I think what everyone wants to know is, "Is this Braveheart II?"

Yes and no.

Yes, it is a large epic featuring battle scenes with thousands of men getting killed. Yes, it is another fight-the-British movie. Yes, Mel plays the hero, once again driven to war by the death of a loved one. Yes, they both take a revisionist approach to history.

But apart from those similarities, they are very different films. Mel is a family man, and his family is his overiding concern. Once he sees what the British are capable of, he realises he needs to take up arms to put an end to their nonsense.

The rest of the film intertwines war with romance with family tragedy. It is indeed powerful in places, and succeeds admirably as an anti-war film (see below).

On the down side, it is long (which seems to have contributed to The Perfect Storm giving it a hiding on its opening weekend in the States, although costume pieces -- and Civil War ones in particular -- have a bad track record in the USA) and could do with some trimming. US critics have criticised some historical aspects, but they didn't bother me at all.

As is par for the course for these epics, they essentially resolve into the hero having to eventually deal with the villian, and that is what happens here. There is also an amazing bit of instant laundry, where the tattered and dirty US flag is miraculously restored to perfect, pristine-white condition by supermom Mel.

In balance, a worthwhile film which in my humble opinion is way better than The Perfect Storm, regardless of what the box office says.

As regards the war scenes, when I saw Braveheart, I was glad I was not alive in those days. When I saw Joan of Arc, I felt the same. And while watching Patriot, I realised how glad I am to live in this present age. The colonial method of war is certainly the height of dumb, to whit:

The opposing sides line up facing each other. One side fires first, at the wall of men opposing them. While the shooters reload, those of the enemy still standing get to return the fire. Repeat the process until hardly anyone is left. How did the generals sleep at night, after sending men to their deaths like that?

-- Ian Douglas