Braveheart

In 1280, Edward I of England, known as "Longshanks", conquers Scotland following the death of the Scots' king, who left no heir. Young William Wallace witnesses the aftermath of Longshanks' execution of several Scottish nobles, then loses his father and brother when they resist the English. He leaves home to be raised by his uncle, Argyle. Years later, Longshanks grants his noblemen land and privileges in Scotland, including jus primae noctis, while his son marries French princess Isabelle. Meanwhile, a grown Wallace returns home and secretly marries his childhood friend Murron MacClannough. Soon after, Wallace rescues Murron from a soldier, but Murron is subsequently captured and executed. In retribution, Wallace and the locals overthrow the garrison, beginning a rebellion that soon spreads. Longshanks orders his son to stop Wallace while he campaigns in France. Wallace defeats an army sent by the prince at Stirling, then invades England by sacking York. He also meets Robert the Bruce, a contender for the Scottish crown.

After returning to England, Longshanks sends Isabelle to negotiate with Wallace as a distraction from the movement of Longshanks' forces. Meeting Wallace, Isabelle becomes enamored with him and warns him of Longshanks' plans. Wallace faces Longshanks at Falkirk. During the battle, nobles Mornay and Lochlan withdraw, having been bribed by Longshanks, resulting in Wallace's army being overwhelmed. Wallace also discovers Robert the Bruce had joined Longshanks. After helping Wallace escape, Robert vows to not be on the wrong side again. Wallace kills Mornay and Lochlan for their betrayal and foils an assassination plot with Isabelle's help. Wallace and Isabelle spend the following night together, while Longshanks' health declines. At a meeting in Edinburgh, Wallace is captured. Realizing his father's role in Wallace's betrayal, Robert disowns his father. In England, Wallace is condemned to execution. After a final meeting with Wallace, Isabelle tells Longshanks, who can no longer speak, that his bloodline will end upon his death as she is pregnant with Wallace's child and will ensure that Longshanks' son spends as short a time as possible as monarch. At his execution, Wallace refuses to submit, even while being disemboweled. The magistrate encourages Wallace to seek mercy and be granted a quick death. Wallace instead shouts, "Freedom!", while Longshanks dies. Before being beheaded, Wallace sees a vision of Murron in the crowd.

In 1314, Robert, now Scotland's king, faces the English at Bannockburn, and implores his men to fight with him as they did with Wallace. After Wallace's sword is thrown to land point-down in the ground, Robert leads the Scots to a final victory.

{{Cast listing|

• Mel Gibson as William Wallace, a Scottish warrior who launched a rebellion against the English forces
• Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle, crowned princess of France and wife to Prince Edward
• Patrick McGoohan as King Longshanks – King Edward I, aging and ruthless King of England
• Catherine McCormack as Murron MacClannough, Wallace's childhood friend whom he married in secret
• Angus McFadyen as Robert the Bruce, a Scottish Nobleman who is the contender for the Scottish Crown
• Brendan Gleeson as Hamish, Wallace's childhood friend
• David O'Hara as Stephen, an Irish highlander who joins the rebellion
• Ian Bannen as The Leper, Robert the Bruce's aging father
• James Cosmo as Campbell, Hamish's father and a veteran warrior
• Brian Cox as Argyle Wallace, Wallace's uncle
• Peter Hanly as Prince Edward, Longshanks only son who is shown to be a weakling
• Alun Armstrong as Mornay, a Scottish noble and cavalry commander
• John Murtagh as Lochlan, a Scottish noble and cavalry commander
• Seán McGinley as Father MacClannough, Murron's father and the village enbalmer who joined Wallace's Rebellion
• Gerda Stevenson as Mother MacClannough, Murron's mother
• Stephen Billington as Phillip, Prince Edward's adviser
• John Kavanaugh as Craig, Robert the Bruce's adviser
• Tommy Flanagan as Morrison, A Scotsman who joined Wallace's Rebellion after his wife was subject to Jus Primae Noctis
• Rupert Vansittart as Lord Bottoms, a nobleman and overseer of Wallace's home village
• Tam White as McGregor, a clan leader who rallied his clan to join Wallace's Rebellion
• Michael Byrne as Smythe, a sadistic English officer stationed in Wallace's home village
• Martin Murphy as Lord Talmadge, the English Commanding officer during the battle of Stirling Bridge based on John de Warenne
• Gerard McSorley as Cheltham, Talmadges Second-in-Command based on Sir Hugh de Cressingham
• Richard Leaf as Governor of York
• Bernard Horsfall as Balliol, a Scottish noble vying for the Scottish Crown
• Jimmy Chisholm as Faudron, an English assassin who infiltrated Wallace's camp
• Jeanne Marine as Nicolette, Isabella's handmaiden
• Sean Lawlor as Malcolm Wallace, Williams father who was killed by the English when he was a child
• Sandy Nelson as John Wallace, Williams older brother who was killed by the English when he was a child

}}

Producer Alan Ladd Jr. initially had the project at MGM-Pathé Communications when he picked up the script from Randall Wallace.{{Cite AV media |title=Making Of Braveheart Behind The Scenes Documentary |date=February 7, 2018 |format=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X20ii_zg_N4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529214229/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X20ii_zg_N4&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 29, 2019 |access-date=October 26, 2018}} When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) was going through new management in 1993, Ladd left the studio and took some of its top properties, including Braveheart.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_HtZAAAAMAAJ&q=Ladd+takes+Braveheart|title=Robin Hood: A Cinematic History of the English Outlaw and His Scottish Counterparts|last=Nollen|first=Scott Allen|date=January 1, 1999|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786406432|access-date=October 26, 2018|archive-date=June 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630022548/https://books.google.com/books?id=_HtZAAAAMAAJ&q=Ladd+takes+Braveheart|url-status=live}} Mel Gibson came across the script and even though he liked it, he initially passed on it. However, the thought of it kept coming back to him, and he ultimately decided to take on the project. Terry Gilliam was offered to direct the film, but he declined.{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a648383/mel-gibson-pranks-historical-blunders-and-jason-patric-20-facts-about-braveheart/|title=20 things you never knew about Braveheart|website=Digital Spy|date=May 24, 2015}} Gibson was initially interested in directing only and considered Brad Pitt in the role of Sir William Wallace, but later reluctantly agreed to play Wallace as well.{{cite magazine |title=Mel Gibson Once Threw an Ashtray Through a Wall During 'Braveheart' Budget Talks |date=2017-04-18 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mel-gibson-once-threw-an-ashtray-a-wall-braveheart-budget-talks-994955 |access-date=April 18, 2017 |archive-date=April 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418140834/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mel-gibson-once-threw-an-ashtray-a-wall-braveheart-budget-talks-994955 |url-status=live}} He also considered Jason Patric for the role.{{cite news |title=That Championship Season's Outspoken Jason Patric Has Quite a Few Things to Say About Hollywood, Few of Them Nice |first=Kevin |last=Gray |date=March 15, 2011 |work=Vulture |url=https://www.vulture.com/2011/03/jason_patric_interview_lost_bo.html |access-date=}} Sean Connery was approached to play King Edward, but he declined due to other commitments.{{cite web | url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23184348.braveheart-fantasy-epic-perturbed-constitutionally-disturbed/ | title=Braveheart: The fantasy epic that perturbed the constitutionally disturbed | date=December 11, 2022 }} Gibson said that Connery's pronunciation of "Goulash" helped him for the Scottish accent for the film.{{cite web | url=https://www.sundaypost.com/news/scottish-news/sean-connery-gave-mel-gibson-appetite-for-braveheart/ | title=Sean Connery gave Mel Gibson appetite for Braveheart | date=June 29, 2014 }}

Gibson and his production company, Icon Productions, had difficulty raising enough money for the film. Warner Bros. was willing to fund the project on the condition that Gibson sign for another Lethal Weapon sequel, which he refused. Gibson eventually gained enough financing for the film, with Paramount Pictures financing a third of the budget in exchange for North American distribution rights to the film, and 20th Century Fox putting up the other two-thirds in exchange for foreign distribution rights.{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2005/film/markets-festivals/mel-tongue-ties-studios-1117926430/|title=Mel tongue-ties studios|author=Michael Fleming|date=July 25, 2005|work=Daily Variety}}

File:Scott Neeson on the set of Braveheart, 1995.jpg]]

Filming was initially due to take place fully in the United Kingdom, but most of the shoot was moved to Ireland at late notice after lobbying from the Irish government and their offer to supply 1,600 members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras. Shooting was planned to take 12 weeks on location in Ireland and at Ardmore Studios, plus five weeks on location in Scotland.{{cite magazine|magazine=Screen International|page=1|title=Gibson drops UK for Ireland|last=Barrett|first=Paddy|date=May 13, 1994}} Principal photography on the film took place between June 6, 1994, and October 28, 1994.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69593/braveheart#notes|title=Braveheart (1995) – Misc Notes|website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=2019-05-11|archive-date=May 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511203232/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/69593/Braveheart/misc-notes.html|url-status=live}} To lower costs, Gibson had the same extras portray both armies. The reservists had been given permission to grow beards and swapped their military uniforms for medieval garb.{{cite web|url= http://www.unison.ie/meath_chronicle/stories.php3?ca=41&si=1031035&issue_id=9666|title= Braveheart 10th Chance To Boost Tourism in Trim|work= Meath Chronicle|date= August 28, 2003|access-date= April 30, 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150903212040/http://www.unison.ie/meath_chronicle/stories.php3?ca=41&si=1031035&issue_id=9666|archive-date= September 3, 2015|url-status= dead}} The film was shot in the anamorphic format with Panavision C- and E-Series lenses.{{cite journal | author=Chris Probst | title=Cinematic Transcendence| journal=American Cinematographer | publisher=American Society of Cinematographers | volume=77 | issue=6 | page=76 | location=Los Angeles, California, United States | date=June 1, 1996 | issn=0002-7928 }} Gibson also later said that while filming a battle scene a horse nearly "killed him" but his stunt double was able to save him as the horse fell.{{cite web | url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/movie-news/i-almost-got-killed-filming-braveheart-says-gibson/30354934.html | title=I almost got killed filming 'Braveheart', says Gibson | date=June 15, 2014 }}

Gibson had to tone down the film's battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPAA; the final version was rated R for "brutal medieval warfare".{{cite web| url = http://www.filmratings.com/ | title = Reasons for Movie Ratings (CARA) | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101211104428/http://www.filmratings.com/| archive-date = December 11, 2010| author1 = Classification and Rating Administration | author2 = Motion Picture Association of America}} Gibson and editor Steven Rosenblum initially had a film at 195 minutes, but Sherry Lansing, who was the head of Paramount at the time, requested Gibson and Rosenblum to cut the film down to 177 minutes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/mel-gibson-reveals-secrets-from-behind-the-scenes-of-braveheart/news-story/cb19dbd81d2373b506884b3bc4099ecb|title=Mel Gibson reveals secrets from behind the scenes of Braveheart|website=www.news.com.au|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-date=January 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102002309/https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/mel-gibson-reveals-secrets-from-behind-the-scenes-of-braveheart/news-story/cb19dbd81d2373b506884b3bc4099ecb|url-status=live}} According to Gibson in a 2016 interview with Collider, there is a four-hour version of the film, and he expressed interest in reassembling it if both Paramount and Fox were interested.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/film/1780785-1780785|title=Mel Gibson has a whole hour of unseen 'Braveheart' footage for an extended cut|last=Levine|first=Nick|date=October 26, 2016|website=NME|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-date=January 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102002405/https://www.nme.com/news/film/1780785-1780785|url-status=live}}

{{main|Braveheart (soundtrack)}}

The score was composed and conducted by James Horner and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. It is Horner's second of three collaborations with Mel Gibson as director. The score has gone on to be one of the most commercially successful soundtracks of all time. It received considerable acclaim from film critics and audiences and was nominated for a number of awards, including the Academy Award, Saturn Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award.

Braveheart premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 18, 1995, and received its wide release in U.S. cinemas six days later.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19950518&slug=2121653|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205115332/https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19950518&slug=2121653|url-status=dead|title=Mel Gibson Opens Seattle Film Fest With 'Braveheart' | The Seattle Times|archivedate=February 5, 2021|website=archive.seattletimes.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19960216&slug=2314366|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204230850/https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19960216&slug=2314366|url-status=dead|title=Epic Redemption – 'Braveheart' Battles Its Way To The Top | The Seattle Times|archivedate=February 4, 2021|website=archive.seattletimes.com}}

Braveheart was released on LaserDisc in both pan and scan and widescreen on March 12, 1996. That same day, it also was made available on VHS in pan and scan only and was re-issued in widescreen on August 27.

The film was released on DVD on August 29, 2000. This edition included the film only in widescreen, a commentary track by Gibson, a behind-the-scenes featurete, along the trailers.{{Citation|last=Various|title=Braveheart|date=August 29, 2000|url=https://www.amazon.com/Braveheart-Various/dp/B00AEFXKUI/|publisher=Warner Bros.|access-date=May 15, 2018|archive-date=March 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325095235/http://www.amazon.com/Braveheart-Various/dp/B00AEFXKUI|url-status=live}}

It was released on Blu-ray as part of the Paramount Sapphire Series on September 1, 2009. It included the DVD features along with new bonus material.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/392/Braveheart-(1995).html|title=Braveheart DVD Release Date|website=DVDs Release Dates|access-date=May 15, 2018|archive-date=May 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516014508/https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/392/Braveheart-(1995).html|url-status=live}} It was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray as part of the 4K upgrade of the Paramount Sapphire Series on May 15, 2018.

Braveheart grossed $75.5{{nbsp}}million in the United States and Canada and $133.5{{nbsp}}million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $209.0{{nbsp}}million, against a budget of $53–$72{{nbsp}}million.{{Cite The Numbers |id=Braveheart |access-date=2024-05-12}} It spent nine non-consecutive weeks in the Top 10 at the US box office{{snd}}its first seven weeks, then two more weeks during its fifth month in theatres.{{cite web |title=Braveheart {{!}} Domestic Weekly |website=Box Office Mojo |publisher=IMDb |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3594946049/weekly/?ref_=bo_rl_tab#tabs |access-date=2024-05-12}}

{{RT prose|{{RT data|score}}|{{RT data|average}}|{{RT data|count}}|Distractingly violent and historically dodgy, Mel Gibson's Braveheart justifies its epic length by delivering enough sweeping action, drama, and romance to match its ambition.|ref=yes|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}} {{MC film|68|20|ref=yes|access-date=2024-05-13}}

File:Mel Gibson Cannes 2016 2.jpg.]]

Caryn James of The New York Times praised the film, calling it "one of the most spectacular entertainments in years."{{cite news |title=Braveheart |first=Caryn |last=James |author-link=Caryn James |date=1995-05-23 |work=The New York Times |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/filmarchive/braveheart.html |access-date=6 May 2021 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506081641/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/filmarchive/braveheart.html |url-status=live}} Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half out of four stars, calling it "An action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of The Road Warrior."{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Braveheart movie review & film summary (1995) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/braveheart-1995 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=February 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204132022/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/braveheart-1995 |url-status=live |via=RogerEbert.com}} In a positive review, Gene Siskel wrote that "in addition to staging battle scenes well, Gibson also manages to recreate the filth and mood of 700 years ago."{{Cite news |title='Crumb' Digs Deep As the Oscars Come Up Empty |last=Siskel |first=Gene |author-link=Gene Siskel |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-05-26-9505260018-story.html |access-date=October 26, 2018 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=October 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064537/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-05-26-9505260018-story.html |url-status=live}} Peter Travers of Rolling Stone felt that "though the film dawdles a bit with the shimmery, dappled love stuff involving Wallace with a Scottish peasant and a French princess, the action will pin you to your seat."{{cite magazine |title=Braveheart |last=Travers |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Travers |date=24 May 1995 |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/braveheart-122937/ |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630022551/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/braveheart-122937/ |url-status=live}} The depiction of the Battle of Stirling was listed by CNN as one of the best battles in cinema history.{{cite news |title=The best – and worst – movie battle scenes |date=2007-04-02 |work=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/29/movie.battles/index.html |access-date=April 2, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070408081844/http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/29/movie.battles/index.html |archive-date=April 8, 2007 |url-status=dead}}

Not all reviews were positive. Richard Schickel of Time magazine argued that "everybody knows that a non-blubbering clause is standard in all movie stars' contracts. Too bad there isn't one banning self-indulgence when they direct."{{Cite magazine |title=Cinema: Another Highland Fling |last=Schickel |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Schickel |date=May 29, 1995 |magazine=Time |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982369,00.html |access-date=October 26, 2018 |issn=0040-781X |archive-date=December 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207183739/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982369,00.html |url-status=live}} Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle felt "at times the film seems an obsessive ode to Mel Gibson machismo."{{Cite news |title=Film Review – Macho Mel Beats His Chest in Bloody 'Braveheart' |first=Peter |last=Stack |date=May 24, 1995 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-REVIEW-Macho-Mel-Beats-His-Chest-in-3032546.php |access-date=October 26, 2018 |archive-date=October 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064532/https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-REVIEW-Macho-Mel-Beats-His-Chest-in-3032546.php |url-status=live}} 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".{{cite news |title=Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" Voted Worst Oscar Winner |date=2005-02-25 |agency=World Entertainment News Network |url=http://www.hollywood.com/news/Mel_Gibsons_Braveheart_Voted_Worst_Oscar_Winner/2435436 |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203230603/http://www.hollywood.com/news/Mel_Gibsons_Braveheart_Voted_Worst_Oscar_Winner/2435436 |archive-date=February 3, 2013 |url-status=}} Empire readers had previously voted Braveheart the best film of 1995.{{cite magazine |title=Empire Award Past Winners – 1996 |year=2003 |magazine=Empire |url=https://www.empireonline.com/awards2003/pastwinners/1996.asp |access-date=September 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014113022/http://www.empireonline.com/awards2003/pastwinners/1996.asp |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |url-status=dead}}

Alex von Tunzelmann of The Guardian gave the film a grade of C−, saying: "Seemingly intended as a piece of anti-English propaganda, Braveheart offers an even greater insult to Scotland by making a total pig's ear of its heritage. "Historians from England will say I am a liar," intones the voiceover, "but history is written by those who have hanged heroes." Well, that's me told: but, regardless of whether you read English or Scottish historians on the matter, Braveheart still serves up a great big steaming haggis of lies."{{cite news|title= Braveheart: dancing peasants, gleaming teeth and a cameo from Fabio|work= The Guardian|date=2008-08-31|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/jul/30/3|access-date=2024-05-13}}

In a 2012 article, Nathan Kamal called the film "hugely overrated", criticizing the characters as one-dimensional.{{cite web | url=https://spectrumculture.com/2012/05/29/criminally-overrated-braveheart/ | title=Braveheart | Criminally Overrated | date=May 30, 2012 }}

The European premiere was on September 3, 1995, in Stirling.{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12089373.Scotland_a_nation_again_for_a_night/ |title=Scotland a nation again for a night |work=The Herald |location=Glasgow |date=September 4, 1995 |access-date=July 10, 2016 |archive-date=August 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817072050/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12089373.Scotland_a_nation_again_for_a_night/ |url-status=live }}

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.{{cite book | last=Zumkhawala-Cook | first=Richard | year=2008 | title=Scotland as We Know It: Representations of National Identity in Literature, Film and Popular Culture | publisher=McFarland | isbn=978-0-7864-4031-3 | page=147 }} 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.{{cite book | last1=MacLellan | first1=Rory | last2=Smith | first2=Ronnie | year=1998 | title=Tourism in Scotland | publisher=Cengage Learning EMEA | isbn=978-1-86152-089-0 | page=230 }} 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.{{cite book | last=Martin-Jones | first=David | year=2009 | title=Scotland: Global Cinema – Genres, Modes, and Identities | publisher=Edinburgh University Press | isbn=978-0-7486-3391-3 | page=14 }}

The film generated huge interest in Scotland and in Scottish history, not only around the world, but also in Scotland itself.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} 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.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} 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).{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

Braveheart was nominated for many awards during the 1995 awards season, though it was not viewed by many{{who|date=May 2022}} as a major competitor to films such as Apollo 13, Il Postino: The Postman, Leaving Las Vegas, Sense and Sensibility, and The Usual Suspects.{{Cite web |title=Oscar Flashback: The Braveheart Year |url=https://www.awardsdaily.com/2017/01/oscar-flashback-braveheart-year/ |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=Awardsdaily |language=en-US}} It wasn't until after the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director at the 53rd Golden Globe Awards that it was viewed as a serious Oscar contender.

When the nominations were announced for the 68th Academy Awards, Braveheart received ten Academy Award nominations, and a month later, won five including Best Picture, Best Director for Gibson, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Makeup.{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1996 |title=The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners |access-date=October 23, 2011 |work=oscars.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929190404/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/68th-winners.html |archive-date=September 29, 2012 |url-status=dead}} Braveheart became the ninth film to win Best Picture with no acting nominations and is one of only four films to win Best Picture without being nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, the others being The Shape of Water in 2017, Green Book in 2018, and Nomadland in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27BRAVEHEART%27+CONQUERS%5CGibson%27s+epic+wins+Best+Picture%5CSarandon,+Cage...-a083931988|title='BRAVEHEART' CONQUERS\Gibson's epic wins Best Picture\Sarandon, Cage take acting honors. – Free Online Library|website=www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-date=January 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102002337/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27BRAVEHEART%27+CONQUERS%5CGibson%27s+epic+wins+Best+Picture%5CSarandon,+Cage...-a083931988|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shape-water-best-picture-win-mirrors-a-braveheart-first-oscars-2018-1090971|title=Oscars Avoids "Envelopegate" Repeat as 'The Shape of Water' Takes Home Best Picture Prize|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=March 4, 2018|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-date=March 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311054530/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shape-water-best-picture-win-mirrors-a-braveheart-first-oscars-2018-1090971|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/oscars-2019-green-book-wins-best-picture-61289300|title=Oscars 2019: 'Green Book' wins best picture|last=America|first=Good Morning|website=Good Morning America|access-date=2019-02-27|archive-date=February 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228070102/https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/oscars-2019-green-book-wins-best-picture-61289300|url-status=live}}

The film also won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay.{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-03-19-ca-48578-story.html|title=WGA Members Prize 'Sensibility' and 'Braveheart'|last=WELKOS|first=ROBERT W.|date=1996-03-19|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-03-19|issn=0458-3035|archive-date=May 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531210852/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-19/entertainment/ca-48578_1_writers-guild-award|url-status=live}} In 2010, the Independent Film & Television Alliance selected the film as one of the 30 Most Significant Independent Films of the last 30 years.{{cite web| title = UPDATE: How "Toxic" Is IFTA's Best Indies?| url = https://deadline.com/2010/09/iftas-toxic-best-indie-film-list-65871/| work = Deadline| date = September 10, 2010| access-date = January 23, 2017| archive-date = February 2, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170202022156/http://deadline.com/2010/09/iftas-toxic-best-indie-film-list-65871/| url-status = live}}

;American Film Institute lists

• AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Thrills – No. 91
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – No. 62

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.{{cite web|last=Boztas |first=Senay |url=http://www.braveheart.info/news/2005/sunday_herald/2007-07-31/51063.html |title=Wallace movie 'helped Scots get devolution' – [Sunday Herald] |publisher=Braveheart.info |date=July 31, 2005 |access-date=February 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702163829/http://www.braveheart.info/news/2005/sunday_herald/2007-07-31/51063.html |archive-date=July 2, 2013 }} Peter Jackson cited Braveheart as an influence in making the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Dylan |date=2021-03-17 |title=This Was The Key To Adapting 'The Lord Of The Rings', According To Peter Jackson |url=https://www.thethings.com/this-was-the-key-to-adapting-the-lord-of-the-rings-according-to-peter-jackson/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=TheThings |language=en-US}} However noted medieval historian Robert Bartlett was certain that “The portrayal of the English who appear in the film does indeed support the view that Braveheart is Anglophobic.” Bartlett, Robert. 2022. The Middle Ages and the Movies. London: Reaktion Books. 35.

Sections of the English media accused the film of harbouring Anti-English sentiment. The Economist called it "xenophobic",{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=6941798 |title=Economist.com |publisher=Economist.com |date=May 18, 2006 |access-date=February 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629214649/http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=6941798 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 }} and John Sutherland writing in The Guardian stated that: "Braveheart gave full rein to a toxic Anglophobia".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/aug/11/religion.world |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=John Sutherland |date=August 11, 2003 |access-date=April 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090820010057/http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/aug/11/religion.world |archive-date=August 20, 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article546776.ece |title=Braveheart battle cry is now but a whisper |newspaper=Times Online |date= July 24, 2005|access-date=February 27, 2009 | location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629142251/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article546776.ece |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status= dead }}{{cite book

|last=Colin

|first=McArthur

|title=Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema

|publisher=I. B. Tauris

|year=2003

|page=5

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMOUo5VUkoQC

|isbn=978-1-86064-927-1

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610030239/https://books.google.com/books?id=XMOUo5VUkoQC&printsec=frontcover

|archive-date=June 10, 2013

|url-status=dead

}} In The Times, Colin McArthur said "the political effects are truly pernicious. It's a xenophobic film." Ian Burrell of The Independent has said, "The Braveheart phenomenon, a Hollywood-inspired rise in Scottish nationalism, has been linked to a rise in anti-English prejudice".{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/most-race-attack-victims-are-white-the-english-exiles-1069506.html | title=Most race attack victims 'are white': The English Exiles – News | newspaper=The Independent | date=February 8, 1999 |access-date=February 27, 2009 | location=London | first=Ian | last=Burrell| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219024934/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/most-race-attack-victims-are-white-the-english-exiles-1069506.html | archive-date=December 19, 2013 }}

File:Braveheart Statue Sep 2007.jpg

In 1997, a {{convert|12|ft|adj=on}}, {{convert|13|t|adj=on}} 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,{{cite web|url=http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2009/10/16/newsstory13954661t0.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020180051/http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2009/10/16/newsstory13954661t0.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2009 |work=The Courier |title=Wallace statue back at home of sculptor |access-date=October 17, 2009 |date=October 16, 2009 }} 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".{{cite web|author=Hal G. P. Colebatch |url=http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10191 |title=The American Spectator |publisher=Spectator.org |date=August 8, 2006 |access-date=February 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012014011/http://spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10191 |archive-date=October 12, 2007}}

In 1998, someone wielding a hammer vandalized the statue's face. 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".{{cite web |url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/williamwallace/They-may-take-our-lives.2565370.jp |title=They may take our lives but they won't take Freedom |author=Kevin Hurley |work=Scotland on Sunday |date=September 19, 2004 |access-date=October 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091101183916/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/williamwallace/They-may-take-our-lives.2565370.jp |archive-date=November 1, 2009 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite news |title=Wallace statue back with sculptor |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8310614.stm |work=BBC News |date=October 16, 2009 |access-date=October 16, 2009 |archive-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824174510/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8310614.stm |url-status=live }}

Randall Wallace, who wrote 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.{{cite book|author=Anderson, Lin| title=Braveheart: From Hollywood to Holyrood| publisher=Luath Press Ltd.|date=2005|page= 27}} 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." Blind Harry's poem is not regarded as historically accurate, and although some incidents in the film that are not historically accurate are taken from Blind Harry (e.g. the hanging of Scottish nobles at the start),Unmapping the Territory: Blind Hary's Wallace, Felicity Riddy's chapter in Edward Cowan's The Wallace Book (2007, {{ISBN|978-0-85976-652-4}}) there are large parts that are based neither on history nor Blind Harry (e.g. Wallace's affair with Princess Isabella).{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6738785.ece |title=The 10 most historically inaccurate movies |last=White |first=Caroline |work=The Sunday Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615070116/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6738785.ece |archive-date=June 15, 2011 |access-date=November 15, 2013}} The reign of King Edward I of England is one of the most well documented by contemporary chroniclers in the Middle Ages, these sources were entirely ignored by the screenwriter in favour of the non contemporary source written more than two centuries after the events it pretends to portray.

Elizabeth Ewan describes Braveheart as a film that "almost totally sacrifices historical accuracy for epic adventure".{{cite journal| author=Ewan, Elizabeth|title=Braveheart|journal= American Historical Review |volume=100|number= 4 |date=October 1995|pages= 1219–21|doi=10.2307/2168219|jstor=2168219}} It has been described as one of the most historically inaccurate modern films.{{Cite news |title=Eight blockbuster films that got history wrong |date=November 2018 |work=BBC Bitesize |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zbrb7nb |access-date=2021-09-29}}

Sharon Krossa noted that the film contains numerous historical inaccuracies, beginning with the wearing of belted plaid (feileadh mór léine), which was not introduced until the 16th century,{{cite web|url=http://www.authenticireland.com/scottish+kilts |title=A History of Scottish Kilts | Authentic Ireland Travel |publisher=Authenticireland.com |access-date=June 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205224244/http://www.authenticireland.com/scottish%2Bkilts/ |archive-date=December 5, 2013|url-status=dead}} by Wallace and his men. In that period "no Scots [...] wore belted plaids (let alone kilts of any kind)." Moreover, when Highlanders finally did begin wearing the belted plaid, it was not "in the rather bizarre style depicted in the film". 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."{{cite web|first = Sharon L.| last = Krossa| title = Braveheart Errors: An Illustration of Scale| url=http://medievalscotland.org/scotbiblio/bravehearterrors.shtml| date=October 2, 2008|access-date = June 15, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131009105036/http://medievalscotland.org/scotbiblio/bravehearterrors.shtml

| archive-date = October 9, 2013}} In a previous essay about the film, she wrote, "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."{{cite web| first=Sharon L.|last = Krossa

| url=http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotbiblio/braveheart.shtml|title = Regarding the Film Braveheart|date=October 31, 2001|access-date = November 26, 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121113162027/http://medievalscotland.org/scotbiblio/braveheart.shtml| archive-date = November 13, 2012}} 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)."{{cite book | first=Peter|last=Traquair|title=Freedom's Sword |publisher=HarperCollins|year=1998}} p. 62

Caroline White of The Times described the film as being made up of a "litany of fibs."{{cite web| url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/110075 | title=The 10 most historically inaccurate movies | History News Network | date=August 4, 2009 }}

Irish historian Seán Duffy remarked that "the battle of Stirling Bridge could have done with a bridge."{{cite web|url=http://www.historyireland.com/medieval-history-pre-1500/braveheart-brave-attempt/|title=History Ireland|date=January 28, 2013|access-date=January 30, 2016|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031222612/http://www.historyireland.com/medieval-history-pre-1500/braveheart-brave-attempt/|url-status=live}}

In 2009, the film was second on a list of "most historically inaccurate movies" in The Times. In the humorous non-fictional historiography An Utterly Impartial History of Britain (2007), author John O'Farrell claims 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".{{cite book| first=John| last = O'Farrell| title = An Utterly Impartial History of Britain| year = 2007| publisher = Doubleday| location = New York City| page = 126|isbn=978-0-385-61198-5}}

In the DVD audio commentary of Braveheart, Mel Gibson acknowledged the historical inaccuracies but defended 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.

Edward Longshanks is shown invoking Jus primae noctis in the film, allowing the lord of a medieval estate to take the virginity of his serfs' maiden daughters on their wedding nights. Critical medieval scholarship regards this supposed right as a myth: "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."{{cite book|first=Albrecht|last=Classen|title=The medieval chastity belt: a myth-making process|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_hncxYRQIoC&pg=PA147|year=2007|publisher=Macmillan|location=London|page=151|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609130238/https://books.google.com/books?id=r_hncxYRQIoC&pg=PA147 |archive-date=June 9, 2013|isbn=9781403975584}}{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/weddings/customs/droit.asp |title=Urban legends website |website=Snopes.com |date=July 6, 2008 |access-date=June 20, 2013}}

The film suggests Scotland had been under English occupation for some time, at least during Wallace's childhood, and in the run-up to the Battle of Falkirk Wallace says to the younger Bruce, "[W]e'll have what none of us have ever had before, a country of our own." In fact, Scotland had been invaded by England only the year before Wallace's rebellion; before the death of King Alexander III it had been a fully separate kingdom.Traquair p. 15

Scriptwriter Randall Wallace puts the words “hundred years of theft, rape, and murder” into the mouth of William Wallace which entirely misunderstands the relationship between England and Scotland in the thirteenth century. The sister of King Edward I of England, Margaret of England was married to Alexander III of Scotland. They had been married at York Minster in 1251 amidst friendly relations between the two royal families. As Robert Bartlett wrote “ In fact, in the hundred years before 1297, the year of that battle [of Dunbar], the king of England had led an army into Scotland only once, for ten days in January 1216.” Bartlett, Robert. 2022. The Middle Ages and the Movies. London: Reaktion Books Ltd. 38.

As John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett writes, "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:

{{blockquote|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.{{cite book | first1=John|last1=Shelton Lawrence|first2=Robert|last2=Jewett |title=The Myth of the American Superhero | url=https://archive.org/details/mythofamericansu00lawr_0| url-access=registration|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|year=2002 |page=[https://archive.org/details/mythofamericansu00lawr_0/page/163 163]}}}}

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."{{cite book | year=2005 | first=A.E. Christa|last=Canitz | chapter='Historians ... Will Say I Am a liar': The Ideology of False Truth Claims in Mel Gibson's Braveheart and Luc Besson's The Messenger | editor1-last=Utz | editor1-first=Richard J. | editor2-last=Swan | editor2-first=Jesse G. | title=Studies in Medievalism XIII: Postmodern Medievalisms | publisher=D.S. Brewer |location=Suffolk, United Kingdom|pages=127–142 | isbn=978-1-84384-012-1 }}

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."{{cite book |first=Colin|last=McArthur |year=1998 |chapter=Braveheart and the Scottish Aesthetic Dementia |editor-first=Tony |editor-last=Barta |title=Screening the Past: Film and the Representation of History |publisher=Praeger |pages=167–187 |isbn=978-0-275-95402-4}} 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."

Isabella of France is shown spending a night with Wallace after the Battle of Falkirk. She later tells Edward I she is pregnant with Wallace's child, implied to be Edward III. In reality, Isabella was a child 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's execution in 1305.{{cite journal | last=Ewan | first=Elizabeth | date=October 1995 | title=Braveheart |journal=The American Historical Review | publisher=Indiana University Press | location=Bloomington | volume=100 |issue=4 | pages=1219–21 | issn=0002-8762 | oclc=01830326 | doi=10.2307/2168219| jstor=2168219 }} The breakdown of the couple's relationship over his liaisons, and the menacing suggestion to a dying Longshanks that she would overthrow and destroy Edward II mirror and foreshadow actual facts; although not until 1326, over 20 years after Wallace's death, Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer would depose – and later allegedly murder – Edward II.{{cite book|last=Phillips|first=Seymour|date=2011|title=Edward II|publisher=New Haven, CT & London, UK: Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-17802-9}}

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 probably did not fight on the English side at the Battle of Falkirk (although this claim does appear in a few medieval sources).{{cite book|last=Penman|first=Michael|title=Robert the Bruce: King of the Scots|year=2014|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300148725}} pp. 58-59 Later, the Battle of Bannockburn was not a spontaneous battle soon after Wallace's execution; he had already been fighting a guerrilla campaign against the English for eight years.Traquair pp. 128-176 His title before becoming king was Earl of Carrick, not Earl of Bruce.Traquair p. 58{{cite web|url=https://thehande.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/braveheart-the-10-historical-inaccuracies-you-need-to-know-before-watching-the-movie/|title=BraveHeart – the 10 historical inaccuracies you need to know before watching the movie|date=5 December 2011|access-date=February 13, 2020|archive-date=February 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213020453/https://thehande.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/braveheart-the-10-historical-inaccuracies-you-need-to-know-before-watching-the-movie/|url-status=live}} Bruce's father is portrayed as an infirm leper, although it was Bruce himself who allegedly suffered from leprosy in later life. The actual Bruce's machinations around Wallace, rather than the meek idealist in the film, suggests the father–son relationship represent different aspects of the historical Bruce's character.Traquair p. 254Penman pp. 302–304 In the film, Bruce's father betrays Wallace to his son's disgust, calling it the price of his son's crown, when in real life Wallace was betrayed by the nobleman John de Menteith.Traquair p. 123

The actual Edward I was ruthless and temperamental, but the film exaggerates his negative aspects 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. Furthermore, Edward died almost two years after Wallace's execution, not on the same day.Traquair p. 147

The depiction of the future Edward II as an effeminate homosexual drew accusations of homophobia against Gibson.

{{blockquote|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?'{{cite news|work=USA Today|date= May 24, 1995|title=Gibson has faith in family and freedom|author=Della Cava, Marco R. }}}}

Gibson defended his depiction of Prince Edward as weak and ineffectual, saying:

{{blockquote|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.{{cite news|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=May 21, 1995| title=Mel Gibson Dons Kilt and Directs|author= Stein, Ruth}}}}

In response to Longshanks's murder of the prince's lover, Phillip, Gibson replied: "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."{{citation|work=Daily News |title=Gay Alliance has Gibson's 'Braveheart' in its sights |date=May 11, 1995 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/1995/05/11/1995-05-11_gay_alliance_has_gibson_s__b.html |access-date=February 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604232204/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/1995/05/11/1995-05-11_gay_alliance_has_gibson_s__b.html |archive-date=June 4, 2011 }}

Gibson asserted, without evidence, that the reason Longshanks kills his son's lover is that the king is a "psychopath".{{cite news | url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/1995-05-25/film/icon/ | title=Icon: Mel Gibson talks about Braveheart, movie stardom, and media treachery | author=Matt Zoller Seitz |work=Dallas Observer |date=May 25, 1995 | access-date=August 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222002830/http://www.dallasobserver.com/1995-05-25/film/icon/ |archive-date=December 22, 2007}}

"MacGregors from the next glen" joining Wallace shortly after the action at Lanark is dubious, since it is questionable whether Clan Gregor existed at that stage, and when they did emerge their traditional home was Glen Orchy, some distance from Lanark.{{cite book|author=Way, George|author2=Squire, Romily|name-list-style=amp|title= Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia|date= 1994|pages= 220–221}}

Wallace did win an important victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, but the version in Braveheart is highly inaccurate, as it has no bridge (or Andrew Moray, joint commander of the Scots army, who was fatally injured in the battle). Later, Wallace did carry out a large-scale raid into the north of England, but he did not get as far south as York, nor did he kill Edward I's nephew.Traquair pp. 77–79

The "Irish conscripts" at the Battle of Falkirk are unhistorical; there were no Irish troops at Falkirk (although many of the English army were, in fact, Welsh).Traquair pp. 81–84

The two-handed long swords used by Gibson in the film were not in wide use in the period. A one-handed sword and shield would have been more accurate and more efficient, since in the enemy army there were a lot of archers.{{cite web|last1=Matt|first1=Easton|title=Two-handed swords in Ironclad, Braveheart, Robin Hood & Kingdom of Heaven|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA4TxBZEOR8|website=YouTube|date=September 22, 2015 |access-date=February 26, 2016|archive-date=June 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630022819/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA4TxBZEOR8|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=March 2021}}

{{Main|Robert the Bruce (film)}}

A sequel, Robert the Bruce (2019), continues directly on from Braveheart and features Robert the Bruce, with Angus Macfadyen reprising his role from Braveheart.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/02/angus-macfadyen-robert-the-bruce-cast-1202283227/|title=Angus Macfadyen-Led Action Drama 'Robert The Bruce' Drafts Jared Harris, Patrick Fugit & Others|last=Busch|first=Anita|date=February 9, 2018|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=February 11, 2018}}

• Outlaw King, which depicts events that occurred immediately after the events in Braveheart
• Rob Roy, a historical action drama film featuring Robert Roy MacGregor, an 18th-century Scottish clan chief, also released in 1995
• Pàtria, an independent film from Catalonia, depicting the Catalan national hero Otger Cataló's fight to liberate Catalonia from the Moors

{{reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{Cite book |last=Bartlett |first=Robert |title= The Middle Ages and the Movies |publisher=Reaktion Books Ltd |year=2022 |isbn=9781789145533 |location=London}}

{{refend}}

{{notelist}}

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