68th Academy Awards · 1996
Braveheart
Directed by Mel Gibson
“Every man dies, not every man really lives.”
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The story
Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer74%Fresh#89 of 98 winnersIMDb8.31.2M votes#13 of 98 winners
Metacritic68/ 100#88 of 93 winners
TMDB7.9/ 10
Famous lines
Fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live...at least a while. … they may take our lives, but they'll never take...OUR FREEDOM!!!
Every man dies. Not every man really lives.
Men don't follow titles, they follow courage.
You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.
Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.
I shall tell you of William Wallace. Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes.
The trouble with Scotland...is that it's full of Scots!
They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen. And won their freedom.
We all end up dead; it's just a question of how and why.
Arrows cost money. Use up the Irish. The dead cost nothing.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- In 1997 a 12-foot sandstone statue of Mel Gibson as William Wallace, with "Braveheart" on its shield, was placed at the Wallace Monument; after vandals hammered its face it was caged every night, and it was called "among the most loathed pieces of public art in Scotland."Wikipedia · Wallace Monument
- Mel Gibson originally wanted only to direct and considered Brad Pitt for William Wallace before reluctantly agreeing to play the role himself.Wikipedia · Development
- Warner Bros. offered to fund the film only if Mel Gibson signed on for another Lethal Weapon sequel; he refused, and Paramount and 20th Century Fox split the financing instead.Wikipedia · Development
- Most of the shoot moved from Scotland to Ireland after the Irish government lobbied hard and offered 1,600 members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras, who grew beards and played both armies to save money.Wikipedia · Filming
- Historian Seán Duffy quipped that the film's Battle of Stirling Bridge "could have done with a bridge," and The Times ranked Braveheart second on its list of the most historically inaccurate movies.Wikipedia · Historical accuracy
- Sean Connery was approached to play King Edward but declined, though Mel Gibson said Connery's pronunciation of "Goulash" helped him with his Scottish accent.Wikipedia · Development
- The film sparked a tourism boom: the year after its release, attendance at Stirling's "Braveheart Conference" jumped from 66,000 to 167,000, and the "Braveheart effect" was estimated to earn Scotland £7 million to £15 million.Wikipedia · Effect on tourism
- Gibson had to tone down the battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating, and Paramount chief Sherry Lansing made him cut the film from 195 to 177 minutes; Gibson said a four-hour version exists.Wikipedia · Filming
- Peter Jackson cited Braveheart as an influence on his Lord of the Rings trilogy.Wikipedia · Cultural effects and accusations of Anglophobia
- Braveheart wasn't seen as an Oscar frontrunner until Gibson won the Golden Globe for Best Director; it went on to win five Oscars, becoming the ninth Best Picture winner with no acting nominations.Wikipedia · Awards and honors