Mel Gibson plays the American version of his hit Braveheart role as revolutionary Benjamin Martin. It starts off with a memorable one-man attack by Martin, after Col. Tavington (Isaacs) killed his young son, ending in Martin wiping out a prisoner escort and rescuing his older son. The movie proceeds to narrate the American Revolutionary War saga.
Given, this is a historical fiction drama. We don't know if the British really waged war led by sociopaths like the antagonist Col. We do know that the British imposed their will on the colonial populace with enough force to provoke them into arms. General Cornwallis (Wilkinson) states that the intent was on continuing commerce with the colonies not humiliating them. The movie attempts credibility by correctly including in the introduction the division between Royalists and Rebels. "It's a lost cause," said a demoralized Continental soldier after another lost battle. The roles of the French intervention, Black slaves, and freemen also build realism.
The main contribution is that Mel Gibson leads ragtag fighters, with his trademark charisma, to fight a guerilla warfare that truly consternated "lobster backs," who fought rigidly in forested landscapes. There are poignant moments like the melting of toy soldiers into musket balls. Most people forgot that Americans at one time resorted to desperate militia tactics like these.
I leave this at the Winning 25 yd Line. Cornwallis blamed his lack of progress on the "Ghost"(Gibson). Take it from a History Major, it wasn't that simple. Such scenes are what hurt the movie's credibility. Still, each time you watch this, it's hard not to cheer.
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