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Recalling the epic, sweeping grandeur of the historical
epics that Hollywood seemed to churn out during the 50’s
and 60’s, “Braveheart” isn’t a perfect film but it does
have its moments. Based on the legend of William Wallace
(Gibson) the son of a farmer who ends up commanding an army
of other commoners in Scotland against the oppressive reign
of the English King Edward the Longshanks, Wallace inspires
revolt after Longshanks gives English Lords the right to
sleep with brides on their wedding night. Wallace and his
group of locals wipe out the English presence and Longshanks
responds by trying to crush the revolt. ***
What hobbles “Braveheart” is the lack of a director
with David Lean’s vision. While “Braveheart” has the “feel”
of a classic epic film it lacks the dramatic heft of it.
Gibson does get a lot right here however getting some truly
inspired performances from the late Patrick McGoohan, Brendan
Gleeson and others by giving them just enough rope as performers
to make them gaudily entertaining. Gibson does put together
an entertaining package and while very violent a lot of
that violence is implied via clever film editing (although
a lot of it is STILL very visible in the film). ***
“Braveheart” deservedly won many Academy Awards (although
one could question if the film deserved the 5 it did win)and
Paramount has elected to release this film along with “Gladiator”
on Blu-ray as part of their Sapphire series. While I wouldn’t
classify it as a flawless film it is hugely entertaining,
moving and powerful. ---
Image & Sound:
In contrast to the poor HD master used for “Gladiator”,
“Braveheart” looks marvelous with a wonderfully rich transfer
accurately capturing the color and flesh tones of the film.
Detail is remarkably sharp throughout and edge enhancement
is minimal throughout the film. ***
Audio sounds wonderful with a deep, rich Dolby TrueHD
presentation that will bury you in the action of the film.
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