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"BRAVEHEART" (1995) (Mel Gibson, Patrick McGoohan) (R) QUICK TAKE: Drama: Motivated partially by the death of his wife, a 13th century Scotsman leads the charge to free his country from the tyranny of the English king who would much rather turn Scotland into an extension of England rather than let it remain its own country. PLOT: In childhood, William Wallace (JAMES ROBINSON) doesn't know much about the fighting elsewhere that pulls in his father, Malcolm (SEAN LAWLOR), and his brother, John (SANDY NELSON). All he knows is that the English are causing trouble, and that's fodder enough for making animal skulls representing those enemies and throwing rocks at them with his friend Hamish (ANDREW WEIR). But William's world changes when his father and brother die in battle, and he's taken in by his uncle Argyle (BRIAN COX), who teaches him the ways of the world crucial to him in order to think first with his wits before taking up a sword. Now a man, William (MEL GIBSON) returns to his home, his friend Hamish (BRENDAN GLEESON), and Murron (CATHERINE MCCORMACK) who he's loved for a very long time. Despite the English king, Edward the Longshanks (PATRICK MCGOOHAN), deciding that he should be the one to rule Scotland and not those clans who squabble for power, and causing trouble by way of making newly-married men give up their wives for one night to the "noble lords" of the various areas of Scotland as a way of "blessing" the marriage, William stays out of the way. He marries Murron in secret. But then his world twists him hard again when Murron is killed by the local lord, and he realizes the injustices Edward is placing upon Scotland. He has his wits, and he takes up a sword and gathers up men to fight the English before they make things worse. Even while he inspires men and becomes a legend through their words all over Scotland, there are those who doubt the necessity of breaking from England completely. They want the lands and the comforts, such as titles, afforded them by being connected. They have those things, so why should they want to do anything that would risk that? To William, however, freedom is the most important thing. Without freedom, there is no hope, there is nothing to strive for. He and thousands of other men engage in long, bloody battles, with Edward trying to stop the rebellion, even employing his son, the prince of Wales (PETER HANLY), to try to get rid of the problem, though without much luck because he's not as ruthless as his father and Edward is contemptuous of that fact. And the battles rage on. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Those interested in medieval history or even the history of Scotland will want to see this. As to the rest, fans of Mel Gibson certainly will because in addition to starring as William Wallace, he directed the film. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For brutal medieval warfare. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: MEL GIBSON plays William Wallace, who is content in not getting involved with Scotland's struggle against England to be free from its grasping tentacles. That is, until his wife is killed by one of the local lords, and he decides that it's time to fight for freedom, no matter how many battles, bloody as they are, and no matter what it takes. He hopes that the English king, Edward the Longshanks, will get the clear message that Scotland will not cower or be led again by another country. PATRICK MCGOOHAN plays Edward the Longshanks, the king of England who sees opportunity when the king of Scotland dies without an heir and its clans squabble over who will take power next. He stations soldiers all throughout Scotland, led by "noble lords" and invokes primae noctis, which means that any "common girl" who gets married must give herself up sexually on that first night for the marriage to be "blessed" by the English. His belief is that if the Scots can't be forced out, they can be forced out by future English generations made from those nights. He's contemptuous of his son, Edward, the Prince of Wales, who's not as ruthless as he is, and to him, cannot even follow what he believes are the simplest of tasks, such as stopping the growing rebellion in Scotland while he's in France. He's violent toward Edward as well. He also belittles his son's wife, Princess Isabella, for a charitable deed she did for the children of the war in Scotland. BRENDAN GLEESON plays Hamish Campbell, William's childhood friend who's the first to greet him when he returns home after growing up and traveling around the world with his uncle Argyle. He's well aware of the injustices toward Scotland by England and fully supports William's drive to rid Scotland of any English influence in order for the country to truly be free. He's his second-in-command in these battles. CATHERINE MCCORMACK plays Murron MacClannough, William's childhood sweetheart from years past who becomes his wife. But the marriage is short-lived when she's murdered by an English lord and it partly drives William to rebel against England for Scotland and free the country from English rule. SOPHIE MARCEAU plays Isabella, the Princess of Wales and wife of Edward, son of the king, a marriage made as a deal between England and France, Isabella's home. Edward doesn't pay any attention to her, so she does her father-in-law's bidding at his request, and falls for William. PETER HANLY plays Edward, the Prince of Wales. He's far less ruthless than his father and cares less for the troubles surrounding England by way of the Scottish rebellion, and more for what he wears and his life around the palace. He ignores his wife, Isabella, and is fearful of his father, especially when he's unable to end the rebellion at his father's command. JAMES COSMO plays Campbell, father of Hamish, a tough man, who is passionately supportive of William's quest to defeat England and end their occupation of Scotland. He makes sexually-related jokes and appears drunk in one scene. ANGUS MACFAYDEN plays Robert the Bruce, who would be the future king of Scotland if not for the English being there and Edward the Longshanks wanting the country for himself. His father, the leper Bruce, believes that he will indeed rule a new Scotland once they're free, but Robert sees fire in William that he does not possess and wants to join his cause. He's aware of the scheming and arguing by various clans against freeing the country from England, and is conflicted in that regard. But soon enough, his stance becomes irreversibly clear. BRIAN COX plays Argyle Wallace, William's uncle, who takes him in after the deaths of his brother and father, and implores him to learn how to use his head first before he takes up a sword. While his appearance is brief, we learn from William in various scenes what he learned from his travels with Argyle. IAN BANNEN plays the leper, Robert Bruce Sr. He advises his son Robert on what to do as William's rebellion gains popularity and he betrays Robert at one point, in keeping things as is. MICHAEL BYRNE plays Smythe, a soldier who assaults Murron and attempts to rape her. ALUN ARMSTRONG plays Mornay, the head of one of the clans of Scotland, who is present at the Battle of Falkirk, but turns away from the fight as William needs him and his men to come in. Edward the Longshanks, while watching the battle, reveals to a man near him that he bribed Mornay with "double the lands in Scotland and matching estates in England." JOHN MURTAGH plays Lochlan, the head of one of the clans of Scotland, who is present at the Battle of Falkirk, but turns away from the fight as William needs him and his men. Edward the Longshanks reveals to a man near him that while Mornay got "double the lands in Scotland and matching estates in England" for not joining the battle, Lochlan "turned for far less." CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of at least 2 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Only the beginning of a sex act is seen, and there is partial nudity, as well as some sexually-explicit jokes and comments made. Also, a royal sexually-related policy (rape) is a plot point. Violence consists of people murdering one another with various weapons, while lots of brutal fighting and beatings occur, with lots of bloody and gory results. All of that may be unsettling to some viewers, as well as potentially enticing for some kids to imitate. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitude, and there's brief drinking. There's also a lot of tense family material present. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Campbell, Hamish's father, drinks from a whiskey jug and says to him, "What you waitin' for boy?" and laughs. It's not certain if he's drunk. Hamish's father, about the rest of the whiskey, tells him to "Pour it straight in the wound. I know it seems like a waste of good whiskey." Hamish does and his father groans. BLOOD/GROSS STUFF Malcolm Wallace walks into a hut with pitchfork in hand and sees bodies hanging from the ceiling. As Malcolm crosses himself, we see a pair of bloody legs and feet hanging down. The camera pans across the faces of the hanging dead, eyes open on most of them. A minute later, from his father's shoulder, William sees boys his age that have been hung. William walks into a hut and sees his father and brother bare-chested on adjacent tables, bloody wounds on them, and a particularly deep one on his brother. As William looks at his father, we see immensely dark bloody wounds on the other side of his body, on his head and on his chest. In a dream, William lies alongside his father, who has two thin trails of blood running down his face, lots of blood on his chest, and an open wound on the other side. As he tells William, "Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it," we see more blood on his face. Hamish falls after he says to William, "I should have remembered the rocks." As William helps him up, we see a wound on his forehead. Smythe, a soldier, tries to kiss Murron, but she bites his cheek and he screams. We see specks of blood on his cheek. Later, we see a bloody wound on Smythe's cheek as he yells after William. Blood is seen on Murron's face, neck and chest. The lord of the area slashes Murron across the neck with a long knife, then wipes it off, though the blood is not seen. We see Murron's body wrapped in white, on a slab, during a funeral. William stabs a soldier with a curved weapon that looks like an animal claw, in the neck. He holds it in, and we see blood on the soldier's face before he lets it go. Hamish hits Smythe in the back with an axe and blood can be seen very briefly. A bloody wound from an arrow is seen on Hamish's father's chest. A soldier comes at Hamish with a sword, but Hamish hits him in the face with a stick, then head-butts him in the face and throws him off. He lands, impaled on the sharp end of a post surrounding the fort, the stick straight through his stomach, and blood is seen on the post, at the side of his forehead and around his mouth. As Hamish and William walk quickly to the noble lord, we see one soldier with a spear in his chest (no blood). William has some dried dark blood on his face. William kicks Murron's murderer down the steps of the fortress and walks after him. He takes him to a wooden post, presses him against it, places a knife against his throat, and then slashes it. We see trails of blood dripping from the wound and the man falls. We see blood on the faces of various Scotsmen and the bloody wound on Hamish's father's chest has grown darker. A Scotsman sticks a red-hot arrow into Hamish's father's wound to try to heal it, and he screams. No blood is seen. One of William's men spits on the soldier he's just hit with a chained weapon. An arrow hits one man in his bare behind and a bloody wound is briefly seen under it. More Scotsmen are hit in the back, the side of a leg, the head, among other places. One man hit with an arrow has blood coming from his mouth. William hits one soldier off his horse with an ax. He brings the ax down into the soldier's helmet and blood spills out heavily down the soldier's face. In the chaos, various soldiers are hit, stabbed and fall off their horses. Stephen stabs one soldier in the back, and then twice after the man falls. The Scotsmen and the English infantry run at each other and collide in a mess of battle, swords clinking, shouting, slashing, stabbing, punching, an ax through a soldier's chest, stabbing through the stomach, slashing of a neck (bloody), stabbing through a leg, loss of limbs, bloodying of faces with various weapons, bloody stabbing right through the stomach (blood pours out the other side), one soldier hit in the face with the handle part of a spear, and the splitting apart of one soldier's head with a sword (the brains are seen briefly). Other Scotsmen ride into battle and one slashes an English soldier across the chest, making a deep bloody gash. An English soldier slices Hamish's father's hand off with an ax, while on the ground, and he stabs the soldier through the stomach with his sword. William screams at one of the soldiers, slashes his horse so the man falls off, then slices his head clean off with the sword, briefly showing blood. Various slashing and stabbing across body parts occurs after that by other men, in the stomach and across the neck. William stops in front of a fellow Scotsman on a horse, and we see much blood on his neck and a line of it across his face, from his right eye diagonally down to his cheek. As William turns to face soldiers still standing, we see the field covered with what must be thousands of bodies from afar. We also see blood on the back of William's right arm. Blood is seen on Wallace's sword as he throws it down. Edward the Longshanks pulls the head of his nephew from York out of a basket, sent by Wallace. The eyes are upward near the forehead and there's blood from the nose and the mouth. Edward throws Phillip out a window and he lands on the ground, unmoving, and with a blood stain on the ground. William slashes an English soldier across the face and blood flies out. He then does the same to another soldier. William stabs another soldier through the stomach and takes out a bloody sword. William is hit in the chest with an arrow. He tries to pull it out, but snaps off the bottom part of it. Blood is seen in the hand holding the arrow. Wallace backs away from the rider he sees, and dried blood is seen on his neck and face, left cheek and forehead and right cheek too. Hamish holds his father's chest wound and the hand that does is red with blood. Widows walk through the field of bodies from the Battle of Falkirk to look for their dead. Many bodies are seen, spears sticking out of bodies, some bloody. Robert the Bruce drops to his knees in the middle of this field, and a wider shot reveals just how vast the body count is. The leper Bruce is seen with more bruises on his face, though none showing blood. Robert the Bruce tells his father, "Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for William Wallace, and he fights for something that I've never had." William breaks into Mornay's bedroom on his horse, unleashes a ball-and-chain weapon, and brings it down hard on his face, crushing his skull, and blood is briefly seen. In an overhead shot, Wallace's horse floats on the water, possibly dead. As Lord Craig breaks apart a piece of chicken, blood drips on it from the ceiling, and a body falls through and lands on the table. It's Lochlan, his throat slit, and dark blood is seen there. William walks among a group of men, blood seen on his sword. Robert the Bruce sits next to his dying father, who shows more bruises. English soldiers run in and attack William. Robert the Bruce tries to stop it and one soldier hits him on the back with a club. The soldiers continue beating on William -- one hits him in the head with his club -- and William falls back, blood on his mouth and nose. Robert walks upstairs to see his father, and he has blood on his nose and forehead. Robert's father is looking worse, with more bruises around his face, and bandages too. Isabella gives William some kind of liquid to help dull the pain of torture that will soon be upon William. William initially refuses, saying that he'd rather have his wits clear, but takes it in at her insistence. After she leaves, William spits it all out. A commoner spits at Wallace. The king is heard vomiting, while his son looks at him. A hooded man rips William's shirt with a hook and opens it up, revealing his bare chest and a scar on the left side. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Edward the Longshanks is the king of England in the 13th century, who takes a vast interest in Scotland when its king dies without an heir and various clans fight over whom will ascend the throne. He sends his soldiers out to occupy the land, and also sets rules that he hopes will turn Scotland into an extension of England. One of them is that when a couple is married, the "noble lord" of the land they were married on will be permitted to take the bride into his bed on that first night, as his way of "blessing" the marriage. This creates much anger among the Scottish population and is also seen in action, leading to an act of revenge by a husband later. William Wallace stays out of all that business, and marries his lifelong love Murron in secret, so she's not forced to abide by the king's rule. However, after a soldier tries to rape her and one of the head soldiers deems it a crime for what she has done, the soldier slashes her across the throat and Wallace is forced into action. Soon, Longshanks sees a rebellion happening, but delegates the duty of stopping it to his son, who is far less ruthless than he is, and seems to not have the ability to think like his father does. Longshanks doesn't like this at all and mistreats his son a few times as well. There is also a moment when he belittles his son's wife, Princess Isabella of France, for a charitable deed she did. Murron rides off with William despite her parents' objections. The king's son shouts at his wife, Isabella, "Get away from me!" After William sees Lochlan and Mornay and their clans turn away from the battle, Edward reveals to someone near him that he bribed Mornay with "double the lands in Scotland and matching estates in England. Lochlan turned for much less." Edward orders his archers to ready themselves, despite the certainty of hitting England's own troops while attaining the goal of hitting Scotland's. Princess Isabella lays down bare under William, before making love that's not seen. This may not be seen favorably by those who are offended by infidelity, despite the prince not paying any kind of attention to Isabella. The prison guard in charge of William walks into his cell and says, "Come on filth, up on your feet," and kicks him. While across the field from Robert the Bruce and his men, one English soldier says to another, "I hope you've washed your arse this morning. It's about to be kissed by a king." FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Blood/Gross Stuff" and "Violence" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. The various frenetic battle scenes, both in war and outside of it, may be scary and unsettling to younger viewers and those with low tolerance for them. Malcolm Wallace walks into a hut with pitchfork in hand and sees bodies hanging from the ceiling. As Malcolm crosses himself, we see a pair of bloody legs and feet hanging down. The camera pans across the faces of the hanging dead, eyes open on most of them. From his father's shoulder, William sees boys his age that have been hung. William dreams about one of the boys' hanging bodies calling to him. Smythe, a soldier, throws Murron's basket of vegetables down and she punches him in the face. The soldier grabs her and throws her into a hut, landing on top of her. He licks her face and one soldier says from outside, "Keep it quiet, Smythe." She scratches at his cheek and he exclaims, "You bitch!" He tries to kiss her, but she bites his cheek and he screams. We see specks of blood on his cheek. He exclaims again, "You bitch!" and backhands her across the face. In the next shot, a rock hits one of the soldiers' helmets and he falls to the side. William runs at another soldier and pushes him down hard. William then grabs the offending soldier off of Murron and throws him at a hut wall. A Scotsman sticks a red-hot arrow into Hamish's father's wound to try to heal it and he screams. English soldiers burn Scottish homes, causing chaos and one of the soldiers hits a Scotsman with a weapon, throwing him into a fire. William pulls his arrow back on his bow. He sees Stephen running at him, and switches his aim at him. A man is behind William with a sword, and Stephen throws his at the man, hitting him in the chest. Stephen then pulls his weapon out of the man and walks away. The English archers fire, and some arrows are blocked on the Scottish side with shields, but some arrows hit a few of the Scotsmen in the leg, the neck, the foot, the chest, near the shoulder, and the stomach. William hits one soldier off his horse with an ax. He brings the ax down into the soldier's helmet and blood spills out heavily down the soldier's face. William screams at one of the soldiers, slashes his horse so the man falls off, then slices his head clean off with his sword, briefly showing blood. The Scotsmen smash a large tree trunk into the gate of the English castle of York to try to open it, while English soldiers fire arrows at them. One of the Scotsmen is hit with a rock, and English soldiers pour hot tar on the Scotsmen to try to fend them off. An English soldier shoots a fire-tipped arrow at the ground the Scotsmen barely stand on, setting part of the trunk and some tar-covered men on fire, and screaming is heard. William and company run forth and push the burning tree trunk into the gate, setting the inside of the gate on fire. Edward the Longshanks pulls the head of his nephew from York out of a basket, sent by Wallace. The eyes are upward near the forehead and there's blood from the nose and the mouth. The Scottish archers shoot fire-tipped arrows at the English, which sets the ground afire because of the tar there, and sets the soldiers and horses on fire, and many of them drop to the ground. Edward orders his archers to ready themselves, despite the certainty of hitting England's own troops while attaining the goal of hitting Scotland's. The archers' arrows hit a lot of the men on the battlefield, one through the head, one in the heart, one in the back, one in the chest, one in the mouth, one in the stomach, and so on. William breaks into Mornay's bedroom on his horse, unleashes a ball-and-chain weapon, and brings it down hard on his face, crushing his skull, and blood is briefly seen. As Lord Craig breaks apart a piece of chicken, blood drips on it from the ceiling, and a body falls through and lands on the table. It's Lochlan, his throat slit, and dark blood is seen there. Wallace and Hamish push two English soldiers standing at the door of a hut inside, then shut it tightly. Some kind of flammable liquid is poured on the men inside, and on the outside of the hut. Three torches help set the hut on fire, led by Wallace and there's screaming heard. GUNS/WEAPONS Swords/Spears/Knives/Battle axes/Axes/Square mallet/Bow-and-arrows/Ball-and-chain/Daggers/Lances: Carried and used to threaten, wound and kill others. See "Violence" for details. Malcolm holds an axe after he hears birds flutter, indicating that someone else is inside Malcolm takes out a sword and shoves it into a pack on his horse. William throws the tip of his sword into the ground and it catches. One of the Scotsmen presses a blade against the neck of a soldier next to the noble lord. A sentry calls out to the Scotsmen, "There's somebody coming," and they all grab their weapons. A Scotsman holds a spear against an English soldier's neck. Hamish's father says about Stephen, "Insane Irish." Stephen takes out a dagger and puts it against Hamish's father's neck, while William and the others put their weapons at his. William holds a bow and arrow in front of him, going hunting. Scottish soldiers hold weapons of various sizes in Stirling. William sneaks toward an intruder in the forest with sword in hand. Scotsmen in council at Edinburgh brandish their weapons at William after he says, "If you'll not stand up with us now, then I say you're cowards." Then Hamish slams his battle axe onto the table. The covered rider begins to reach for what he thinks is an unconscious Wallace, but Wallace grabs him, flips him over, takes off his face helmet and holds a knife to his neck. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Just answer the f*cking question," "Sh*t!" "They couldn't agree on the color of sh*te," "Da?" "You bitch!" "Come back here, you bastard!" "Idiot boy!" "Get away from me!" "Excellent!" "You're a madman," "Alba gu bra!" "Insolent bastard," "You bastards!" "Bastard!" "Damn it!" "You rotting bastard!" "Shame! Shame!" "Come on filth, up on your feet" and "I hope you've washed your arse this morning. It's about to be kissed by a king." The various battle scenes may be tempting for younger viewers to imitate. William and Hamish scream and run up a hill, throwing rocks at animal skulls on top of flat rocks, and one breaks apart. Hamish then grips William by his front and punches him in the face, sending him rolling down a small hill, after which they playfully fight by a brook. A priest chants in Latin at the funeral for William's father and brother. William throws a heavy rock as far as he can in a contest with Hamish. Hamish's father leads the Scottish in a loud chant of support, beginning with "Macaulish!" which soon becomes a chant of "Wallace! Wallace!" William's painted most of his face blue for a battle. Four other men have various markings of blue on their faces as well. The Scotsmen turn around after the arrow attack, lift their kilts, and mock the English with their bare bottoms. Robert the Bruce jumps off a table with both feet, onto a bench, then the floor. Two dwarves playact at fighting each other and one pretend-hits the other with a stick. One pretends to saw the other in half and take out his intestines, which are rope. Various commoners throw fruits and vegetables at William. JUMP SCENES None MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of ominous and dramatic music occurs in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None PROFANITY At least 2 "f" words, 2 "s" words (1 said as "sh*te"), 4 asses (all said as "arse"), 1 use of "Damn it," 1 hell, and 1 use each of "Christ" and "Jesus." SEX/NUDITY Edward the Longshanks says to the men in the room while looking at Isabella, "Perhaps the time has come to reinstitute an old custom. Grant them primae noctis. First night. When any common girl inhabiting their lands is married, our nobles shall have sexual rights to her on the night of her wedding. If we can't get them out, we'll breed them out." The lord of one part of Scotland rides into the wedding party and says, "I've come to claim the right of primae noctis. As lord of these lands, I will bless this marriage by taking the bride into my bed on the first night of her union." A Scot shouts, "Oh, by God, you will not!" and another Scot punches a soldier. A soldier holds a sword at the bridegroom's throat after the man says, "It is my noble right." The bride kisses her husband and is then led away. William walks toward Murron bare-chested. Murron is also undressed, but in the dark, we see the outline of her breasts. She turns to him and we see one of her breasts in full. They kiss. He runs his hands up and down her hair and then they kiss much more closely. William is seen bare-chested again as Murron ties his kilt around him. Then they kiss again, he lifting her up slightly. Smythe, a soldier, throws Murron's basket of vegetables down and she punches him in the face. The soldier grabs her and throws her into a hut, landing on top of her. He licks her face and one soldier says from outside, "Keep it quiet, Smythe." She scratches at his cheek and he exclaims, "You bitch!" He tries to kiss her, but she bites his cheek and he screams. One of Wallace's men takes off his headdress and says to the head soldier, "You remember me?" The soldier says, "I never did her any harm. It was my right!" The man says, "Your right? Well I'm here to claim the right of a husband!" then hits the soldier with a chained weapon. In subtitles, Princess Isabella's lady-in-waiting tells her, "Scotland is in chaos. Your husband is secretly sending an army north." Isabella asks her, "How do you know this?" She replies, "Last night, I slept with a member of the war council." Isabella says, "He shouldn't be telling secrets in bed." Her lady-in-waiting says, "Ah, yes. Englishmen don't know what a tongue is for." William tells Hamish, Hamish's father and others that in order to fight an English army coming from the north, they'll make spears. "Hundreds of them. Long spears-twice as long as a man." Hamish says, "That long? Aye. Some men are longer than others." Hamish's father says to Hamish, "Your mother been telling you stories about me again." The Scottish lift their kilts at the English, though we don't see any genitalia, as the shot is from the perspective of the English. The Scotsmen turn around after the arrow attack, lift their kilts, and mock the English with their bare bottoms. The cousin of the prince tells someone next to him, "My sodomite cousin the prince tells me he has no troops to lend, and every town in Northern England is begging for help." William tells the Princess of Wales about his Murron that "we married in secret because I would not share her with an English lord." Hamish observes that the woman approaching the York castle is "personal escort of the princess." William says, "Aye," and Hamish continues, "Must have made an impression." William again says "Aye" and walks to her. Hamish then says, "I didn't think you were in the tent that long." Isabella lays down bare under Wallace, though only her shoulders and upper chest are seen. He's bare-chested as well, though that's not seen clearly. William's hands and feet are tied to a cross. A hooded man rips his shirt with a hook and opens it up, revealing his bare chest. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES William's father tells him, "Go home, William, or you'll feel the back of my hand. William walks into a hut and sees his father and brother bare-chested on adjacent tables, bloody wounds on them, particularly a deep one on his brother. Following that is a funeral for both of them. The lord of one part of Scotland rides into the wedding party and says, "I've come to claim the right of primae noctis. As lord of these lands, I will bless this marriage by taking the bride into my bed on the first night of her union." A Scot shouts, "Oh, by God, you will not!" and another Scot punches a soldier. A soldier holds a sword at the bridegroom's throat after the man says, "It is my noble right." The bride kisses her husband and is then led away. William must contend with his wife's murder and that's a big part of what drives his subsequent actions. Hamish tries to pull an arrow out of his father's chest, but his father hits him on the back of the head and exclaims, "Idiot boy!" Edward the Longshanks backhands his son hard across the face and he falls to the floor. He then takes his son by the throat and says, "In the morning, I depart for France to press our rights there, and I leave you here to quell this little rebellion. Understood? Is it?" and takes him by the face. In reaction to seeing Phillip on the ground outside, the prince takes out his knife and tries to stab Edward, but Edward backhands him to the floor. Edward then kicks him in the stomach. Robert the Bruce grabs his father and slams him three times against a wall, hurt and angry about being betrayed. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Edward the Longshanks' attempted occupation and possession of Scotland. William Wallace's passion to free Scotland from the bounds of England and the men incited to do the same by his example, joining him and also reconsidering their beliefs in their relation to England. William's father and brother are killed in battle, and young William is taken in by his uncle Argyle, and through a few scenes, we learn from the grown-up William the education he got while with his uncle. Edward the Longshanks is contemptuous of his son, because he's not as hard and ruthless as him and appears not to follow the wishes of his father. Despite being married, the prince ignores Isabella, never exhibiting any affection or anything else. It's what drives her to William later on. The battles of Stirling and Falkirk that befall thousands of men, and are quite bloody and intense. Edward the Longshanks believes that in order to cut off the Scottish rebellion, William needs to be captured and made an example of to show that he will not tolerate that kind of action. VIOLENCE William and Hamish scream and run up a hill, throwing rocks at animal skulls on top of flat rocks, and one breaks apart. Then, Hamish grips William by his front and punches him in the face, sending him rolling down a small hill. They then playfully fight by a brook. A grown-up Hamish punches a grown-up William hard in the face and he falls. Hamish throws a big rock at William, which misses him. William throws a small one at Hamish, and it hits him on the forehead. Hamish falls after he says to William, "I should have remembered the rocks." Smythe, a soldier, throws Murron's basket of vegetables down and she punches him in the face. The soldier grabs her and throws her into a hut, landing on top of her. He licks her face and one soldier says from outside, "Keep it quiet, Smythe." She scratches at his cheek and he exclaims, "You bitch!" He tries to kiss her, but she bites his cheek and he screams. We see specks of blood on his cheek. He exclaims again, "You bitch!" and backhands her across the face. In the next shot, a rock hits one of the soldiers' helmets and he falls to the side. William runs at another soldier and pushes him down hard. William then grabs the offending soldier off of Murron and throws him at a hut wall. William runs, kicks Smythe in the face and climbs up to the roof of a hut. William bashes a rock in the face of a soldier, throws him inside a hut, and goes in. As Murron rides, a soldier hits her in the face with a spear and she falls off the horse. That soldier and another grab her by each arm and drag her off. The lord of the area slashes Murron across the neck with a long knife, then wipes it off, though blood is not seen. A soldier stabs William's horse with a spear and William is thrown off it. William stabs a soldier in the neck with a curved weapon that looks like an animal claw. He holds it in, and we see blood on the soldier's face before he lets it go. William slices off the leg of a soldier with his sword and the man falls to the ground. No blood is seen. One soldier screams and runs at William, who throws his sword straight into the soldier's stomach. Other Scotsmen, by William's example, are incited to battle. A few take down one soldier, while another hits a soldier in the face with a long stick. That same man holds another soldier by the neck, and another Scotsman hits a soldier across the face with a stick. One soldier runs at William, who holds a heavy square mallet, then runs from him. William runs after him and hits him on the back with the mallet. He then hits the fallen soldier a second time in the back and then near his head. William turns to see Smythe coming at him with a sword and blocks his attempted advances with the handle of the mallet. Hamish hits Smythe in the back with an axe and blood can be seen for the briefest second. Hamish hears a shouting soldier running at him from behind, and William throws the mallet to Hamish, who hits the soldier in the face, and the soldier falls fast. Various other Scotsmen tackle a soldier, slash a soldier across the stomach, and hit a soldier on the head with a rock. Archers on the tower fire at William and others, and two arrows hit a dead soldier's body that Hamish is carrying. Hamish's father is hit with an arrow in the chest. Hamish tries to pull out the arrow, but his father hits him on the back of the head and exclaims, "Idiot boy!" He tries pulling out the arrow, but snaps it in two, a part of it still in his chest. William climbs into the archers' tower and throws an archer over the side. On the archers' tower, William hits one of the archers in the face with a stick, and then throws him over the side. The soldier lands on a roof, then falls off. Hamish's father shouts, picks up a spear, and throws it into the chest of a soldier who groans and falls. He then opens the gate to the soldiers' quarters and a soldier runs at him with a sword out. A Scotsman to the left of Hamish's father strikes the sword down, and Hamish strikes the soldier in the back with the back of the ax, and then strikes him in the back with the blade. A soldier comes at Hamish with a sword, but Hamish hits him in the face with a stick, then head-butts him in the face and throws him off. He lands, impaled, on the sharp end of a post surrounding the fort, the stick straight through his stomach, and blood on the post and at the side of his forehead and around his mouth. William kicks Murron's murderer down the steps of the fortress and walks after him. He takes him to a wooden post, presses him against it, places a knife against his throat, and then slashes it. We see trails of blood dripping from the wound and the man falls. A Scotsman sticks a red-hot arrow into Hamish's father's wound to try to heal it and he screams. He also screams as he gets up, and punches the arrow holder in the face. He calms down, then says, "That'll wake you up in the morning, boy." The head soldier of another fortress asks an arriving soldier, "So, what news?" after a patrol. William takes off his metal cap and punches the soldier in the face. One Scotsman holds a spear against an English soldier's neck. Hamish's father grabs one by the throat. And Hamish bashes one in the face with his cap. One of William's men takes off his headdress and says to the head soldier, "You remember me?" The soldier says, "I never did her any harm. It was my right!" The man says, "Your right? Well I'm here to claim the right of a husband!" then hits the soldier with a chained weapon. He falls and the man hits the soldier with the chained weapon again. He then spits on the soldier. William orders the garrison to be burned and in the next shot, we see it on fire. Edward the Longshanks backhands his son hard across the face and he falls to the floor. Edward then takes his son by the throat and says, "In the morning, I depart for France to press our rights there, and I leave you here to quell this little rebellion. Understood? Is it?" and takes him by the face. English soldiers burn Scottish homes, causing chaos and hitting one Scotsman with a weapon, throwing him into a fire. A rock is thrown from on high at the head of a soldier from off-screen. William, Hamish and others attempt to fight off English soldiers. Hamish strikes one in the back with an ax, William hits one in the stomach with a sword, and another Scotsman sticks one in the stomach with a sword. William pulls his arrow back on his bow, aiming somewhere. He sees Stephen running at him, and switches his aim at him. A man is behind William with a sword, and Stephen throws his at the man, hitting him in the chest. Stephen then pulls his weapon out of the man and walks away. At Stirling, the English archers fire, and some arrows are blocked on the Scottish side with shields, but some arrows hit a few of the Scotsmen in the leg, the neck, the foot, the chest, near the shoulder, and the stomach. As the Scotsmen moon their enemies, the archers fire again, and an arrow hits one man in his bare behind and a bloody wound is briefly seen under it. More Scotsmen are hit in the back, the side of a leg, and the head. One man hit with an arrow has blood coming from his mouth. Following that, as the English ride fast at the Scots with weapons up, the Scots duck and hold out makeshift wooden spears with a sharp tip, which stab the horses that run into them, as well as soldiers. William hits one soldier off his horse with an ax. He brings the ax down into the soldier's helmet and blood spills out heavily down the soldier's face. In the chaos, various soldiers are hit, stabbed and fall off their horses. Stephen stabs one soldier in the back, and then twice after the man falls. In a following scene, the Scotsmen and the English infantry run at each other and collide in a mess of battle, swords clinking, shouting, slashing, stabbing, punching, an ax through a soldier's chest, stabbing through the stomach, slashing of a neck (bloody), stabbing through a leg, loss of limbs, bloodying of faces with various weapons, bloody stabbing right through the stomach (blood pours out the other side), one soldier hit in the face with the handle part of a spear, and the splitting apart of one soldier's head with a sword (the brains are seen briefly). Other Scotsmen ride into battle and one slashes an English soldier across the chest, making a deep bloody gash. One soldier is knocked down by a horse. One soldier is hit in the stomach with an ax while on the ground. William hits one soldier in the stomach with an ax, then in the back after he falls to the ground. William hits another soldier in the chest with his axe. After, an English soldier slices Hamish's father's hand off with an ax, while on the ground, and he stabs the soldier through the stomach with his sword. One Scotsman stabs an English soldier in the eye with his knife. William slashes a soldier across the stomach with his sword, then kicks another soldier hard, hits another soldier in the stomach with his sword, then slashes another one across the stomach. William screams at one of the soldiers, slashes his horse so the man falls off, then slices his head clean off with the sword, briefly showing blood. Various slashing and stabbing across body parts occurs after that by other men to other soldiers, in the stomach and across the neck. The Scotsmen smash a large tree trunk into the gate of the English castle of York to try to open it, while English soldiers fire arrows at them. Two Scotsmen fall from being hit with arrows. One of the Scotsmen is hit with a rock, and English soldiers pour hot tar on the Scotsmen to try to fend them off. An English soldier shoots a fire-tipped arrow at the ground the Scotsmen barely stand on, setting part of the trunk and some tar-covered men on fire, and screaming is heard. William and company run forth and push the burning tree trunk into the gate, setting the inside of the gate on fire. Edward throws Phillip out a window and he lands on the ground, unmoving, and with a blood stain on the ground. In reaction to seeing Phillip on the ground, the prince takes out his knife and tries to stab Edward, but Edward backhands him to the floor. He then kicks him in the stomach. Scotsmen in council at Edinburgh brandish their weapons at William after he says, "If you'll not stand up with us now, then I say you're cowards." Then Hamish slams his battle-axe onto the table. At Falkirk, the Scottish archers shoot fire-tipped arrows at the English, which sets the ground afire because of the tar there, and sets the soldiers and horses on fire, and many of them drop to the ground. The Scotsmen run at the English and collide in a frenetic battle, throwing each other down, hitting one another with swords. The Scotsmen slash some of the Englishmen across the stomach with their swords, hit them back with their swords, stick swords into them, and throw them off their horses; while William slashes one across the face and blood flies out. He does the same to another soldier. One Englishman is hit with the business end of a ball-and-chain weapon. William stabs another one through the stomach and takes out a bloody sword. After, the English archers' arrows hit a lot of the men on the battlefield, one through the head, one in the heart, one in the back, one in the chest, one in the mouth, one in the stomach, and so on. An English soldier hits Hamish's father in the stomach with an ax. Wallace is hit in the chest with an arrow. He tries to pull it out, but snaps off the bottom part of it. An English soldier tries to attack William, but he throws him down and hits him hard, though it's not certain if it's with an object. William then pushes another soldier down, then throws another one off his horse in order to ride. Following that, Wallace rides after the king's entourage with sword in hand. One of the king's riders rides at Wallace with a lance in front of him. The rider hits Wallace's horse with the lance and Wallace is thrown off. The rider begins to reach for what he thinks is an unconscious Wallace, but Wallace grabs him, flips him over, takes off his face helmet and holds a knife to his neck. William breaks into Mornay's bedroom on his horse, unleashes a ball-and-chain weapon, and brings it down hard on his face, crushing his skull, and blood is briefly seen. William kicks a group of men down and then jumps out of an upstairs window on his horse, into the water. Wallace and Hamish push two English soldiers standing at the door of a hut inside, then shut it tightly. Some kind of flammable liquid is poured on the men inside, and on the outside of the hut. Three torches help set the hut on fire, led by Wallace and there's screaming heard. Hamish punches William in the face and he falls. English soldiers run in and attack William. Robert tries to stop it and one soldier hits him on the back with a club. The soldiers continue beating on William -- one hits him in the head with a club -- and William falls back, blood on his mouth and nose. Robert grabs his father and slams him three times against a wall, hurt and angry at being betrayed. The prison guard in charge of William walks into his cell and says, "Come on filth, up on your feet," and kicks him. Various commoners throw fruits and vegetables at William. At William's torture, he's hoisted by the neck with a rope, and he chokes. After some time, William is dropped to the ground. William also reacts with labored breaths to being tortured while tied to a cross, his genitals perhaps being tortured or he's disemboweled, though it's not seen. A man is executed via beheading. Reviewed off DVD / Posted January 21, 2011