It was difficult to avoid Braveheart back in 1995. It was the kind of massive medieval story that Hollywood simply did not make any more, and it was packed with beautiful panoramic vistas and stylised slow-motion photography. It received 10 Oscar nominations, ultimately winning five including Best Picture. In some measures the film was a throwback to older Hollywood productions. In others it was a ground-breaking film that shifted a paradigm in screen representations of violence and historical warfare. Overall it is fair to say that Braveheart achieves its aim: it is a rousing period drama with excellently staged action sequences and more than a few now-iconic scenes and moments. It is in the detail that the film begins to fray and disintegrate.
It is a great film, but far from perfect. It may have captured Hollywood's affections but was not by any stretch the best film of its year (to my mind that would be Seven). Today it is ageing remarkably well, its intrusive mid-1990s musical score notwithstanding, and definitely warrants a rewatch by those who have not seen it for some years.
