Braveheart (1995)

Well, I'm not so sure what to say about this except "EPIC". If you haven't seen it you should! Braveheart is about the first war of Scottish independence to win their freedom from England. Mel Gibson's character William Wallace is a young boy when the movie starts, living as a farmer in rural Scotland. William's father and brother are murdered when they stand up to oppose English rule. So, William has to go live with an uncle where he is educated (he seems to speak a number of languages). He returns to his boyhood home when he has come of age and falls in love with Murron.

Murron and William are married in secret to avoid the right of "first night" (The English Lords were given the right to sleep with the newly married virgin Scottish women on the night of their wedding with the hope of impregnating them. The idea being that the English could breed the Scots out of Scotland). Unfortunately, one of the English soldiers tries to rape Murron, hoping to instigate William into fighting. Both Murron and William fight against the soldiers however, Murron is captured and murdered. At this point William is completely fed up, losing his father, brother, and wife to the English invaders. He first kills the majority of the soldiers occupying his village and then captures the English lord in charge and has him killed in the same manner as Murron. He then proceeds to burn the English fort to the ground.

William is determined to fight the English and raises an army of Scottish commoners. The rebel army is quite successful and it soon comes to the attention of the king (Edward I, ie., Longshanks). Unfortunately, the Scottish nobility, including heir apparent of the Scottish throne Robert the Bruce, would prefer not to fight the English in order to preserve their lands and inheritance. King Edward decides to put a stop to William Wallace and his army, and the two sides meet in the battle of Falkirk. William had negotiated for the Scottish lords to bring troops and unite against the English along with William's commoner's army. However, the Scottish lords sell out to the English and leave William and his army drastically outnumbered. William and his army are defeated and William is injured.

However, William persists in his fight against the English. He is helped by Isabelle of France (the wife of the prince of England) who is sent to negotiate for peace. William and Isabelle become lovers and she apparently conceives a child by William. William decides to again try to enlist the help of the Scottish lords in the fight against England. They trap him and hand him over to the English where he refuses to accept King Edward's rule and is tortured and beheaded. Just before being beheaded he cries out the most famous line in the movie: "FREEDOM"! After William is killed Robert the Bruce (who despite having betrayed William once was actually a great admirer of William) leads the Scots in the fight for freedom which they eventually win.

Again, EPIC! This movie won five academy awards! A definite must-see. My view of the movie was that William was just trying to live a normal peaceful life, he wanted to farm the land his father farmed and spend his life with Murron. Unfortunately his plans are completely destroyed. He's just a regular guy who becomes one of the most extraordinary leaders. He is fighting for the basic right of freedom and is driven by the memory of the brutal murders of his father, brother, and wife. This movie makes you appreciate the price of freedom... which I think we sometimes take for granted.