The Patriot
Movie's Spirit of '76 enough too win the war, despite short comings.
By Matt Lamas

: : : Our Rating : : :

Given the director of this film, I was fully prepared for it to be overemotional, heavy handed, and short on plot. The first two are true, but the fact that it does have a plot overcomes the weaknesses above. The movie starts out very emotional and very convenient. Everything that happens on the battlefield in this state somehow directly effects Gibson and family. Once you get into the main storyline, Mad Max gets revenge on the British, then the storyline actually kicks in.

There are some great battle scenes in the movie. Huge armies plunging into one another, first shooting, and then hand to hand combat. These scenes are very exciting if rather graphic. I think Private Ryan set the new standard for realism in battle scenes and this movie does Ryan one better in a couple of extremely graphic, if not entirely plausible, deaths on the battlefield. Yet the battle scenes alone are enough too recommend the movie.

There is quite a bit of corn. Let's face it, at 2 1/2 hours theres plenty of space to fit it in. But if you can sit through the weepy scenes and wait for the main plot to kick back in you will be rewarded with a decent popcorn flick.

Also, if your looking for historical accuracy, don't bother. Watch PBS if you want the real Revolutionary War. Here you get the Hollywood war, but a rousing one at that.