Braveheart was a huge deal when it first came out. I never really watched the film properly until recently. As a frequent cinema-goer since my youth I was not a part of the mid-nineties cultural phenomenon that was Braveheart's release in Scotland. I did turn up at the the cinema, the old Odeon in Edinburgh, but the queue went round the block (the literal term for a blockbuster) and there was no way in hell I was prepared to wait for three hours on a gray September afternoon (a choice I came to regret). Every subsequent attempt since then was blocked. I never rented the video as I didn't want to watch in pan-and-scan. The fact that every single living Scottish person had seen it apart from myself really got on my nerves, and I was quite bitter about it. And then, as the fever died down, I just kind of forgot about it and moved on.

Watching it fully as an adult I think I probably enjoy it more now that I would have done as a teenager. It's certainly a huge epic right up there with the best of them. Mel Gibson captures the pretty side of Scotland wonderfully with his scope photography accompanied by James Horner's bittersweet score. The film never really feels three hours long, the time just disappears.

Nearly every notable Scottish actor (apart from Connery and Connelly) appears at some point. From the brilliant (Brian Cox) to the dreary and pretentious (Peter Mullan). Keep a lookout for Tommy Flanagan too, in one of his earlier roles.

The battle scenes are impressive, but I wish there were more gory. Gibson's first cut of the film was apparently bloodier, I wish it had remained intact. But despite the grim satisfaction of seeing the English aggressors getting splattered the fact that Scotland IS still ruled by England kind renders Wallace's bravery irrelevant. It may have been 700 years ago, but I hate the fact that he ultimately died for nothing. We DON'T have a country of our own, plain and simple.