Braveheart Review

“Every man dies, not every man really lives.”

braveheart1Studio:  Paramount
Runtime: 2:57 mins
1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray
Disc Size: 48,681,555,732 bytes
Feature: 45,971,742,720 bytes
Video Bitrate: 25.78 Mbps
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Dolby TrueHD Audio English
DUBs: Dolby Digital Audio French
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish
Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English, Dolby Surround

Purchase Braveheart [Blu-ray]



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An epic tale of one man’s courage, devotion, and quest for his country’s freedom.

Braveheart is based on the life of a Scottish knight named Sir William Wallace who lived around 1272-1305 A.D.  He helped lead the resistance during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Along side Andrew Moray he defeated the English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.  In the movie itself its more commonly know as just the battle of Stirling.  Eventually he was defeated at the Battle of Falkirk, but escaped, and then a few years later he was captured near Glasgow and handed over to King Edward I of England who had him executed for treason.

Mel Gibson directs and also plays the part of William Wallace.  The movie opens during the years of Wallace’s youth, in the rugged hills of Scotland, and ends withthememory of Wallace spurring on the resistance after his death. The wars withEnglandwould continue for another 52 years after Wallace’s death. A good bit of this story is based on the the poem “The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, by the 15th. century minstrel Blind Harry.  Blind Harry was known to fabricate stories, and isn’t viewed as an accurate source for historical fact.  Nevertheless, Braveheart is a remarkable film that is full of passion.

Winner of five Academy Awards® including Best Picture, the exhilarating epic Braveheart is one of the most beloved movies of the last 20 years.  Braveheart is a heartfelt tale that accomplishes passion and brutality collectively in unison in a breath taking experience.  There were plenty of exaggerations and elaborations that went into the making of Braveheart that many critics like to point out.  However, I’m not one to pay too much attention to something so minute.  Especially based on the point that there wasn’t a whole lot of fact to go off of besides just a few known outcomes of certain particular battles to begin with.  In history England portrayed Wallace as a thief and common criminal but alot was believed not to be true and sheer propaganda.

Braveheart has stood its stand in time, and even today in my eyes is one of the greatest movies ever made.  When I think of Mel Gibson, I think Braveheart and then of course of the Lethal Weapon series.  If you haven’t seen this film, then please stop your injustice and take part in this film as soon as possible. 

It truly is a quintessential triumph over adversity and an absolute EXPERIENCE to watch this film!



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The video quality on this release is the best video quality for any Braveheart release to date.  I know that may be stating the obvious with a Blu-ray release, but keep in mind that commonly some blu-ray releases can look worse than their dvd counterpart due to over saturation or abuse of DNR or just lack of a quality transfer or original quality film to work with.  There is minuscule parts of grain in this movie and I believe the small occasions that do reflect this are that of purpose or impossibility to show otherwise.  The film looks absolutely great and astonishing compared to its DVD counterpart, and even to the VHS release which was prominently responsible for the popularity of this film.

The battles are enormous and the visuals of the luscious land side are that of remarkable beauty.  Although said to be in Scotland most all filming was done in Ireland and the panoramic views are totally breathtaking.  I am positively certain this is the best transfer that Paramount Blu-ray could offer.  Any fan of this movie will be pleased, otherwise you need to get your HDTV calibrated. *Shrug*  I admit there are some speckles that show sometimes throughout the viewing but I for one believe it is what truly gives this film a sense of realism especially with the tremendous amounts of outdoor camera work.

Absolutely gorgeous transfer!



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The Audio quality is superb.  Battlegrounds will shake your house with the bass and the clarity of swords clashing will ring through your speakers.  This is a top of the line Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack.  Speaking of soundtracks, the soundtrack to this movie is wonderful!  The bag pipes blaring and drums beating really set the tone for this movie and when the heartfelt scenes come across the screen the music ties hand in hand to wrench at your human emotions!  The clinking of metal, banging of swords, pounding of thunder, and sounds of nature all engulf you in the presentation.  This is by far one of the most spectacle performaces of audio in a film in the past few decades!  Clarity to the 10th degree in regards to dialogue reproduction. 

Hats off to Paramount on an excellent audio mastering job, I love it!



braveheartsupplements

• Audio commentary by Mel Gibson – Love him or hate him, Mel gives a great commentary track which can be found on the first disc.

• Interactive Timelines—Three distinct timelines featuring a combination of video, images, text and audio that can be accessed linearly or randomly.  Really cool feature that all can take some type of enjoyment from.

Disc 2

• Battlefields of the Scottish Rebellion— Topography, weapons, troop movements, and leadership data can also be accessed.   I really liked this interactive feature as it was really cool to get facts of the cities/towns of battles.  Two of them even have video interviews tied to them.

• Braveheart: A Look Back (A Company of Equals, The Sound of Laughter, The Measure of Film – 1:00:21 – Really awesome special features in regards to the making of and what the film means today.

• Smithfield: Medieval Killing Fields (25:19) – Very gruesome details of what went on at the location before , during and after at Smithfield.  Lots of cool informational background.  Even had information of what happen to Wallace’s body during his execution that was not seen in the movie for obvious reasons.

• A Writer’s Journey (21:30) – Cool informative peice on the screen writers journey on making this film come to life from his imagination and the small facts of events.

• 2 theatrical trailers (1:40 + 2:54) – Case in point, Trailers.

Extras also have Optional English, French, Spanish subtitles.



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It’s very hard to put my emotions and gratitude for this film into words.  This is one of the greatest films I will have ever seen or watched in my life time.  I truly feel blessed to be able to have lived through this one.  Some people are instantly turned off by this film for the sheer brutality in fight scenes or gruesome events of death kills etc.  However, since those don’t phase me to the point to turn my head I can thoroughly enjoy them.  Mel Gibson in fact as well enjoyed watching the gruesome death kills during editing even to the point of laughter.  I guess those light at the heart in that sense can proababy enjoy the movie all the more.  I myself like many others have been pumped since the day this was announced for Blu-ray (Even though we knew it would come eventually.) and with Gladiator and Forrest Gump to boot.  There are some things that could be said of the Sapphire Series what with all the *cough* out-rage *cough* going on with the transfer of Gladiator but speaking on behalf of Braveheart it has lived up to its new reputation and I truly hope Forrest Gump can be of the same caliber.

The video quality was excellent for this movie and stuck to its sense of realism while brightening up colors that needed it.  The audio quality was out of this world with the lossless track and the supplements were VERY informative and delightful whilst  tackling 2 discs in the process.  This story and movie will without a doubt stand the tests of time and with that being said plus the wonderful transfer from DVD to Blu-ray I am proud to say that this is a 5 disc Blu-ray all-around!  Every Blu-ray owner should have Braveheart in their collection!  Blu-ray Entertainment Center is proud to give Braveheart its greatest commendation. (Total 5 Disc Rating!)

Purchase Braveheart [Blu-ray]

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About the author

is a pop culture fanatic who loves to collect things from films that leave a lasting impression on him. A big fan of such brands like SteelBook, Mondo, and Sideshow. Favorite films or franchises include Braveheart, HEAT, Book of Eli, Ip Man, Nolan's Batman, Everything Marvel, and practically anything Quentin Tarantino touches. Proudly owns The Notebook, drives 88 mph, and know's exactly what was in Marsellus Wallace's briefcase!