wallace fought, also to the places in Scotland and Ireland used as locations in the film. At a Braveheart Convention in 1997, held in Stirling the day after the Scottish Devolution vote and attended by 200 delegates from around the world, Braveheart author Randall Wallace, Seoras Wallace of the Wallace Clan, Scottish historian David Ross and Bláithín FitzGerald from Ireland gave lectures on various aspects of the film. Several of the actors also attended including James Robinson (Young William), Andrew Weir (Young Hamish), Julie Austin (the young bride) and Mhairi Calvey (Young Murron).
Awards and honors[edit]
The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five.[13]
Won

Award
Winner
Best Picture Mel Gibson
Alan Ladd, Jr.
Bruce Davey
Best Director Mel Gibson
Best Cinematography John Toll
Best Makeup Peter Frampton
 Paul Pattison
 Lois Burwell
Best Sound Editing Lon Bender
Per Hallberg
Nominated

Award
Nominee
Best Original Screenplay Randall Wallace
Best Original Dramatic Score James Horner
Best Sound Mixing Andy Nelson
Scott Millan
Anna Behlmer
Brian Simmons
Best Film Editing Steven Rosenblum
Best Costume Design Charles Knode
American Film Institute listsAFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated[14]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – No. 91
AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: William Wallace – Nominated Hero[15]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: "They may take away our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!" – Nominated[16]
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[17]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – No. 62
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[18]
AFI's 10 Top 10 – Nominated Epic Film[19]
Cultural effects[edit]
Lin Anderson, author of Braveheart: From Hollywood To Holyrood, credits the film with playing a significant role in affecting the Scottish political landscape in the mid to late 1990s.[20]
Wallace Monument[edit]



 Tom Church's 'Freedom' statue.
In 1997, a 12-ton sandstone statue depicting Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart was placed in the car park of the Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland. The statue, which was the work of Tom Church, a monumental mason from Brechin,[21] included the word "Braveheart" on Wallace's shield. The installation became the cause of much controversy; one local resident stated that it was wrong to "desecrate the main memorial to Wallace with a lump of crap."[22] In 1998 the face on the statue was vandalised by someone wielding a hammer. After repairs were made, the statue was encased in a cage every night to prevent further vandalism. This only incited more calls for the statue to be removed as it then appeared that the Gibson/Wallace figure was imprisoned. The statue was described as "among the most loathed pieces of public art in Scotland."[23] In 2008, the statue was returned to its sculptor to make room for a new visitor centre being built at the foot of the Wallace Monument.[24]
Historical inaccuracy[edit]
Randall Wallace, the writer of the screenplay, has acknowledged Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie as a major inspiration for the film.[25] In defending his script, Randall Wallace has said, "Is Blind Harry true? I don't know. I know that it spoke to my heart and that's what matters to me, that it spoke to my heart."[25] Blind Harry's poem is not now regarded as historically accurate, and although some incidents in the film which are not historically accurate are taken from Blind Harry (e.g. the hanging of Scots nobles at the start) there are large parts which are based neither on history nor Blind Harry (e.g. Wallace's affair with Princess Isabelle).
Elizabeth Ewan describes Braveheart as a film which "almost totally sacrifices historical accuracy for epic adventure".[26] The "brave heart" refers in Scottish history to that of Robert the Bruce, and an attribution by William Edmondstoune Aytoun, in his poem Heart of Bruce, to Sir James the Good: "Pass thee first, thou dauntless heart, As thou wert wont of yore!", prior to Douglas's demise at the Battle of Teba in Andalusia.[27]
Sharon Krossa notes that the film contains numerous historical errors, beginning with the wearing of belted plaid by Wallace and his men. In that period "no Scots ... wore belted plaids (let alone kilts of any kind)."[28] Moreover, when Highlanders finally did begin wearing the belted plaid, it was not "in the rather bizarre style depicted in the film."[28] She compares the inaccuracy to "a film about Colonial America showing the colonial men wearing 20th century business suits, but with the jackets worn back-to-front instead of the right way around."[28] "The events aren't accurate, the dates aren't accurate, the characters aren't accurate, the names aren't accurate, the clothes aren't accurate—in short, just about nothing is accurate."[29] The belted plaid (feileadh mór léine) was not introduced until the 16th century.[30] Peter Traquair has referred to Wallace's "farcical representation as a wild and hairy highlander painted with woad (1,000 years too late) running amok in a tartan kilt (500 years too early)." [31]
In 2009, the film was second on a list of "most historically inaccurate movies" in The Times.[2] In the 2007 humorous non-fictional historiography An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, author John O'Farrell notes that Braveheart could not have been more historically inaccurate, even if a "Plasticine dog" had been inserted in the film and the title changed to William Wallace and Gromit.[32]
Randall Wallace is very vocal about defending his script from historians who have dismissed the film as a Hollywood perversion of actual events.[citation needed] In the DVD audio commentary of Braveheart, Mel Gibson acknowledges many of the historical inaccuracies[citation needed] but defends his choices as director, noting that the way events were portrayed in the film was much more "cinematically compelling" than the historical fact or conventional mythos.
Ius Primae Noctis[edit]
In the film, Edward Longshanks, King of England, is shown invoking the right of Jus Primae Noctis, supposedly allowing the Lord of a medieval estate to take the virginity of his serf's maiden daughters. Critical medieval scholarship regards this supposed right as a myth, as one recent specialist has put it, "the simple reason why we are dealing with a myth here rests in the surprising fact that practically all writers who make any such claims have never been able or willing to cite any trustworthy source, if they have any."[33][34]
Portrayal of William Wallace[edit]
As John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett write, "Because [William] Wallace is one of Scotland's most important national heroes and because he lived in the very distant past, much that is believed about him is probably the stuff of legend. But there is a factual strand that historians agree to", summarized from Scots scholar Matt Ewart:

Wallace was born into the gentry of Scotland; his father lived until he was 18, his mother until his 24th year; he killed the sheriff of Lanark when he was 27, apparently after the murder of his wife; he led a group of commoners against the English in a very successful battle at Stirling in 1297, temporarily receiving appointment as guardian; Wallace's reputation as a military leader was ruined in the same year of 1297, leading to his resignation as guardian; he spent several years of exile in France before being captured by the English at Glasgow, this resulting in his trial for treason and his cruel execution.[35]
A.E. Christa Canitz writes about the historical William Wallace further: "[He] was a younger son of the Scottish gentry, usually accompanied by his own chaplain, well-educated, and eventually, having been appointed Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland, engaged in diplomatic correspondence with the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg". She finds that in Braveheart, "any hint of his descent from the lowland gentry (i.e., the lesser nobility) is erased, and he is presented as an economically and politically marginalized Highlander and 'a farmer'—as one with the common peasant, and with a strong spiritual connection to the land which he is destined to liberate."[36]
Colin McArthur writes that Braveheart "constructs Wallace as a kind of modern, nationalist guerrilla leader in a period half a millennium before the appearance of nationalism on the historical stage as a concept under which disparate classes and interests might be mobilised within a nation state." Writing about Braveheart's "omissions of verified historical facts", McArthur notes that Wallace made "overtures to Edward I seeking less severe treatment after his defeat at Falkirk", as well as "the well-documented fact of Wallace's having resorted to conscription and his willingness to hang those who refused to serve."[37] Canitz posits that depicting "such lack of class solidarity" as the conscriptions and related hangings "would contaminate the movie's image of Wallace as the morally irreproachable primus inter pares among his peasant fighters."[36]
Portrayal of Isabella of France[edit]
In the film, Isabella of France is shown having an affair with Wallace prior to the Battle of Falkirk. She later tells Edward I that she is pregnant, implying that her son, Edward III, was a product of the affair. In actuality, Isabella was three years old and living in France at the time of the Battle of Falkirk, was not married to Edward II until he was already king and Edward III was born seven years after Wallace died.[38][39] (This aspect of the plot may however have been inspired by the play The Wallace: a triumph in five acts by Sydney Goodsir Smith).
Portrayal of Robert the Bruce[edit]



 Mel Gibson as William Wallace wearing woad.
Robert the Bruce did change sides between the Scots loyalists and the English more than once in the earlier stages of the Wars of Scottish Independence, but he never betrayed Wallace directly, and it is unlikely that he fought, per Fordun's Chronicle, on the English side at the Battle of Falkirk. Later, the Battle of Bannockburn was not a spontaneous battle; he had already been fighting a guerrilla campaign against the English for eight years.[31]
Portrayal of Longshanks and Prince Edward[edit]
The actual Edward I was ruthless and temperamental, but the film exaggerates his character for effect. Edward enjoyed poetry and harp music, was a devoted and loving husband to his wife Eleanor of Castile, and as a religious man he gave generously to charity. The film's scene where he scoffs cynically at Isabella for distributing gold to the poor after Wallace refuses it as a bribe would have been unlikely. Edward died on campaign and not in bed at his home.[31]
The depiction of the Prince of Wales (the future Edward II of England) as an effeminate homosexual drew accusations of homophobia against Gibson.

We cut a scene out, unfortunately. . . where you really got to know that character [Edward II] and to understand his plight and his pain. . . . But it just stopped the film in the first act so much that you thought, 'When's this story going to start?'[40][better source needed]
The actual Edward II, who fathered five children by two different women, was rumoured to have had sexual affairs with men, including Piers Gaveston who lived on into the reign of Edward II. The Prince's male lover Phillip was loosely based on Piers Gaveston.
Gibson defended his depiction of Prince Edward as weak and ineffectual, saying,

I'm just trying to respond to history. You can cite other examples – Alexander the Great, for example, who conquered the entire world, was also a homosexual. But this story isn't about Alexander the Great. It's about Edward II.[41]
In response to Longshank's defenestration of the Prince's male lover Phillip, Gibson replied that "The fact that King Edward throws this character out a window has nothing to do with him being gay ... He's terrible to his son, to everybody."[42] Gibson asserted that the reason that Longshanks kills his son's lover is because the king is a "psychopath".[43] Gibson expressed bewilderment that some filmgoers would laugh at this murder.
Accusations of anglophobia[edit]
The English media accused the film of harbouring Anglophobia. The national publication The Economist called it "xenophobic"[44] and John Sutherland writing in The Guardian stated that: "Braveheart gave full rein to a toxic Anglophobia".[45][46][47] According to The Times, MacArthur said "the political effects are truly pernicious. It’s a xenophobic film."[46] The Independent has noted, "The Braveheart phenomenon, a Hollywood-inspired rise in Scottish nationalism, has been linked to a rise in anti-English prejudice".[48] Contemporary British writer and commentator Douglas Murray has described the film as "strangely racist and anti-English".[49]
Soundtrack[edit]
Main article: Braveheart (soundtrack)
The score was composed by James Horner. It was nominated for an Academy Award, Saturn Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Award.
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d "Braveheart (1995)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
2.^ Jump up to: a b White, Caroline (4 August 2009). "The 10 most historically inaccurate movies". London: The Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
3.Jump up ^ Michael Fleming (25 July 2005). "Mel tongue-ties studios". Daily Variety.
4.Jump up ^ Braveheart 10th Chance To Boost Tourism In Trim[dead link], Meath Chronicle, 28 August 2003. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
5.Jump up ^ Chris Probst (1 June 1996). "Cinematic Transcendence". American Cinematographer (Los Angeles, California, United States: American Society of Cinematographers) 77 (6): 76. ISSN 0002-7928.
6.Jump up ^ Classification and Rating Administration, Motion Picture Association of America. "Reasons for Movie Ratings (CARA)".
7.Jump up ^ battles/index.html "The best – and worst – movie battle scenes". CNN. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
8.Jump up ^ "Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" Voted Worst Oscar Winner". hollywood.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04.
9.Jump up ^ Leo Suryadinata, Nationalism and Globalism, East and West (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies) 2000, pg 248
10.Jump up ^ Zumkhawala-Cook, Richard (2008). Scotland as We Know It: Representations of National Identity in Literature, Film and Popular Culture. McFarland. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-7864-4031-3.
11.Jump up ^ MacLellan, Rory; Smith, Ronnie (1998). Tourism in Scotland. Cengage Learning EMEA. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-86152-089-0.
12.Jump up ^ Martin-Jones, David (2009). Scotland: Global Cinema – Genres, Modes, and Identities. Edinburgh University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7486-3391-3.
13.Jump up ^ "The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
14.Jump up ^ http://www.afi.com/Docs/100years/movies400.pdf
15.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains Nominees
16.Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
17.Jump up ^ "HollywoodBowlBallot" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
18.Jump up ^ "Movies_Ballot_06" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
19.Jump up ^ "AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
20.Jump up ^ Boztas, Senay (31 July 2005). "Wallace movie ‘helped Scots get devolution’ – [Sunday Herald]". Braveheart.info. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
21.Jump up ^ "Wallace statue back at home of sculptor". The Courier. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
22.Jump up ^ Hal G. P. Colebatch (8 August 2006). "The American Spectator". Spectator.org. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
23.Jump up ^ Kevin Hurley (19 September 2004). "They may take our lives but they won't take Freedom". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
24.Jump up ^ "Wallace statue back with sculptor". BBC News. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Anderson, Lin. Braveheart: From Hollywood to Holyrood. Luath Press Ltd. (2005), p. 27.
26.Jump up ^ Ewan, Elizabeth. "Braveheart". American Historical Review 100, no. 4 (October 1995): 1219–21.
27.Jump up ^ "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems / Aytoun, W. E. (William Edmondstoune), 1813–1865". Infomotions.com. 2004-02-04. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
28.^ Jump up to: a b c Krossa, Sharon L. "Braveheart Errors: An Illustration of Scale". Retrieved 2009-06-15.
29.Jump up ^ Krossa, Sharon L. "Regarding the Film Braveheart". Retrieved 2009-11-26.
30.Jump up ^ USA. "A History of Scottish Kilts | Authentic Ireland Travel". Authenticireland.com. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
31.^ Jump up to: a b c Traquair, Peter Freedom's Sword, HarperCollins Publishers (1998)
32.Jump up ^ O'Farrell, John (2007), An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, Doubleday, p. 126
33.Jump up ^ Classen, Albrecht (2007). The medieval chastity belt: a myth-making process. Macmillan. p. 151.
34.Jump up ^ "Urban legends website". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
35.Jump up ^ Lawrence, John Shelton; Jewett, Robert (2002). The Myth of the American Superhero. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 163. ISBN 0802849113.
36.^ Jump up to: a b Canitz, A. E. Christa (2005). "'Historians ... Will Say I Am a liar': The Ideology of False Truth Claims in Mel Gibson's Braveheart and Luc Besson's The Messenger". In Utz, Jesse G.; Swan. Studies in Medievalism XIII: Postmodern Medievalisms. D.S. Brewer. pp. 127–142. ISBN 978-1-84384-012-1.
37.Jump up ^ McArthur, Colin (1998). "Braveheart and the Scottish Aesthetic Dementia". In Barta, Tony. Screening the Past: Film and the Representation of History. Praeger. pp. 167–187. ISBN 978-0-275-95402-4.
38.Jump up ^ Ewan, Elizabeth (October 1995). "Braveheart". The American Historical Review (Bloomington: Indiana University Press) 100 (4): 1219–21. ISSN 0002-8762. OCLC 01830326.
39.Jump up ^ White, Caroline (4 August 2009). "The 10 most historically inaccurate movies". London: The Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
40.Jump up ^ USA Today, May 24, 1995, “Gibson has faith in family and freedom” by Marco R. della Cava
41.Jump up ^ San Francisco Chronicle, 21 May 1995, “Mel Gibson Dons Kilt and Directs” by Ruth Stein
42.Jump up ^ "Gay Alliance has Gibson's 'Braveheart' in its sights", Daily News, 11 May 1995, retrieved 13 February 2010
43.Jump up ^ Matt Zoller Seitz (May 25, 1995). "Icon: Mel Gibson talks about Braveheart, movie stardom, and media treachery". Dallas Observer. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
44.Jump up ^ "Economist.com". Economist.com. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
45.Jump up ^ world "John Sutherland". The Guardian (London). 11 August 2003. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
46.^ Jump up to: a b "Braveheart battle cry is now but a whisper". London: Times Online. 24 July 2005. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
47.Jump up ^ Colin, McArthur (2003). Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema. I. B. Tauris. p. 5. ISBN 1-86064-927-0.
48.Jump up ^ Burrell, Ian (8 February 1999). "Most race attack victims `are white': The English Exiles – News". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
49.Jump up ^ "Douglas Murray and Michael Coren - Scottish Independence". CNN. 23 Feb 2013. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Braveheart
Braveheart at the Internet Movie Database
Braveheart at allmovie
Braveheart at Rotten Tomatoes
Braveheart at Box Office Mojo
Braveheart at Metacritic
Roger Ebert's review of Braveheart


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Edit 
Braveheart (1995) Poster 
Braveheart  (1995) 
 
Trivia



Showing all 58 items
Jump to: Spoilers (4)


"Braveheart" was actually the nickname of Robert the Bruce, not William Wallace.
 22 of 22 found this interesting  | Share this


The extras used for the battle scenes were mostly members of the F.C.A., the Irish version of the territorial army. As they were drawn from many different army companies, and the members of these are usually drawn from the same locality, local rivalry between such companies is common. Apparently, some of the battle scenes seen in the movie are far more realistic than you might imagine, with rival companies actually using the occasion to try the beat the lard out of each other.
 19 of 19 found this interesting  | Share this


One of the film's weary extras reportedly mistook one of Gibson's children on the set for an errand boy, and asked him to bring a cup of tea. Gibson was within earshot, and nodded and whispered to his son, "Go get it."
 17 of 17 found this interesting  | Share this


Primae noctis has never been used in the entire history of the British Isles.
 17 of 18 found this interesting  | Share this


The film correctly depicts the father of Robert the Bruce suffering from leprosy in his later years; Robert the Bruce himself would be overcome by the disease in the late 1320s.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


There is an in-joke in the film that William Wallace's private time with Isabella led to the conception of Edward III. This could not have been the case, since Edward III was born almost ten years after Wallace died.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


Randall Wallace had very little historical evidence to work with in regard to William Wallace's life; he has noted that even Churchill's definitive work "A History of the English Speaking Peoples" observed in only a single line that virtually no factual material survives about the Scottish leader. Because of this, Randall Wallace relied heavily on a 15th-century romantic poem by the Scottish writer Henry the Minstrel ("Blind Harry") in constructing his story.
 7 of 7 found this interesting  | Share this


Several of the major battle scenes had to be re-shot, as extras were seen wearing sunglasses and wristwatches.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Screenwriter Randall Wallace had been visiting Edinburgh in 1983 to learn about his heritage when he came across a statue of William Wallace outside Edinburgh Castle; he had never heard of the 14th-century figure who shared his name but was intrigued enough by the stories told to him about "Scotland's greatest hero" to research the story as much as possible.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


The only way Gibson could get the film made was if he agreed with Paramount studios that he would star in the film as well.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


William Wallace gives a speech in which he says the famous quote "Every man dies - Not every man really lives." This famous quote commonly attributed to the "Braveheart" character was actually authored by a 19th Century American Poet whose name was William Ross Wallace, famous for writing the poem "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World", who is of no relation to the William Wallace in the film.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Although the majority of the characters in the film are Scottish, the actors portraying them were mostly drawn from non-Scottish parts of the UK (exceptions to this rule include Angus Macfadyen (Robert the Bruce) and Brian Cox (Argyle)). Ironically, the one Irish character in the film (Stephen), is played by Scots-born David O'Hara.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Shortly after Wallace is knighted, an elderly member of Clan Balliol (portrayed by Bernard Horsfall) asks Wallace about the Balliol claim to the throne of Scotland. In real life, John Balliol became King of Scotland in 1292, but was deposed by King Edward I of England in 1296. The real William Wallace swore his loyalty to King John Balliol, even after Balliol was imprisoned in England.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Blue body paint (Woad) for battles had stopped being used around the end of the Roman era - roughly 800 years before the events of the film.
 9 of 10 found this interesting  | Share this


When asked by a local why the Battle of Stirling Bridge was filmed on an open plain, Gibson answered that "the bridge got in the way". "Aye," the local answered. "That's what the English found."
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Writer Randall Wallace initially planned to start the story with William Wallace as an adult and added the prologue of his childhood only as an afterthought. As the sequence was first written, Murran gave William a rose (rather than a thistle) at his father's burial; however, someone who read the script helpfully pointed out that the rose, being a traditional symbol of England, would be (to say the least) somewhat inappropriate as a prominent feature in the story.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Prince Edward (later King Edward II) was indeed the first English prince to carry the title Prince of Wales, although he did not marry Princess Isabella until 1308, after both Wallace (1305) and Edward I (1307) had died.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


English soldiers had no uniform during the Scots Wars of Independence.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Gibson, a notorious jokester, directed some scenes in an Elmer Fudd voice and even yelled, "CUT!" during Murron's funeral scene by putting his arm around the actress playing her mother and hollering, "Will you put a sock in it!" This caused the actress to go from crying in character to break character and laugh. Gibson also intentionally started a false rumor that Sophie Marceau was the daughter of noted French mime Marcel Marceau.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson was on the set of Ransom (1996) when both Braveheart (1995) and Apollo 13 (1995) were nominated for Best Picture. He pulled a prank on Apollo director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer by giving them an ad in which Braveheart (1995) was considered for 'Best Moon Shot'. The accompanying picture was a shot of the Scottish army mooning the English.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


While the movie took great care to depict several groups all dressed alike in their representative tartans (the plaid pattern on the kilts), the use of clan tartans and any organized rules for kilts and patterns was a Victorian invention, much later than the time of the movie.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson has said he would give five dollars to anyone who could spot the fake horses in the final film. Reportedly he has not had to make good on the wager.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Many Scots were offended by the film's portrayal of Robert the Bruce, who is considered a National Hero of Scotland (along with Wallace).
 10 of 12 found this interesting  | Share this


Wallace's real wife was named Marian. However, it is believed that the name was changed to 'Murron' to avoid confusion with the Robin Hood character of the same name.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Glen Nevis, the Scottish valley which served as the location for Wallace's childhood village, also enjoys the heaviest rainfall in Europe. During the six weeks spent filming in the area, only three days of sunshine occurred, during which the wedding scene was finished. The filmmakers resigned themselves to the fact that constant rain was inevitable, and opted to film scenes regardless of weather conditions.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


The mechanical horses designed for the battle sequences weighed 200 pounds and were fueled by nitrogen cylinders propelling them at 30 mph on 20-foot tracks.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Single frames of film were removed at strategic points in the battles in order to produce a jarring, startling effect.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson, who had been heavily criticized for a December 1991 interview with a Spanish magazine, was accused of homophobia for the film's portrayal of the Prince of Wales (and future King Edward II) as an effeminate homosexual. It is strongly disputed whether Edward II, who fathered at least five children, was either homosexual or even bisexual at all. The scene where Edward I threw his son's lover out of a castle window was particularly criticized for inciting homophobia. The lover was based on Piers Gaveston, who was allegedly Edward II's lover although he was also married and many historians believe these were just rumours invented by the King's enemies in order to discredit him. Gibson refused to apologize for the controversy in a 1995 interview with "Playboy" magazine while promoting the movie. However, in January 1997 he did agree to host a summit for representatives of gay rights organization GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) on the set of Conspiracy Theory (1997). Although the leaders of GLAAD noted they were disappointed that he did not apologize to them for the film's alleged homophobia, Gibson did acknowledge "regret" over his controversial 1991 interview, claiming he had been drinking at the time and that his words had frequently been used to criticize him.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


The rough cut of the film initially contained much more violence than the final product. Fearing an NC-17 from the MPAA after negative test reaction, Mel Gibson went back and personally edited some of the film's most graphic scenes to show the brutality more off-screen, rather than on.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


In an October 2009 interview with "The Daily Mail", Mel Gibson admitted that the film was heavily fictitious but claimed the changes had been made for dramatic purposes. He also admitted he had always felt he was at least a decade too old to play Wallace.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Director/producer Mel Gibson was investigated by an animal welfare organization, who were convinced that the fake horses used were real. Only when one of his assistants provided some videotaped footage of the location shooting were they convinced otherwise.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The battle of Stirling took six weeks to film; roughly half a million feet of film (90+ hours) were shot for the sequence.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The movie has been accused of promoting Anglophobia.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


When the members of Clan MacGregor attempt to join Wallace's rebellion against the English, the MacGregor chieftain mildly insults Wallace and his men by calling them "Amadans". "Amadan" is both Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic for "fool" or "idiot". Thus, the MacGregor chieftain is calling Wallace and his men fools, both for resisting the English and for not inviting the MacGregors to participate in the rebellion.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Among the films Gibson watched in order to prepare to direct "Braveheart" were Polanski's "Macbeth," "Spartacus," "Chimes at Midnight," "Alexander Nevsky," "A Man for All Seasons," "The Lion in Winter," "Seven Samurai," "Throne of Blood," and NFL films.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


James Horner's score was also used in several of the trailers for Cast Away (2000); some parts of his score appear in both Apollo 13 (1995) as well as in Braveheart (1995) which were released only a month apart.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Real life Wallaces are extras in the movie. Mel Gibson also stayed with them during the course of the film to learn history.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson originally wanted Jason Patric to play William Wallace.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


King Edward I was called "The Longshanks" (long legs) since he was uncommonly tall for a man of the time. Edward I was at least 6 feet, 2 inches.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Thin layers of latex were used to attach set elements to the ruins of Trim Castle in Ireland to give it an appearance more befitting its medieval origins while allowing the stone to be unharmed when the additions were removed.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Brian Cox who plays Argyle Wallace was first offered a larger role but took the role of Argyle because he felt it was a better role.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Princess Isabella did not set foot in England until 1308, therefore she could not have been in England to warn Wallace about the upcoming Battle of Falkirk.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Despite the film being set in Scotland, and based on the life of a Scottish folk hero, the primary instrument heard throughout the soundtrack (most notably at William's father's funeral) are the Uilleann pipes, which are a smaller traditionally Irish version of bagpipes rather than the ubiquitous Great Highland Bagpipe.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The Gaelic chant is "Alba gu brath", which means Scotland forever. Although Wallace was a Lowlander, many of his troops were Highlanders, and a large part of the Lowlands were still Gaelic speaking at this time in history.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


The first day of shooting was June 6th, 1994, which was the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Although playing father and son, James Cosmo and Brendan Gleeson are only seven years apart in age.
 2 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this


Its Oscar win was the only award it won for "Best Picture" (no other award or critic group named it the best film of the year).
 3 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Sean Connery turned down the role of King Edward I because he was filming Just Cause (1995).
 3 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


At the Battle of Falkirk (July 22, 1298), the English army was personally led by King Edward I, who decisively defeated the Scots. The real-life King Edward I was a military genius who learned combat tactics while fighting the Mamelukes during the Eighth and Ninth Crusades.
 4 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


The castle (King John's castle, Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland) where a lot of the scenes were shot, was also used to film scenes for The Big Red One (1980).
 2 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson was supposed to star in Terry Gilliam's (never made) film "A Tale of Two Cities" but turned it down to star in this movie which he then offered to Gilliam to direct, but Gilliam declined.
 2 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


A majority of the actors and extras in this film were actually Irish - members of the Irish Army - although they are supposed to be Scottish or English. As many as 1600 were used on a given day.
 1 of 1 found this interesting  | Share this


Two weeks before he picked up two Oscars for Best Film and Best Director, Mel Gibson was in hospital undergoing an emergency appendectomy.
 2 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson initially turned down the role of William Wallace, when MGM executive Alan Ladd, Jr., gave him the script, because he felt he was too old for the part. A year later he changed his mind.
 1 of 2 found this interesting  | Share this

 Spoilers 
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.


William Wallace's disembowelment was filmed in graphic detail, but was cut so that it's implied to occur out of frame, due to negative test audience reaction.
 8 of 8 found this interesting  | Share this


In the movie Wallace is jumped, beaten down, and captured at Edinburgh Castle, betrayed by Robert Bruce the Elder; in real-life, Wallace was betrayed by a Scottish nobleman loyal to King Edward, Sir John Menteith. Wallace was captured at what is now Rob Royston (named for another legendary Scottish hero, Rob Roy MacGregor), a suburb of Glasgow.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Elder Campbell is wounded in every battle he is seen participating in. He takes an arrow in the chest during the initial uprising against the local magistrate, his hand is cut off during the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and finally he takes an axe to the gut during the battle of Falkirk.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Paul Tucker:  The film's accountant is the English soldier at the end who says "I hope you washed your arse this morning. It's about to be kissed by a king."
 2 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this
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Edit 
Braveheart (1995) Poster 
Braveheart  (1995) 
 
Trivia



Showing all 58 items
Jump to: Spoilers (4)


"Braveheart" was actually the nickname of Robert the Bruce, not William Wallace.
 22 of 22 found this interesting  | Share this


The extras used for the battle scenes were mostly members of the F.C.A., the Irish version of the territorial army. As they were drawn from many different army companies, and the members of these are usually drawn from the same locality, local rivalry between such companies is common. Apparently, some of the battle scenes seen in the movie are far more realistic than you might imagine, with rival companies actually using the occasion to try the beat the lard out of each other.
 19 of 19 found this interesting  | Share this


One of the film's weary extras reportedly mistook one of Gibson's children on the set for an errand boy, and asked him to bring a cup of tea. Gibson was within earshot, and nodded and whispered to his son, "Go get it."
 17 of 17 found this interesting  | Share this


Primae noctis has never been used in the entire history of the British Isles.
 17 of 18 found this interesting  | Share this


The film correctly depicts the father of Robert the Bruce suffering from leprosy in his later years; Robert the Bruce himself would be overcome by the disease in the late 1320s.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


There is an in-joke in the film that William Wallace's private time with Isabella led to the conception of Edward III. This could not have been the case, since Edward III was born almost ten years after Wallace died.
 9 of 9 found this interesting  | Share this


Randall Wallace had very little historical evidence to work with in regard to William Wallace's life; he has noted that even Churchill's definitive work "A History of the English Speaking Peoples" observed in only a single line that virtually no factual material survives about the Scottish leader. Because of this, Randall Wallace relied heavily on a 15th-century romantic poem by the Scottish writer Henry the Minstrel ("Blind Harry") in constructing his story.
 7 of 7 found this interesting  | Share this


Several of the major battle scenes had to be re-shot, as extras were seen wearing sunglasses and wristwatches.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Screenwriter Randall Wallace had been visiting Edinburgh in 1983 to learn about his heritage when he came across a statue of William Wallace outside Edinburgh Castle; he had never heard of the 14th-century figure who shared his name but was intrigued enough by the stories told to him about "Scotland's greatest hero" to research the story as much as possible.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


The only way Gibson could get the film made was if he agreed with Paramount studios that he would star in the film as well.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


William Wallace gives a speech in which he says the famous quote "Every man dies - Not every man really lives." This famous quote commonly attributed to the "Braveheart" character was actually authored by a 19th Century American Poet whose name was William Ross Wallace, famous for writing the poem "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle Is The Hand That Rules The World", who is of no relation to the William Wallace in the film.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Although the majority of the characters in the film are Scottish, the actors portraying them were mostly drawn from non-Scottish parts of the UK (exceptions to this rule include Angus Macfadyen (Robert the Bruce) and Brian Cox (Argyle)). Ironically, the one Irish character in the film (Stephen), is played by Scots-born David O'Hara.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Shortly after Wallace is knighted, an elderly member of Clan Balliol (portrayed by Bernard Horsfall) asks Wallace about the Balliol claim to the throne of Scotland. In real life, John Balliol became King of Scotland in 1292, but was deposed by King Edward I of England in 1296. The real William Wallace swore his loyalty to King John Balliol, even after Balliol was imprisoned in England.
 6 of 6 found this interesting  | Share this


Blue body paint (Woad) for battles had stopped being used around the end of the Roman era - roughly 800 years before the events of the film.
 9 of 10 found this interesting  | Share this


When asked by a local why the Battle of Stirling Bridge was filmed on an open plain, Gibson answered that "the bridge got in the way". "Aye," the local answered. "That's what the English found."
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Writer Randall Wallace initially planned to start the story with William Wallace as an adult and added the prologue of his childhood only as an afterthought. As the sequence was first written, Murran gave William a rose (rather than a thistle) at his father's burial; however, someone who read the script helpfully pointed out that the rose, being a traditional symbol of England, would be (to say the least) somewhat inappropriate as a prominent feature in the story.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Prince Edward (later King Edward II) was indeed the first English prince to carry the title Prince of Wales, although he did not marry Princess Isabella until 1308, after both Wallace (1305) and Edward I (1307) had died.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


English soldiers had no uniform during the Scots Wars of Independence.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Gibson, a notorious jokester, directed some scenes in an Elmer Fudd voice and even yelled, "CUT!" during Murron's funeral scene by putting his arm around the actress playing her mother and hollering, "Will you put a sock in it!" This caused the actress to go from crying in character to break character and laugh. Gibson also intentionally started a false rumor that Sophie Marceau was the daughter of noted French mime Marcel Marceau.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson was on the set of Ransom (1996) when both Braveheart (1995) and Apollo 13 (1995) were nominated for Best Picture. He pulled a prank on Apollo director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer by giving them an ad in which Braveheart (1995) was considered for 'Best Moon Shot'. The accompanying picture was a shot of the Scottish army mooning the English.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


While the movie took great care to depict several groups all dressed alike in their representative tartans (the plaid pattern on the kilts), the use of clan tartans and any organized rules for kilts and patterns was a Victorian invention, much later than the time of the movie.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson has said he would give five dollars to anyone who could spot the fake horses in the final film. Reportedly he has not had to make good on the wager.
 5 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Many Scots were offended by the film's portrayal of Robert the Bruce, who is considered a National Hero of Scotland (along with Wallace).
 10 of 12 found this interesting  | Share this


Wallace's real wife was named Marian. However, it is believed that the name was changed to 'Murron' to avoid confusion with the Robin Hood character of the same name.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Glen Nevis, the Scottish valley which served as the location for Wallace's childhood village, also enjoys the heaviest rainfall in Europe. During the six weeks spent filming in the area, only three days of sunshine occurred, during which the wedding scene was finished. The filmmakers resigned themselves to the fact that constant rain was inevitable, and opted to film scenes regardless of weather conditions.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


The mechanical horses designed for the battle sequences weighed 200 pounds and were fueled by nitrogen cylinders propelling them at 30 mph on 20-foot tracks.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Single frames of film were removed at strategic points in the battles in order to produce a jarring, startling effect.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson, who had been heavily criticized for a December 1991 interview with a Spanish magazine, was accused of homophobia for the film's portrayal of the Prince of Wales (and future King Edward II) as an effeminate homosexual. It is strongly disputed whether Edward II, who fathered at least five children, was either homosexual or even bisexual at all. The scene where Edward I threw his son's lover out of a castle window was particularly criticized for inciting homophobia. The lover was based on Piers Gaveston, who was allegedly Edward II's lover although he was also married and many historians believe these were just rumours invented by the King's enemies in order to discredit him. Gibson refused to apologize for the controversy in a 1995 interview with "Playboy" magazine while promoting the movie. However, in January 1997 he did agree to host a summit for representatives of gay rights organization GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) on the set of Conspiracy Theory (1997). Although the leaders of GLAAD noted they were disappointed that he did not apologize to them for the film's alleged homophobia, Gibson did acknowledge "regret" over his controversial 1991 interview, claiming he had been drinking at the time and that his words had frequently been used to criticize him.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


The rough cut of the film initially contained much more violence than the final product. Fearing an NC-17 from the MPAA after negative test reaction, Mel Gibson went back and personally edited some of the film's most graphic scenes to show the brutality more off-screen, rather than on.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


In an October 2009 interview with "The Daily Mail", Mel Gibson admitted that the film was heavily fictitious but claimed the changes had been made for dramatic purposes. He also admitted he had always felt he was at least a decade too old to play Wallace.
 4 of 4 found this interesting  | Share this


Director/producer Mel Gibson was investigated by an animal welfare organization, who were convinced that the fake horses used were real. Only when one of his assistants provided some videotaped footage of the location shooting were they convinced otherwise.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The battle of Stirling took six weeks to film; roughly half a million feet of film (90+ hours) were shot for the sequence.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


The movie has been accused of promoting Anglophobia.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


When the members of Clan MacGregor attempt to join Wallace's rebellion against the English, the MacGregor chieftain mildly insults Wallace and his men by calling them "Amadans". "Amadan" is both Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic for "fool" or "idiot". Thus, the MacGregor chieftain is calling Wallace and his men fools, both for resisting the English and for not inviting the MacGregors to participate in the rebellion.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


Among the films Gibson watched in order to prepare to direct "Braveheart" were Polanski's "Macbeth," "Spartacus," "Chimes at Midnight," "Alexander Nevsky," "A Man for All Seasons," "The Lion in Winter," "Seven Samurai," "Throne of Blood," and NFL films.
 3 of 3 found this interesting  | Share this


James Horner's score was also used in several of the trailers for Cast Away (2000); some parts of his score appear in both Apollo 13 (1995) as well as in Braveheart (1995) which were released only a month apart.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Real life Wallaces are extras in the movie. Mel Gibson also stayed with them during the course of the film to learn history.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Mel Gibson originally wanted Jason Patric to play William Wallace.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


King Edward I was called "The Longshanks" (long legs) since he was uncommonly tall for a man of the time. Edward I was at least 6 feet, 2 inches.
 4 of 5 found this interesting  | Share this


Thin layers of latex were used to attach set elements to the ruins of Trim Castle in Ireland to give it an appearance more befitting its medieval origins while allowing the stone to be unharmed when the additions were removed.
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Brian Cox who plays Argyle Wallace was first offered a larger role but took the role of Argyle because he felt it was a better role.
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Princess Isabella did not set foot in England until 1308, therefore she could not have been in England to warn Wallace about the upcoming Battle of Falkirk.
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Despite the film being set in Scotland, and based on the life of a Scottish folk hero, the primary instrument heard throughout the soundtrack (most notably at William's father's funeral) are the Uilleann pipes, which are a smaller traditionally Irish version of bagpipes rather than the ubiquitous Great Highland Bagpipe.
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The Gaelic chant is "Alba gu brath", which means Scotland forever. Although Wallace was a Lowlander, many of his troops were Highlanders, and a large part of the Lowlands were still Gaelic speaking at this time in history.
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The first day of shooting was June 6th, 1994, which was the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
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Although playing father and son, James Cosmo and Brendan Gleeson are only seven years apart in age.
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Its Oscar win was the only award it won for "Best Picture" (no other award or critic group named it the best film of the year).
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Sean Connery turned down the role of King Edward I because he was filming Just Cause (1995).
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At the Battle of Falkirk (July 22, 1298), the English army was personally led by King Edward I, who decisively defeated the Scots. The real-life King Edward I was a military genius who learned combat tactics while fighting the Mamelukes during the Eighth and Ninth Crusades.
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The castle (King John's castle, Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland) where a lot of the scenes were shot, was also used to film scenes for The Big Red One (1980).
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Mel Gibson was supposed to star in Terry Gilliam's (never made) film "A Tale of Two Cities" but turned it down to star in this movie which he then offered to Gilliam to direct, but Gilliam declined.
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A majority of the actors and extras in this film were actually Irish - members of the Irish Army - although they are supposed to be Scottish or English. As many as 1600 were used on a given day.
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Two weeks before he picked up two Oscars for Best Film and Best Director, Mel Gibson was in hospital undergoing an emergency appendectomy.
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Mel Gibson initially turned down the role of William Wallace, when MGM executive Alan Ladd, Jr., gave him the script, because he felt he was too old for the part. A year later he changed his mind.
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 Spoilers 
The trivia items below may give away important plot points.


William Wallace's disembowelment was filmed in graphic detail, but was cut so that it's implied to occur out of frame, due to negative test audience reaction.
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In the movie Wallace is jumped, beaten down, and captured at Edinburgh Castle, betrayed by Robert Bruce the Elder; in real-life, Wallace was betrayed by a Scottish nobleman loyal to King Edward, Sir John Menteith. Wallace was captured at what is now Rob Royston (named for another legendary Scottish hero, Rob Roy MacGregor), a suburb of Glasgow.
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Elder Campbell is wounded in every battle he is seen participating in. He takes an arrow in the chest during the initial uprising against the local magistrate, his hand is cut off during the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and finally he takes an axe to the gut during the battle of Falkirk.
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Paul Tucker:  The film's accountant is the English soldier at the end who says "I hope you washed your arse this morning. It's about to be kissed by a king."
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Braveheart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Braveheart (film))
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Braveheart (disambiguation).

Braveheart
Braveheart imp.jpg
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Mel Gibson
Produced by
Mel Gibson
Alan Ladd, Jr.
Bruce Davey
Stephen McEveety
Written by
Randall Wallace
Starring
Mel Gibson
Sophie Marceau
Patrick McGoohan
Catherine McCormack
Angus Macfadyen
Brendan Gleeson
Music by
James Horner
Cinematography
John Toll
Editing by
Steven Rosenblum
Studio
Icon Productions
The Ladd Company
Distributed by
Paramount Pictures
(USA & Canada)
20th Century Fox
(International)
Release dates
May 24, 1995

Running time
177 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$72 million[1]
Box office
$210,409,945[1]
Braveheart is a 1995 historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. The story is based on Blind Harry's epic poem The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace and was adapted for the screen by Randall Wallace. It has been described as one of the most historically inaccurate modern films.[2]
The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards and won five including Best Picture, Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Director.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Release and reception 4.1 Box office
4.2 Reviews
4.3 Effect on tourism
4.4 Awards and honors
4.5 Cultural effects
4.6 Wallace Monument
5 Historical inaccuracy 5.1 Ius Primae Noctis
5.2 Portrayal of William Wallace
5.3 Portrayal of Isabella of France
5.4 Portrayal of Robert the Bruce
5.5 Portrayal of Longshanks and Prince Edward
6 Accusations of anglophobia
7 Soundtrack
8 References
9 External links

Plot[edit]
In 1280, King Edward "Longshanks" (Patrick McGoohan) invades and conquers Scotland following the death of Alexander III of Scotland who left no heir to the throne. Young William Wallace witnesses the treachery of Longshanks, survives the death of his father and brother, and is taken abroad to Rome by his Uncle Argyle (Brian Cox) where he is educated. Years later, Longshanks grants his noblemen land and privileges in Scotland, including the right of the lord to have sex with a woman subject on her wedding night. When he returns home, Wallace (Mel Gibson) falls in love with his childhood friend, Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack), and they marry in secret so she does not have to spend a night in the bed with the English lord. Wallace rescues Murron from being raped by English soldiers, as a consequence, Murron is captured and publicly executed. In retribution, Wallace slaughters the English garrison. Wallace sends the occupying garrison at Lanark back to England.
This enrages Longshanks, who orders his son, Edward II of England, to stop Wallace by any means necessary. Wallace rebels against the English, and as his legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans join him. Wallace leads his army to victory at Stirling and then sacks the city of York, killing Longshanks nephew and sending his head back. Wallace seeks the assistance of Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen), the son of nobleman Robert the Elder (Ian Bannen) and a contender for the Scottish crown. Robert is dominated by his father, who wishes to secure the throne for his son by submitting to the English. Worried by the threat of the rebellion, Longshanks sends his son's wife, Isabella of France (Sophie Marceau), to try to negotiate with Wallace hoping that Wallace will kill her in order to draw the French king to declare war. Wallace refuses the bribe sent with Isabella by Longshanks, but after meeting him in person, Isabella becomes enamored with him. Meanwhile, Longshanks prepares an army to invade Scotland.
Warned of the coming invasion by Isabella, Wallace implores the Scottish nobility that immediate action is needed to counter the threat and to take back the country. Leading the English army himself, Longshanks confronts the Scots at Falkirk where noblemen Lochlan and Mornay betray Wallace. The Scots lose the battle, and Hamish's father dies after the battle. As he charges toward the departing Longshanks on horseback, Wallace is intercepted by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be Robert. Remorseful, he gets Wallace to safety before the English can capture him. Wallace kills Mornay and Lochlan for their betrayal, and wages a guerrilla war against the English. Robert, intending to join Wallace and commit troops to the war, sets up a meeting with him in Edinburgh. However, Robert's father has conspired with other nobles to capture and hand over Wallace to the English. Learning of his treachery, Robert disowns his father. Isabella exacts revenge on the now terminally ill Longshanks by telling him she is pregnant with Wallace's child, intent on ending Longshanks line and ruling in his son's place.
In London, Wallace is brought before an English magistrate, tried for high treason, and condemned to public torture and beheading. Even whilst being hanged, drawn and quartered, Wallace refuses to beg for mercy and submit to the king. As cries for mercy come from the watching crowd, the magistrate offers him one final chance, asking him only to utter the word "Mercy" and be granted a quick death. Wallace instead shouts the word "Freedom!" and, impressed by the Scotsman's valour, the judge orders his death. Moments before being decapitated, Wallace sees a vision of Murron in the crowd, smiling at him. In 1314, Robert, now Scotland's king, leads a Scottish army before a ceremonial line of English troops on the fields of Bannockburn where he is to formally accept English rule. As he begins to ride toward the English, he stops and invokes Wallace's memory, imploring his men to fight with him as they did with Wallace. Robert then leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their freedom.
Cast[edit]
Mel Gibson as William Wallace
James Robinson as young William Wallace
Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabella of France
Patrick McGoohan as King Edward "Longshanks"
Catherine McCormack as Murron MacClannough
Angus Macfadyen as Robert the Bruce
Brendan Gleeson as Hamish
James Cosmo as Campbell
David O'Hara as Stephen
Peter Hanly as Prince Edward
Ian Bannen as Robert the Bruce's father
Seán McGinley as MacClannough
Brian Cox as Argyle Wallace
Sean Lawlor as Malcolm Wallace
Sandy Nelson as John Wallace
Stephen Billington as Phillip
John Kavanagh as Craig
Alun Armstrong as Mornay
Tommy Flanagan as Morrison
Michael Byrne as Smythe
Malcolm Tierney as Magistrate
Peter Mullan as Veteran
Gerard McSorley as Hugh de Cressingham
Richard Leaf as Governor of York
Mark Lees as Old Crippled Scotsman
Production[edit]
Gibson's production company, Icon Productions had difficulty raising enough money even if he were to star in the film. Warner Bros. was willing to fund the project on the condition that Gibson sign for another Lethal Weapon sequel, which he refused. Paramount Pictures only agreed to American and Canadian distribution of Braveheart after 20th Century Fox partnered for international rights.[3]
While the crew spent six weeks shooting on location in Scotland, the major battle scenes were shot in Ireland using members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras. To lower costs, Gibson had the same extras portray both armies. The opposing armies are made up of reservists, up to 1,600 in some scenes, who had been given permission to grow beards and swapped their drab uniforms for medieval garb.[4]
According to Gibson, he was inspired by the big screen epics he had loved as a child, such as Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus and William Wyler's The Big Country.
The film was shot in the anamorphic format with Panavision C- and E-Series lenses.[5]
Gibson toned down the film's battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, with the final version being rated R for "brutal medieval warfare."[6]
In addition to English being the film's primary language, French, Latin, and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken.
Release and reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
On its opening weekend, Braveheart grossed $9,938,276 in the United States and $75.6 million in its box office run in the U.S. and Canada.[1] Worldwide, the film grossed $210,409,945 and was the thirteenth highest-grossing film of 1995.[1]
Reviews[edit]
Braveheart met with generally positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 81% with an average score of 7.1/10. The film's depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge was listed by CNN as one of the best battles in cinema history.[7] In his review, Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of four, writing: "An action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of 'The Road Warrior'."
In a 2005 poll by British film magazine Empire, Braveheart was No. 1 on their list of "The Top 10 Worst Pictures to Win Best Picture Oscar".[8] Scottish actor and comedian Billy Connolly claimed Braveheart was "a great piece of work".[9]
Effect on tourism[edit]
In 1996, the year after the film was released, the annual three-day "Braveheart Conference" at Stirling Castle attracted fans of Braveheart, increasing the conference's attendance to 167,000 from 66,000 in the previous year.[10] In the following year, research on visitors to the Stirling area indicated that 55% of the visitors had seen Braveheart. Of visitors from outside Scotland, 15% of those who saw Braveheart said it influenced their decision to visit the country. Of all visitors who saw Braveheart, 39% said the film influenced in part their decision to visit Stirling, and 19% said the film was one of the main reasons for their visit.[11] In the same year, a tourism report said that the "Braveheart effect" earned Scotland ₤7 million to ₤15 million in tourist revenue, and the report led to various national organizations encouraging international film productions to take place in Scotland.[12]
The film generated huge interest in Scotland and in Scottish history, not only around the world, but also in Scotland itself. Fans came from all over the world to see the places in Scotland where William Wallace fought, also to the places in Scotland and Ireland used as locations in the film. At a Braveheart Convention in 1997, held in Stirling the day after the Scottish Devolution vote and attended by 200 delegates from around the world, Braveheart author Randall Wallace, Seoras Wallace of the Wallace Clan, Scottish historian David Ross and Bláithín FitzGerald from Ireland gave lectures on various aspects of the film. Several of the actors also attended including James Robinson (Young William), Andrew Weir (Young Hamish), Julie Austin (the young bride) and Mhairi Calvey (Young Murron).
Awards and honors[edit]
The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five.[13]
Won

Award
Winner
Best Picture Mel Gibson
Alan Ladd, Jr.
Bruce Davey
Best Director Mel Gibson
Best Cinematography John Toll
Best Makeup Peter Frampton
 Paul Pattison
 Lois Burwell
Best Sound Editing Lon Bender
Per Hallberg
Nominated

Award
Nominee
Best Original Screenplay Randall Wallace
Best Original Dramatic Score James Horner
Best Sound Mixing Andy Nelson
Scott Millan
Anna Behlmer
Brian Simmons
Best Film Editing Steven Rosenblum
Best Costume Design Charles Knode
American Film Institute listsAFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated[14]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – No. 91
AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains: William Wallace – Nominated Hero[15]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: "They may take away our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!" – Nominated[16]
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[17]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – No. 62
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[18]
AFI's 10 Top 10 – Nominated Epic Film[19]
Cultural effects[edit]
Lin Anderson, author of Braveheart: From Hollywood To Holyrood, credits the film with playing a significant role in affecting the Scottish political landscape in the mid to late 1990s.[20]
Wallace Monument[edit]



 Tom Church's 'Freedom' statue.
In 1997, a 12-ton sandstone statue depicting Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart was placed in the car park of the Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland. The statue, which was the work of Tom Church, a monumental mason from Brechin,[21] included the word "Braveheart" on Wallace's shield. The installation became the cause of much controversy; one local resident stated that it was wrong to "desecrate the main memorial to Wallace with a lump of crap."[22] In 1998 the face on the statue was vandalised by someone wielding a hammer. After repairs were made, the statue was encased in a cage every night to prevent further vandalism. This only incited more calls for the statue to be removed as it then appeared that the Gibson/Wallace figure was imprisoned. The statue was described as "among the most loathed pieces of public art in Scotland."[23] In 2008, the statue was returned to its sculptor to make room for a new visitor centre being built at the foot of the Wallace Monument.[24]
Historical inaccuracy[edit]
Randall Wallace, the writer of the screenplay, has acknowledged Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie as a major inspiration for the film.[25] In defending his script, Randall Wallace has said, "Is Blind Harry true? I don't know. I know that it spoke to my heart and that's what matters to me, that it spoke to my heart."[25] Blind Harry's poem is not now regarded as historically accurate, and although some incidents in the film which are not historically accurate are taken from Blind Harry (e.g. the hanging of Scots nobles at the start) there are large parts which are based neither on history nor Blind Harry (e.g. Wallace's affair with Princess Isabelle).
Elizabeth Ewan describes Braveheart as a film which "almost totally sacrifices historical accuracy for epic adventure".[26] The "brave heart" refers in Scottish history to that of Robert the Bruce, and an attribution by William Edmondstoune Aytoun, in his poem Heart of Bruce, to Sir James the Good: "Pass thee first, thou dauntless heart, As thou wert wont of yore!", prior to Douglas's demise at the Battle of Teba in Andalusia.[27]
Sharon Krossa notes that the film contains numerous historical errors, beginning with the wearing of belted plaid by Wallace and his men. In that period "no Scots ... wore belted plaids (let alone kilts of any kind)."[28] Moreover, when Highlanders finally did begin wearing the belted plaid, it was not "in the rather bizarre style depicted in the film."[28] She compares the inaccuracy to "a film about Colonial America showing the colonial men wearing 20th century business suits, but with the jackets worn back-to-front instead of the right way around."[28] "The events aren't accurate, the dates aren't accurate, the characters aren't accurate, the names aren't accurate, the clothes aren't accurate—in short, just about nothing is accurate."[29] The belted plaid (feileadh mór léine) was not introduced until the 16th century.[30] Peter Traquair has referred to Wallace's "farcical representation as a wild and hairy highlander painted with woad (1,000 years too late) running amok in a tartan kilt (500 years too early)." [31]
In 2009, the film was second on a list of "most historically inaccurate movies" in The Times.[2] In the 2007 humorous non-fictional historiography An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, author John O'Farrell notes that Braveheart could not have been more historically inaccurate, even if a "Plasticine dog" had been inserted in the film and the title changed to William Wallace and Gromit.[32]
Randall Wallace is very vocal about defending his script from historians who have dismissed the film as a Hollywood perversion of actual events.[citation needed] In the DVD audio commentary of Braveheart, Mel Gibson acknowledges many of the historical inaccuracies[citation needed] but defends his choices as director, noting that the way events were portrayed in the film was much more "cinematically compelling" than the historical fact or conventional mythos.
Ius Primae Noctis[edit]
In the film, Edward Longshanks, King of England, is shown invoking the right of Jus Primae Noctis, supposedly allowing the Lord of a medieval estate to take the virginity of his serf's maiden daughters. Critical medieval scholarship regards this supposed right as a myth, as one recent specialist has put it, "the simple reason why we are dealing with a myth here rests in the surprising fact that practically all writers who make any such claims have never been able or willing to cite any trustworthy source, if they have any."[33][34]
Portrayal of William Wallace[edit]
As John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett write, "Because [William] Wallace is one of Scotland's most important national heroes and because he lived in the very distant past, much that is believed about him is probably the stuff of legend. But there is a factual strand that historians agree to", summarized from Scots scholar Matt Ewart:

Wallace was born into the gentry of Scotland; his father lived until he was 18, his mother until his 24th year; he killed the sheriff of Lanark when he was 27, apparently after the murder of his wife; he led a group of commoners against the English in a very successful battle at Stirling in 1297, temporarily receiving appointment as guardian; Wallace's reputation as a military leader was ruined in the same year of 1297, leading to his resignation as guardian; he spent several years of exile in France before being captured by the English at Glasgow, this resulting in his trial for treason and his cruel execution.[35]
A.E. Christa Canitz writes about the historical William Wallace further: "[He] was a younger son of the Scottish gentry, usually accompanied by his own chaplain, well-educated, and eventually, having been appointed Guardian of the Kingdom of Scotland, engaged in diplomatic correspondence with the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Hamburg". She finds that in Braveheart, "any hint of his descent from the lowland gentry (i.e., the lesser nobility) is erased, and he is presented as an economically and politically marginalized Highlander and 'a farmer'—as one with the common peasant, and with a strong spiritual connection to the land which he is destined to liberate."[36]
Colin McArthur writes that Braveheart "constructs Wallace as a kind of modern, nationalist guerrilla leader in a period half a millennium before the appearance of nationalism on the historical stage as a concept under which disparate classes and interests might be mobilised within a nation state." Writing about Braveheart's "omissions of verified historical facts", McArthur notes that Wallace made "overtures to Edward I seeking less severe treatment after his defeat at Falkirk", as well as "the well-documented fact of Wallace's having resorted to conscription and his willingness to hang those who refused to serve."[37] Canitz posits that depicting "such lack of class solidarity" as the conscriptions and related hangings "would contaminate the movie's image of Wallace as the morally irreproachable primus inter pares among his peasant fighters."[36]
Portrayal of Isabella of France[edit]
In the film, Isabella of France is shown having an affair with Wallace prior to the Battle of Falkirk. She later tells Edward I that she is pregnant, implying that her son, Edward III, was a product of the affair. In actuality, Isabella was three years old and living in France at the time of the Battle of Falkirk, was not married to Edward II until he was already king and Edward III was born seven years after Wallace died.[38][39] (This aspect of the plot may however have been inspired by the play The Wallace: a triumph in five acts by Sydney Goodsir Smith).
Portrayal of Robert the Bruce[edit]



 Mel Gibson as William Wallace wearing woad.
Robert the Bruce did change sides between the Scots loyalists and the English more than once in the earlier stages of the Wars of Scottish Independence, but he never betrayed Wallace directly, and it is unlikely that he fought, per Fordun's Chronicle, on the English side at the Battle of Falkirk. Later, the Battle of Bannockburn was not a spontaneous battle; he had already been fighting a guerrilla campaign against the English for eight years.[31]
Portrayal of Longshanks and Prince Edward[edit]
The actual Edward I was ruthless and temperamental, but the film exaggerates his character for effect. Edward enjoyed poetry and harp music, was a devoted and loving husband to his wife Eleanor of Castile, and as a religious man he gave generously to charity. The film's scene where he scoffs cynically at Isabella for distributing gold to the poor after Wallace refuses it as a bribe would have been unlikely. Edward died on campaign and not in bed at his home.[31]
The depiction of the Prince of Wales (the future Edward II of England) as an effeminate homosexual drew accusations of homophobia against Gibson.

We cut a scene out, unfortunately. . . where you really got to know that character [Edward II] and to understand his plight and his pain. . . . But it just stopped the film in the first act so much that you thought, 'When's this story going to start?'[40][better source needed]
The actual Edward II, who fathered five children by two different women, was rumoured to have had sexual affairs with men, including Piers Gaveston who lived on into the reign of Edward II. The Prince's male lover Phillip was loosely based on Piers Gaveston.
Gibson defended his depiction of Prince Edward as weak and ineffectual, saying,

I'm just trying to respond to history. You can cite other examples – Alexander the Great, for example, who conquered the entire world, was also a homosexual. But this story isn't about Alexander the Great. It's about Edward II.[41]
In response to Longshank's defenestration of the Prince's male lover Phillip, Gibson replied that "The fact that King Edward throws this character out a window has nothing to do with him being gay ... He's terrible to his son, to everybody."[42] Gibson asserted that the reason that Longshanks kills his son's lover is because the king is a "psychopath".[43] Gibson expressed bewilderment that some filmgoers would laugh at this murder.
Accusations of anglophobia[edit]
The English media accused the film of harbouring Anglophobia. The national publication The Economist called it "xenophobic"[44] and John Sutherland writing in The Guardian stated that: "Braveheart gave full rein to a toxic Anglophobia".[45][46][47] According to The Times, MacArthur said "the political effects are truly pernicious. It’s a xenophobic film."[46] The Independent has noted, "The Braveheart phenomenon, a Hollywood-inspired rise in Scottish nationalism, has been linked to a rise in anti-English prejudice".[48] Contemporary British writer and commentator Douglas Murray has described the film as "strangely racist and anti-English".[49]
Soundtrack[edit]
Main article: Braveheart (soundtrack)
The score was composed by James Horner. It was nominated for an Academy Award, Saturn Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Award.
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d "Braveheart (1995)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
2.^ Jump up to: a b White, Caroline (4 August 2009). "The 10 most historically inaccurate movies". London: The Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
3.Jump up ^ Michael Fleming (25 July 2005). "Mel tongue-ties studios". Daily Variety.
4.Jump up ^ Braveheart 10th Chance To Boost Tourism In Trim[dead link], Meath Chronicle, 28 August 2003. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
5.Jump up ^ Chris Probst (1 June 1996). "Cinematic Transcendence". American Cinematographer (Los Angeles, California, United States: American Society of Cinematographers) 77 (6): 76. ISSN 0002-7928.
6.Jump up ^ Classification and Rating Administration, Motion Picture Association of America. "Reasons for Movie Ratings (CARA)".
7.Jump up ^ battles/index.html "The best – and worst – movie battle scenes". CNN. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
8.Jump up ^ "Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" Voted Worst Oscar Winner". hollywood.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04.
9.Jump up ^ Leo Suryadinata, Nationalism and Globalism, East and West (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies) 2000, pg 248
10.Jump up ^ Zumkhawala-Cook, Richard (2008). Scotland as We Know It: Representations of National Identity in Literature, Film and Popular Culture. McFarland. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-7864-4031-3.
11.Jump up ^ MacLellan, Rory; Smith, Ronnie (1998). Tourism in Scotland. Cengage Learning EMEA. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-86152-089-0.
12.Jump up ^ Martin-Jones, David (2009). Scotland: Global Cinema – Genres, Modes, and Identities. Edinburgh University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7486-3391-3.
13.Jump up ^ "The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
14.Jump up ^ http://www.afi.com/Docs/100years/movies400.pdf
15.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains Nominees
16.Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
17.Jump up ^ "HollywoodBowlBallot" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
18.Jump up ^ "Movies_Ballot_06" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
19.Jump up ^ "AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-20.
20.Jump up ^ Boztas, Senay (31 July 2005). "Wallace movie ‘helped Scots get devolution’ – [Sunday Herald]". Braveheart.info. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
21.Jump up ^ "Wallace statue back at home of sculptor". The Courier. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
22.Jump up ^ Hal G. P. Colebatch (8 August 2006). "The American Spectator". Spectator.org. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
23.Jump up ^ Kevin Hurley (19 September 2004). "They may take our lives but they won't take Freedom". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
24.Jump up ^ "Wallace statue back with sculptor". BBC News. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Anderson, Lin. Braveheart: From Hollywood to Holyrood. Luath Press Ltd. (2005), p. 27.
26.Jump up ^ Ewan, Elizabeth. "Braveheart". American Historical Review 100, no. 4 (October 1995): 1219–21.
27.Jump up ^ "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems / Aytoun, W. E. (William Edmondstoune), 1813–1865". Infomotions.com. 2004-02-04. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
28.^ Jump up to: a b c Krossa, Sharon L. "Braveheart Errors: An Illustration of Scale". Retrieved 2009-06-15.
29.Jump up ^ Krossa, Sharon L. "Regarding the Film Braveheart". Retrieved 2009-11-26.
30.Jump up ^ USA. "A History of Scottish Kilts | Authentic Ireland Travel". Authenticireland.com. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
31.^ Jump up to: a b c Traquair, Peter Freedom's Sword, HarperCollins Publishers (1998)
32.Jump up ^ O'Farrell, John (2007), An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, Doubleday, p. 126
33.Jump up ^ Classen, Albrecht (2007). The medieval chastity belt: a myth-making process. Macmillan. p. 151.
34.Jump up ^ "Urban legends website". Snopes.com. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
35.Jump up ^ Lawrence, John Shelton; Jewett, Robert (2002). The Myth of the American Superhero. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 163. ISBN 0802849113.
36.^ Jump up to: a b Canitz, A. E. Christa (2005). "'Historians ... Will Say I Am a liar': The Ideology of False Truth Claims in Mel Gibson's Braveheart and Luc Besson's The Messenger". In Utz, Jesse G.; Swan. Studies in Medievalism XIII: Postmodern Medievalisms. D.S. Brewer. pp. 127–142. ISBN 978-1-84384-012-1.
37.Jump up ^ McArthur, Colin (1998). "Braveheart and the Scottish Aesthetic Dementia". In Barta, Tony. Screening the Past: Film and the Representation of History. Praeger. pp. 167–187. ISBN 978-0-275-95402-4.
38.Jump up ^ Ewan, Elizabeth (October 1995). "Braveheart". The American Historical Review (Bloomington: Indiana University Press) 100 (4): 1219–21. ISSN 0002-8762. OCLC 01830326.
39.Jump up ^ White, Caroline (4 August 2009). "The 10 most historically inaccurate movies". London: The Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
40.Jump up ^ USA Today, May 24, 1995, “Gibson has faith in family and freedom” by Marco R. della Cava
41.Jump up ^ San Francisco Chronicle, 21 May 1995, “Mel Gibson Dons Kilt and Directs” by Ruth Stein
42.Jump up ^ "Gay Alliance has Gibson's 'Braveheart' in its sights", Daily News, 11 May 1995, retrieved 13 February 2010
43.Jump up ^ Matt Zoller Seitz (May 25, 1995). "Icon: Mel Gibson talks about Braveheart, movie stardom, and media treachery". Dallas Observer. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
44.Jump up ^ "Economist.com". Economist.com. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
45.Jump up ^ world "John Sutherland". The Guardian (London). 11 August 2003. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
46.^ Jump up to: a b "Braveheart battle cry is now but a whisper". London: Times Online. 24 July 2005. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
47.Jump up ^ Colin, McArthur (2003). Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema. I. B. Tauris. p. 5. ISBN 1-86064-927-0.
48.Jump up ^ Burrell, Ian (8 February 1999). "Most race attack victims `are white': The English Exiles – News". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
49.Jump up ^ "Douglas Murray and Michael Coren - Scottish Independence". CNN. 23 Feb 2013. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Braveheart
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Roger Ebert's review of Braveheart


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Gladiator (2000 film)
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Gladiator
A man standing at the center of the image is wearing armor and is holding a sword in his right hand. In the background is the top of the Colosseum with a barely visible crowd standing in it. The poster includes the film's title, cast credits and release date.
Theatrical release poster

Directed by
Ridley Scott
Produced by
Douglas Wick
David Franzoni
Branko Lustig
Screenplay by
David Franzoni
John Logan
William Nicholson
Story by
David Franzoni
Starring
Russell Crowe
Joaquin Phoenix
Connie Nielsen
Oliver Reed
Derek Jacobi
Djimon Hounsou
Ralf Möller
Richard Harris
Music by
Hans Zimmer
Lisa Gerrard
Klaus Badelt
Cinematography
John Mathieson
Editing by
Pietro Scalia
Studio
Scott Free Productions
Red Wagon Entertainment[1]
Distributed by
DreamWorks Pictures (US)
Universal Pictures (International)
Release dates
May 1, 2000 (Los Angeles)
May 5, 2000 (United States)
May 12, 2000 (United Kingdom)

Running time
155 minutes[2] (Theatrical cut)
 164 minutes[3] (Director's cut)
Country
United States
 United Kingdom[4]
Language
English
Budget
$103 million[5][6]
Box office
$457,640,427
Gladiator is a 2000 British–American epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed (in his final film role), Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the fictional character, loyal Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when the emperor's ambitious son, Commodus, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murder of his family and his emperor.
Released in the United States on May 5, 2000, Gladiator was a box office success, receiving positive reviews, and was credited with rekindling interest in the historical epic. The film was nominated for and won multiple awards, notably five Academy Awards in the 73rd Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Screenplay
3.2 Pre-production
3.3 Filming
3.4 Post-production
4 Historical accuracy
5 Influences
6 Music
7 Reception 7.1 Accolades
8 Impact
9 Home media
10 Cancelled sequel
11 See also
12 Notes
13 References
14 External links

Plot[edit]
In AD 180, General Maximus Decimus Meridius leads the Roman army to a decisive victory against the Germanic tribes at Vindobona, ending a long war on the Roman frontier and winning the favor of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The emperor is already old and dying, and although he has a son, Commodus, he asks Maximus to succeed him as a regent and turn Rome back into a republic. The emperor speaks with Commodus afterwards and explains his decision, but Commodus reacts by killing him and claiming the throne.
Still at Vindobona, Maximus is confronted by Commodus but he refuses to pledge loyalty. General Quintus, captain of the Praetorian Guard and a friend to Maximus, chooses to follow Commodus. He obeys Commodus' orders and reluctantly sends men to Spain to kill Maximus' wife and son. Maximus manages to escape his own execution by Praetorians and races back to his home in Spain, but he finds his wife and son already dead. He buries them and then passes out. A slave caravan passes by and captures Maximus, assuming that he is a deserter. Maximus is taken to Zucchabar in Roman Africa and sold to a man named Proximo, who uses him as a gladiator.
Maximus is forced to fight in local tournaments, and he wins every match because of his superior skill. He makes friends with Proximo's other gladiators, including a Numidian named Juba and a German named Hagen. His successes allow Proximo to bring the team to the Roman Colosseum. Proximo explains to Maximus that he was himself a gladiator who fought well enough in the Colosseum to win his freedom, granted to him by Marcus Aurelius himself.
Having arrived at the Colosseum, Proximo's team is put in a match against highly unfair odds, in what is meant to be a reenactment of the Battle of Zama. Maximus and his teammates are on foot, armed with spears and shields, against a cohesive and well-equipped force of mounted fighters and archers on chariots. By means of Maximus' leadership, however, the team is able to upset their opponents. Commodus comes down personally to congratulate Maximus on his victory. At this point, Maximus removes his helm and reveals himself to Commodus. Maximus promises to exact vengeance against Commodus, who is still in shock to learn that Maximus is still alive. While Commodus yearns to kill Maximus on the spot, he cannot because doing so would cause the watching crowd to develop distaste for his leadership, since the crowd loves Maximus.
Commodus tries to have Maximus killed by paying Tigris, a former gladiator, to come back and fight Maximus. Tigris is well known and had earned his freedom by never being defeated. During the match, Colosseum staff approach Maximus from behind, holding tigers by the leash, in order to put Maximus at a disadvantage. Against all expectations, Maximus still wins, but he spares Tigris' life and is declared by the crowd as "Maximus the Merciful" and this further angers Commodus. Commodus goes down to Maximus and has his Praetorians surround him, and launches insults at him. Maximus responds by turning his back to Commodus and walking away, a grave insult toward an emperor, and Commodus' own Praetorians show their deference to Maximus by stepping aside for him.
As Maximus is being escorted back to the gladiator's quarters, his former servant Cicero approaches him and says that Maximus still has the loyalty of his army. Commodus' sister Lucilla and the senator Gracchus secure a meeting with Maximus, and Maximus obtains their consent to rejoin his army, topple Commodus by force, and hand power over to the senate. Commodus, however, suspects a plot against him, and forces Lucilla to confess it by threatening to kill her son. Praetorians close in upon the gladiator quarters before Maximus can leave. Proximo, loyal to Maximus, refuses to open the gate in order to buy Maximus time to escape. When the Praetorians break through, Proximo's gladiators assault them in order to give Maximus more time. The Praetorians kill Hagen and many others, and they execute Proximo. Maximus reaches the rendezvous place, but it is already staked out by Praetorians. Cicero is killed and Maximus is captured.
Commodus, desperate to get Maximus out of the way and to restore his own glory, arranges to duel him. Before the fight begins he stabs Maximus in the chest which makes him severely weakened. During the fight, Maximus still manages to dodge Commodus' blows and disarm him. Commodus asks the Praetorians to intervene, but Quintus betrays Commodus at this point and orders them not to. Commodus produces a hidden stiletto, but Maximus turns the blade back into Commodus' throat, killing him.
Maximus succumbs to the stab wound and dies, asking with his last words that the Roman Republic be restored and that the slaves be freed. As he dies, he has a vision of walking through a field of grain and being finally reunited with his wife and son. Lucilla has the body of Maximus carried out for an honorable burial while the crowd stands in respect. Some time later, Juba revists the Colosseum at night, and he buries Maximus' two small figurines of his wife and son at the spot where he died. He promises that he will see Maximus again, "but not yet."
Cast[edit]
Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius: a Roman legatus forced into becoming a slave who seeks revenge against Commodus. He had been under the favor of Marcus Aurelius, and the love and admiration of Lucilla prior to the events of the film. His home is near Trujillo[7] in today's Province of Cáceres, Spain. After the murder of his family he vows vengeance. Maximus is a fictional character partly inspired by Marcus Nonius Macrinus, Narcissus, Spartacus, Cincinnatus, and Maximus of Hispania. Mel Gibson was first offered the role, but declined as he felt he was too old to play the character. Antonio Banderas and Hugh Jackman were also considered.
Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus: The corrupted, twisted, immoral son of Marcus Aurelius, he murders his father when he learns that Maximus will hold the emperor's powers in trust until a new senate can be formed. Earlier played by Christopher Plummer in The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Jude Law was also considered for this role.
Connie Nielsen as Lucilla: Maximus' former lover and the older child of Marcus Aurelius, Lucilla has been recently widowed. She tries to resist her brother's incestuous advances while protecting her son, Lucius.
Oliver Reed as Antonius Proximo: An old, gruff gladiator trainer who buys Maximus in North Africa. A former gladiator himself, he was freed by Marcus Aurelius, and gives Maximus his own armor and eventually a chance at freedom. This was Reed's final film. He died during the filming. In the original script, Proximo was supposed to live.
Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus: One of the senators who opposes Commodus' rule.
Djimon Hounsou as Juba: A Numidian tribesman who was taken from his home and family by slave traders. He becomes Maximus' closest ally and friend.
David Schofield as Senator Falco: A Patrician, a senator opposed to Gracchus. He helps Commodus to consolidate his power.
John Shrapnel as Gaius: Another senator who is in close correspondence to Gracchus.
Tomas Arana as General Quintus: Another Roman legatus, who served under and was the former friend to Maximus. Made commander of the Praetorian guards by Commodus, earning his loyalty. In the extended version, he sees the mad side of the Emperor when he is forced to execute two innocent men. Quintus later redeems himself by refusing to allow Commodus a sword during his duel with Maximus.
Ralf Möller as Hagen: A Germanic warrior and Proximo's chief gladiator who later befriends Maximus and Juba during their battles in Rome.
Spencer Treat Clark as Lucius Verus: The young son of Lucilla. He is named after his father Lucius Verus. He is also the grandson of Marcus Aurelius.
David Hemmings as Cassius: An elderly fat man who runs the gladiatorial games in the Colosseum and is the arena announcer.
Tommy Flanagan as Cicero: Maximus' loyal servant who provides him with information while Maximus is enslaved. He was used as bait for an escaping Maximus and eventually killed.
Sven-Ole Thorsen as Tigris of Gaul: An undefeated gladiator who is called out of retirement to kill Maximus.
Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius: An emperor of Rome who appoints Maximus, whom he loves as a son, with the ultimate aim of returning Rome to a republican form of government. He is murdered by his son Commodus before his wish can be fulfilled.
Graham Wilson as a gladiator
Omid Djalili as a slave trader.
Giannina Facio as Maximus' wife.
Giorgio Cantarini as Maximus' son.
Tony Curran as Assassin #1
Production[edit]
Screenplay[edit]
Gladiator was based on an original pitch by David Franzoni, who wrote the first draft.[8] Franzoni was given a three-picture deal with DreamWorks as writer and co-producer on the strength of his previous work, Steven Spielberg's Amistad, which helped establish the reputation of DreamWorks. Not a classical scholar, Franzoni was inspired by Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 novel Those About to Die, and he chose to base his story on Commodus after reading the Augustan History. In Franzoni's first draft, dated April 4, 1998, he named his protagonist Narcissus, a wrestler who, according to the ancient sources Herodian and Cassius Dio, strangled Emperor Commodus to death.[9]

Several dead men and various scattered weapons are located in a large arena. Near the center of the image is a man wearing armor standing in the middle of an arena looking up at a large crowd. The man has his right foot on the throat of an injured man who is reaching towards the crowd. Members of the crowd are indicating a "thumbs down" gesture. The arena is adorned with marble, columns, flags, and statues.

Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down) by Jean-Léon Gérôme, the 19th-century painting that inspired Ridley Scott to tackle the project.
Ridley Scott was approached by producers Walter F. Parkes and Douglas Wick. They showed him a copy of Jean-Léon Gérôme's 1872 painting entitled Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down).[10] Scott was enticed by filming the world of Ancient Rome. However, Scott felt Franzoni's dialogue was too "on the nose"[clarification needed meaning?] and hired John Logan to rewrite the script to his liking. Logan rewrote much of the first act, and made the decision to kill off Maximus' family to increase the character's motivation.[11]
Russell Crowe describes being eager for the role as pitched by Walter F. Parkes, in his interview for Inside the Actors Studio: "'It's a 100-million-dollar film. You're being directed by Ridley Scott. You play a Roman General.' I've always been a big fan of Ridley's."[12]
With two weeks to go before filming, the actors complained of problems with the script. William Nicholson was brought to Shepperton Studios to make Maximus a more sensitive character, reworking his friendship with Juba and developed the afterlife thread in the film, saying "he did not want to see a film about a man who wanted to kill somebody."[11]
The screenplay faced many rewrites and revisions. Crowe allegedly questioned every aspect of the evolving script and strode off the set when he did not get answers. According to a DreamWorks executive, "(Russell Crowe) tried to rewrite the entire script on the spot. You know the big line in the trailer, 'In this life or the next, I will have my vengeance'? At first he absolutely refused to say it."[13] Nicholson, the third and final screenwriter, says Crowe told him, "Your lines are garbage but I'm the greatest actor in the world, and I can make even garbage sound good." Nicholson goes on to say that "probably my lines were garbage, so he was just talking straight."[14]
Russell Crowe described the script situation: "I read the script and it was substantially underdone. Even the character didn't exist on the pages. And that set about a long process, that's probably the first time that I've been in a situation where the script wasn't a complete done deal. We actually started shooting with about 32 pages and went through them in the first couple of weeks."[15]
Of the writing/filming process, Crowe added, "Possibly, a lot of the stuff that I have to deal with now in terms of my quote unquote volatility has to do with that experience. Here was a situation where we got to Morocco with a crew of 200 and a cast of a 100 or whatever, and I didn't have anything to learn. I actually didn't know what the scenes were gonna be. We had, I think one American writer working on it, one English writer working on it, and of course a group of producers who were also adding their ideas, and then Ridley himself; and then, on the occasion where Ridley would say, 'Look, this is the structure for it -- what are you gonna say in that?' So then I'd be doing my own stuff, as well. And this is how things like, 'Strength and honor,' came up. This is how things like, 'At my signal, unleash hell,' came up. The name Maximus Decimus Meridius, it just flowed well."[16]
Pre-production[edit]
In preparation for filming, Scott spent several months developing storyboards to develop the framework of the plot.[17] Over six weeks, production members scouted various locations within the extent of the Roman Empire before its collapse, including Italy, France, North Africa, and England.[18] All of the film's props, sets, and costumes were manufactured by crew members due to high costs and unavailability of the items.[19] One hundred suits of steel armour and 550 suits in polyurethane were made by Rod Vass and his company Armordillo. The unique sprayed-polyurethane system was developed by Armordillo and pioneered for this production. Over a three-month period, 27,500 component pieces of armor were made.
Filming[edit]
The film was shot in three main locations between January-May 1999. The opening battle scenes in the forests of Germania were shot in three weeks in the Bourne Woods, near Farnham, Surrey in England.[20] When Scott learned that the Forestry Commission planned to remove the forest, he convinced them to allow the battle scene to be shot there and burn it down.[21] Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson used multiple cameras filming at various frame rates and a 45-degree shutter, creating stop motion effects in the action sequences, similar to techniques used for the battle sequences of Saving Private Ryan (1998).[22] Subsequently, the scenes of slavery, desert travel, and gladiatorial training school were shot in Ouarzazate, Morocco just south of the Atlas Mountains over a further three weeks.[23] To construct the arena where Maximus has his first fights, the crew used basic materials and local building techniques to manufacture the 30,000-seat mud brick arena.[24] Finally, the scenes of Ancient Rome were shot over a period of nineteen weeks in Fort Ricasoli, Malta.[25][26]
In Malta, a replica of about one-third of Rome's Colosseum was built, to a height of 52 feet (15.8 meters), mostly from plaster and plywood (the other two-thirds and remaining height were added digitally).[27] The replica took several months to build and cost an estimated $1 million.[28] The reverse side of the complex supplied a rich assortment of Ancient Roman street furniture, colonnades, gates, statuary, and marketplaces for other filming requirements. The complex was serviced by tented "costume villages" that had changing rooms, storage, armorers, and other facilities.[25] The rest of the Colosseum was created in computer-generated imagery using set-design blueprints and textures referenced from live action, and rendered in three layers to provide lighting flexibility for compositing in Flame and Inferno software.[29]
Post-production[edit]

Men in white robes with the Colosseum in the background.

 Several scenes included extensive use of computer-generated imagery shots for views of Rome.
British post-production company The Mill was responsible for much of the computer-generated imagery effects that were added after filming. The company was responsible for such tricks as compositing real tigers filmed on bluescreen into the fight sequences, and adding smoke trails and extending the flight paths of the opening scene's salvo of flaming arrows to get around regulations on how far they could be shot during filming. They also used 2,000 live actors to create a computer-generated crowd of 35,000 virtual actors that had to look believable and react to fight scenes.[30] The Mill accomplished this by shooting live actors at different angles giving various performances, and then mapping them onto cards, with motion-capture tools used to track their movements for three dimensional compositing.[29] The Mill created over 90 visual effects shots, comprising approximately nine minutes of the film's running time.[31]
An unexpected post-production job was caused by the death of Oliver Reed of a heart attack during the filming in Malta, before all his scenes had been shot. The Mill created a digital body double for the remaining scenes involving his character Proximo[29] by photographing a live action body-double in the shadows and by mapping a three dimensional computer-generated imagery mask of Reed's face to the remaining scenes during production at an estimated cost of $3.2 million for two minutes of additional footage.[32][33] Visual effects supervisor John Nelson reflected on the decision to include the additional footage: "What we did was small compared to our other tasks on the film. What Oliver did was much greater. He gave an inspiring, moving performance. All we did was help him finish it."[32] The film is dedicated to Reed's memory.[34]
Historical accuracy[edit]
Main article: Historical accuracy of Gladiator (2000 film)



 The Numidian king Juba. The Numidians were most likely of Berber origin, instead of Sub-saharan origin.
The film is loosely based on historical events. In making the film Ridley Scott wanted to portray the Roman culture more accurately than in any previous film; to that end he hired several historians as advisors. Nevertheless, some deviations from historical fact were made to increase interest, some to maintain narrative continuity, and some for practical or safety reasons. Due to previous Hollywood movies' affecting the public perception of what ancient Rome was like, some historical facts were "too unbelievable" to include (according to Scott). At least one historical advisor resigned due to the changes made, and another asked not to be mentioned in the credits (though it was stated in the director's commentary that he constantly asked, "where is the proof that certain things were exactly like they say?"). Historian Allen Ward of the University of Connecticut believed that historical accuracy would not have made Gladiator less interesting or exciting and stated: "creative artists need to be granted some poetic license, but that should not be a permit for the wholesale disregard of facts in historical fiction".[35][36]
Marcus Aurelius died of plague at Vindobona; he was not murdered by his son Commodus. So, while in the movie, Commodus strangles his father Marcus Aurelius, in historic truth Marcus Aurelius allowed his immoral son to become emperor, knowing of his moral faults. Thus, the great philosopher emperor ended the beneficent tradition of previous Adoptive Emperors. The character of Maximus is fictional, although in some respects he resembles the historical figures Narcissus (the character's name in the first draft of the screenplay and Commodus' real-life murderer),[37] Spartacus (who led a significant slave revolt), Cincinnatus (a farmer who became dictator, saved Rome from invasion, then resigned his six-month appointment after 15 days),[38][39] and Marcus Nonius Macrinus (a trusted general, Consul of AD 154, and friend of Marcus Aurelius).[40][41][42] Although Commodus engaged in show combat in the Colosseum, he was strangled by the wrestler Narcissus in his bath, not killed in the arena, and reigned for several years, unlike the brief period shown in the film.
The name Maximus Decimus Meridius is inaccurate in terms of Roman naming conventions, which would use Decimus Meridius Maximus, as Maximus was a cognomen and Decimus a given name. He is also called Aurelius Maximus.
Influences[edit]
The film's plot was influenced by two 1960s Hollywood films of the sword-and-sandal genre, The Fall of the Roman Empire and Spartacus,[43] and shares several plot points with The Fall of the Roman Empire, which tells the story of Livius, who, like Maximus in Gladiator, is Marcus Aurelius' intended successor. Livius is in love with Lucilla and seeks to marry her while Maximus, who is happily married, was formerly in love with her. Both films portray the death of Marcus Aurelius as an assassination. In Fall of the Roman Empire a group of conspirators independent of Commodus, hoping to profit from Commodus' accession, arrange for Marcus Aurelius to be poisoned; in Gladiator Commodus himself murders his father by smothering him. In the course of Fall of the Roman Empire Commodus unsuccessfully seeks to win Livius over to his vision of empire in contrast to that of his father, but continues to employ him notwithstanding; in Gladiator, when Commodus fails to secure Maximus's allegiance, he executes Maximus' wife and son and tries unsuccessfully to execute him. Livius in Fall of the Roman Empire and Maximus in Gladiator kill Commodus in single combat, Livius to save Lucilla and Maximus to avenge the murder of his wife and son, and both do it for the greater good of Rome.
Scott attributed Spartacus and Ben-Hur as influences on the film: "These movies were part of my cinema-going youth. But at the dawn of the new millennium, I though this might be the ideal time to revisit what may have been the most important period of the last two thousand years – if not all recorded history – the apex and beginning of the decline of the greatest military and political power the world has ever known."[44]
Spartacus provides the film's gladiatorial motif, as well as the character of Senator Gracchus, a fictitious senator (bearing the name of a pair of revolutionary Tribunes from the 2nd century BC) who in both films is an elder statesman of ancient Rome attempting to preserve the ancient rights of the Roman Senate in the face of an ambitious autocrat –Marcus Licinius Crassus in Spartacus and Commodus in Gladiator. Both actors who played Gracchus (in Spartacus and Gladiator), played Claudius in previous films – Charles Laughton of Spartacus played Claudius in the unfinished 1937 film I, Claudius and Sir Derek Jacobi of Gladiator, played Claudius in the 1976 BBC adaptation. Both films also share a specific set piece, wherein a gladiator (Maximus here, Woody Strode's Draba in Spartacus) throws his weapon into a spectator box at the end of a match, as well as at least one line of dialogue: "Rome is the mob", said here by Gracchus and by Julius Caesar (John Gavin) in Spartacus.
The film's depiction of Commodus' entry into Rome borrows imagery from Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will (1935), although Ridley Scott has pointed out that the iconography of Nazi rallies was of course inspired by the Roman Empire. Gladiator reflects back on the film by duplicating similar events that occurred in Adolf Hitler's procession. The Nazi film opens with an aerial view of Hitler arriving in a plane, while Scott shows an aerial view of Rome, quickly followed by a shot of the large crowd of people watching Commodus pass them in a procession with his chariot.[45] The first thing to appear in Triumph of the Will is a Nazi eagle, which is alluded to when a statue of an eagle sits atop one of the arches (and then is shortly followed by several more decorative eagles throughout the rest of the scene) leading up to the procession of Commodus. At one point in the Nazi film, a little girl gives flowers to Hitler, while Commodus is met by several girls who all give him bundles of flowers.[46]
Music[edit]
Main article: Gladiator (soundtrack)




Gladiator – "Battle"







A clip from the score of the 2000 film Gladiator.

Problems playing this file? See media help.




Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard – "Now We Are Free"







listen to a clip from the score of Gladiator.

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The Oscar-nominated score was composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, and conducted by Gavin Greenaway. Zimmer was originally planning to use Israeli vocalist Ofra Haza for the score, after his work with her in The Prince of Egypt. However, Ofra tragically died in her early 40s in late February 2000, before she was able to record anything, and so Gerrard was chosen instead. Lisa Gerrard's vocals are similar to her own work on The Insider score.[47] The music for many of the battle scenes has been noted as similar to Gustav Holst's "Mars: The Bringer of War", and in June 2006, the Holst Foundation sued Hans Zimmer for allegedly copying the late Gustav Holst's work.[48][49] Another close musical resemblance occurs in the scene of Commodus's triumphal entry into Rome, accompanied by music clearly evocative of two sections – the Prelude to Das Rheingold and Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung – from Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs. The "German" war chant in the opening scene was borrowed from the 1964 film Zulu, one of Ridley Scott's favorite movies. On February 27, 2001, nearly a year after the first soundtrack's release, Decca produced Gladiator: More Music From the Motion Picture. Then, on September 5, 2005, Decca produced Gladiator: Special Anniversary Edition, a two-CD pack containing both the above mentioned releases. Some of the music from the film was featured in the NFL playoffs in January 2003 before commercial breaks and before and after half-time.[50] In 2003, Luciano Pavarotti released a recording of himself singing a song from the film and said he regretted turning down an offer to perform on the soundtrack.[51] The soundtrack is one of the best selling film scores of all time.
Reception[edit]
Gladiator received positive reviews, with 77% of the critics polled by Rotten Tomatoes giving it favorable reviews, with an averaged score of 7 out of 10.[52] At the website Metacritic, which employs a normalized rating system, the film earned a favorable rating of 64/100 based on 37 reviews by mainstream critics.[53] The Battle of Germania was cited by CNN as one of their "favorite on-screen battle scenes",[54] while Entertainment Weekly named Maximus as their sixth favorite action hero, because of "Crowe's steely, soulful performance",[55] and named it as their third favorite revenge film.[56] In December 2000, Gladiator was named the best film of the year by viewers of Film 2000, taking 40% of the votes.[57] In 2002, a Channel 4 (UK TV) poll named it as the sixth greatest film of all time.[58] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Are you not entertained?".[59]
It was not without its deriders. Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, and criticized the look of the film as "muddy, fuzzy, and indistinct." He also derided the writing claiming it "employs depression as a substitute for personality, and believes that if characters are bitter and morose enough, we won't notice how dull they are."[60] Camille Paglia called the film, "boring, badly shot and suffused with sentimental p.c. rubbish."[61]
The film earned US$34.83 million on its opening weekend at 2,938 U.S. theaters.[62] Within two weeks, the film's box office gross surpassed its US $103 million budget.[5] The film continued on to become one of the highest earning films of 2000 and made a worldwide box office gross of US$ 457,640,427, with over US$ 187 million in American theaters and more than the equivalent of US$269 million in non-US markets.[63]
Accolades[edit]
Main article: List of accolades received by Gladiator
Gladiator was nominated in 36 individual ceremonies, including the 73rd Academy Awards, the BAFTA Awards, and the Golden Globe Awards. Of 119 award nominations, the film won 48 prizes.[64]
The film won five Academy Awards and was nominated for an additional seven, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Director for Ridley Scott. It was the first movie to win Best Picture without winning both Best Director and Best Screenplay awards since The Greatest Show on Earth at the 25th Academy Awards in 1953. In 2003, Chicago became the another Best Picture winner which didn't win an Academy Award in either of these two major categories. There was controversy[citation needed] over the film's nomination for Best Music, Original Score. The award was officially nominated only to Hans Zimmer, and not to Lisa Gerrard due to Academy rules, at the time. However, the pair did win the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score as co-composers.
73rd Academy Awards[65] Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe)
Best Visual Effects
Best Costume Design
Best Sound (Bob Beemer, Scott Millan and Ken Weston)
BAFTA Awards Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Film
Best Production Design
58th Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
American Film Institute ListsAFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains: General Maximus Decimus Meridius – #50 Hero[66]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: "Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." – Nominated[67]
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores – Nominated[68]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated[69]
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[70]
AFI's 10 Top 10 – Nominated Epic Film[71]
Impact[edit]
The film's mainstream success is responsible for an increased interest in Roman and classical history in the United States. According to The New York Times, this has been dubbed the "Gladiator Effect".

It's called the 'Gladiator' effect by writers and publishers. The snob in us likes to believe that it is always books that spin off movies. Yet in this case, it's the movies – most recently Gladiator two years ago – that have created the interest in the ancients. And not for more Roman screen colossals, but for writing that is serious or fun or both."[72]
The Cicero biography Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician and Gregory Hays' translation of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations received large spikes in sales after the release of the film.[72] The film also began a revival of the historical epic genre with films such as Troy, The Alamo, King Arthur, Alexander, 300, Kingdom of Heaven and Robin Hood (the last two were also directed by Scott).[73] The character of Maximus was placed 12th in the Total Film list of 50 best movie heroes and villains[74] and 35th in the Empire's 100 Greatest Movie Characters.[75] Maximus is also featured on 55c "Australian Legends" postage stamp series.[76] Russell Crowe attended an associated ceremony to mark the creation of the stamps.[76]
Home media[edit]
The film was first released on DVD on November 20, 2000, and has since been released in several different extended and special edition versions. Special features for the Blu-ray Disc and DVDs include deleted scenes, trailers, documentaries, commentaries, storyboards, image galleries, Easter eggs, and cast auditions. The film was released on Blu-ray in September 2009, in a 2-disc edition containing both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film, as part of Paramount's "Sapphire Series" (Paramount bought the DreamWorks library in 2006).[77] Initial reviews of the Blu-ray Disc release criticized poor image quality, leading many to call for it to be remastered, as Sony did with The Fifth Element in 2007.[78] A remastered version was later released in 2010.
The DVD editions that have been released since the original two-disc version, include a film only single-disc edition as well as a three-disc "extended edition" DVD which was released in August 2005. The extended edition DVD features approximately fifteen minutes of additional scenes, most of which appear in the previous release as deleted scenes. The original cut, which Scott still calls his director's cut, is also select-able via seamless branching (which is not included on the UK edition). The DVD is also notable for having a new commentary track featuring director Scott and star Crowe. The film is on the first disc, the second one has a three-hour documentary into the making of the film by DVD producer Charles de Lauzirika, and the third disc contains supplements. Discs one and two of the three-disc extended edition were also repackaged and sold as a two-disc "special edition" in the EU in 2005.
Cancelled sequel[edit]
In June 2001, Douglas Wick said a Gladiator prequel was in development.[79] The following year, Wick, Walter Parkes, David Franzoni, and John Logan switched direction to a sequel set fifteen years later;[80] the Praetorian Guards rule Rome and an older Lucius is trying to learn who his real father was. However, Russell Crowe was interested in resurrecting Maximus, and further researched Roman beliefs about the afterlife to accomplish this.[81] Ridley Scott expressed interest, although he admitted the project would have to be retitled as it had little to do with gladiators.[82] An easter egg contained on disc 2 of the extended edition / special edition DVD releases includes a discussion of possible scenarios for a follow-up. This includes a suggestion by Walter F. Parkes that, in order to enable Russell Crowe to return to play Maximus, who dies at the end of the original movie, a sequel could involve a "multi-generational drama about Maximus and the Aureleans and this chapter of Rome", similar in concept to The Godfather Part II.
In 2006, Scott stated he and Crowe approached Nick Cave to rewrite the film, but they had conflicted with DreamWorks's idea of a Lucius spin-off, who Scott revealed would turn out to be Maximus' son with Lucilla. He noted this tale of corruption in Rome was too complex, whereas Gladiator worked due to its simple drive.[citation needed] In 2009, details of Cave's ultimately rejected script surfaced on the internet, suggesting that Maximus would be reincarnated by the Roman gods and returned to Rome to defend Christians against persecution; he would then be transported to other important periods in history, including World War II, the Vietnam War, and finally playing a general in the modern-day Pentagon. However, there was no sequel.[83][84]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Film portal
List of films set in ancient Rome
List of historical drama films
Notes[edit]
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2.Jump up ^ "GLADIATOR (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2000-04-19. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
3.Jump up ^ "GLADIATOR [Director's cut] (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2005-08-05. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
4.Jump up ^ "Gladiator". BFI. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Sale, Martha Lair; Paula Diane Parker (2005), Losing Like Forrest Gump: Winners and Losers in the Film Industry (PDF), retrieved 2007-02-19
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7.Jump up ^ Script of the movie
8.Jump up ^ Stax (April 4, 2002), The Stax Report's Five Scribes Edition, IGN, retrieved February 27, 2009
9.Jump up ^ Jon Solomon (April 1, 2004), "Gladiator from Screenplay to Screen", in Martin M. Winkler, Gladiator: Film and History, Blackwell Publishing, p. 3
10.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 22
11.^ Jump up to: a b Tales of the Scribes: Story Development (DVD). Universal. 2005.
12.Jump up ^ http://www.kaspinet.com/Inside_The_Actors_Studio-Transcript.htm
13.Jump up ^ Corliss, Richard; Jeffrey Ressner (May 8, 2000), The Empire Strikes Back, Time, retrieved February 27, 2009
14.Jump up ^ Bill Nicholson’s Speech at the launch of the International Screenwriters' Festival, January 30, 2006, archived from the original on May 17, 2008, retrieved February 27, 2009
15.Jump up ^ http://www.kaspinet.com/Inside_The_Actors_Studio-Transcript.htm
16.Jump up ^ http://www.kaspinet.com/Inside_The_Actors_Studio-Transcript.htm
17.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 34
18.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 61
19.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 66
20.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 62
21.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 68
22.Jump up ^ Bankston, Douglas (May 2000), "Death or Glory", American Cinematographer (American Society of Cinematographers)
23.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 63
24.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 73
25.^ Jump up to: a b Gory glory in the Colosseum, Kodak: In Camera, July 2000, archived from the original on 2005-02-09, retrieved February 27, 2009
26.Jump up ^ Malta Film Commission – Backlots, Malta Film Commission, retrieved 28 August 2009
27.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 89
28.Jump up ^ Winkler, p.130
29.^ Jump up to: a b c Bath, Matthew (October 25, 2004), The Mill, Digit Magazine, retrieved February 27, 2009
30.Jump up ^ Landau, Diana; Walter Parkes, John Logan, & Ridley Scott (2000), Gladiator: The Making of the Ridley Scott Epic, Newmarket Press, p. 89, ISBN 1-55704-428-7
31.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 122
32.^ Jump up to: a b Landau 2000, p. 123
33.Jump up ^ Oliver Reed Resurrected On Screen, Internet Movie Database, April 12, 2000, retrieved February 27, 2009
34.Jump up ^ Schwartz, p.142
35.Jump up ^ Ward, Allen (May 2001). "The Movie "Gladiator" in Historical Perspective". University of Connecticut. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
36.Jump up ^ Winkler, Martin (2004), Gladiator Film and History, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, p. 6, ISBN 1-4051-1042-2
37.Jump up ^ Gladiator: The Real Story, retrieved February 27, 2009
38.Jump up ^ Livy. Cincinnatus Leaves His Plow. Taken from The Western World ISBN 0-536-99373-4
39.Jump up ^ Andrew Rawnsley (June 23, 2002), He wants to go on and on; they all do, London: Guardian Unlimited, retrieved February 27, 2009
40.Jump up ^ Peter Popham (October 16, 2008), Found: Tomb of the general who inspired 'Gladiator', London: The Independent, retrieved February 27, 2009
41.Jump up ^ 'Gladiator' Tomb is Found in Rome, BBC News, October 17, 2008, retrieved February 27, 2009
42.Jump up ^ Tomb of Roman general who inspired Gladiator reburied, PreHist.org, December 6, 2012, retrieved December 6, 2012
43.Jump up ^ Martin M. Winkler (June 23, 2002), Scholia Reviews ns 14 (2005) 11., retrieved February 27, 2009
44.Jump up ^ Landau 2000, p. 28
45.Jump up ^ Winkler, p.114
46.Jump up ^ Winkler, p.115
47.Jump up ^ Zimmer and Gladiator, Reel.com, archived from the original on February 10, 2008, retrieved February 27, 2009
48.Jump up ^ Priscilla Rodriguez (June 12, 2006), "Gladiator" Composer Accused of Copyright Infringement, KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO, archived from the original on 2008-05-16, retrieved February 27, 2009
49.Jump up ^ Michael Beek (June 2006), Gladiator Vs Mars – Zimmer is sued:, Music from the Movies, archived from the original on 2008-06-18, retrieved February 27, 2009
50.Jump up ^ Winkler, p.141
51.Jump up ^ Anastasia Tsioulcas (October 26, 2003), For Pavarotti, Time To Go 'Pop', Yahoo! Music, retrieved February 27, 2009
52.Jump up ^ Gladiator, Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved February 27, 2009
53.Jump up ^ Gladiator, Metacritic, retrieved February 27, 2009
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55.Jump up ^ Marc Bernadin (October 23, 2007), 25 Awesome Action Heroes, Entertainment Weekly, retrieved February 27, 2009
56.Jump up ^ Gary Susman (December 12, 2007), 20 Best Revenge Movies, Entertainment Weekly, retrieved February 27, 2009
57.Jump up ^ "Gladiator triumphs in Film 2000 poll". London: BBC News. 2000-12-22. Archived from the original on 2003-02-03. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
58.Jump up ^ 100 Greatest Films, Channel 4, archived from the original on 2008-04-15, retrieved February 27, 2009
59.Jump up ^ Geier, Thom; Jensen, Jeff; Jordan, Tina; Lyons, Margaret; Markovitz, Adam; Nashawaty, Chris; Pastorek, Whitney; Rice, Lynette; Rottenberg, Josh; Schwartz, Missy; Slezak, Michael; Snierson, Dan; Stack, Tim; Stroup, Kate; Tucker, Ken; Vary, Adam B.; Vozick-Levinson, Simon; Ward, Kate (December 11, 2009), "The 100 Greatest Movies, TV shows, Albums, Books, Characters, Scenes, Episodes, Songs, Dresses, Music vidos, and Trends that entertained us over the past". Entertainment Weekly. (1079/1080):74-84
60.Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger, 5, 2000 Gladiator Review, Chicago Sun-Times, retrieved February 21, 2013
61.Jump up ^ http://www.salon.com/2001/04/11/china_26/
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64.Jump up ^ Gladiator awards tally, Internet Movie Database, retrieved February 27, 2009
65.Jump up ^ "The 73rd Academy Awards (2001) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
66.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains
67.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees
68.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores Nominees
69.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years ...100 Cheers Nominees
70.Jump up ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) Ballot
71.Jump up ^ AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot
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76.^ Jump up to: a b "Oscar winning Aussies go postal". BBC News. 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
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81.Jump up ^ Stax (December 17, 2002), "A Hero Will Rise – From the Dead!", IGN, retrieved February 27, 2009
82.Jump up ^ Stax (September 11, 2003), "Ridley Talks Gladiator 2", IGN, retrieved February 27, 2009
83.Jump up ^ Michaels, Sean (May 6, 2009). "Nick Cave's rejected Gladiator 2 script uncovered!". The Guardian (London). Retrieved May 3, 2010.
84.Jump up ^ Cave, Nick, Gladiator 2 Draft, retrieved 16 May 2010
References[edit]
Landau, Diana; Walter Parkes, John Logan, and Ridley Scott (2000), Gladiator: The Making of the Ridley Scott Epic, Newmarket Press, ISBN 1-55704-428-7
Further reading
Reynolds, Mike (July 2000), "Ridley Scott: From Blade Runner to Blade Stunner", DGA Monthly Magazine (Directors Guild of America)
Schwartz, Richard (2001). The Films of Ridley Scott. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-96976-2
Stephens, William (2001), "The Rebirth of Stoicism?", Creighton Magazine, retrieved 2010-01-04
Ward, Allen (2001), "The Movie "Gladiator" in Historical Perspective", Classics Technology Center (AbleMedia), retrieved 2007-01-26
Winkler, Martin (2004). Gladiator Film and History. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-1042-2
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Gladiator (2000 film)
Gladiator at the American Film Institute Catalog
Gladiator at the Internet Movie Database
Gladiator at allmovie
Gladiator at Box Office Mojo
Gladiator at Metacritic
Gladiator at Rotten Tomatoes
David Franzoni (1998-04-04), Gladiator: First Draft Revised, archived from the original on 2008-03-16
David Franzoni and John Logan (1998-10-22), Gladiator: Second Draft Revised, archived from the original on 2008-03-12


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Categories: 2000 films
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