Patriotism is HereReviewed by Mark Talmadge, 2010-03-05
One of the very few movies that Mel Gibson was involved in that
deserves a special kind of respect. It's transfer to Blu-ray must
have been treated with delicate care as the transfer to High
Definition looks even more beautiful than its DVD release. If
there's one movie that you need to purchase on Blu-ray, I would
highly recommend this one.
While I don't consider myself a Mel Gibson fan, this movie portrays
the events of the Revolutionary War, back when the colonies fought
for independence against the British Empire and this is one of the
very few movies that the Blu-ray format was designed for. With such
notables as Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger (before he died) in one of his
few quality roles, films about the history of the United States
have always intrigued me.
I couldn't recommend this movie high enough.
For all those haters of historical moviesReviewed by Adam M. Shillinger, 2010-03-04
This is for all those people who complaine about historical movies...get over it!!! Your not watching a documentary..your watching a movie and Hollywood makes movies to entertain you..not educate you.You want to be educated then watch a documentary.Then if the documentary is inaccurate then you have to something to complaine about.I love movies like The Patriot,Young Guns,Troy,300,and Black Hawk Down but none of them are histoically accurate but very entertaining.So watch The Patroit...it is a great entertaining movie
An entertaining yet hollow look at the Revolution...Reviewed by Andrew Ellington, 2010-03-02
I remember when I first saw this film, about two days after my
wedding. My wife and I were lounging around the house for a week
before we left for our honeymoon and so we spent a lot of time
watching movies. Well, we never really say through a movie in it's
entirety and so, a few years later, I found that I didn't really
remember anything about this movie (outside of that gory hatchet
murder scene).
So I watched it again.
The thing for me is that `The Patriot' is just not that great.
There are a lot of films that circulate this genre, and you really
have to stand up tall to be taken seriously. For me (and I
understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion), this
movie hardly stands tall enough.
This is sad, because the performances here are all very, very good,
at times broaching on fantastic. I am not a big Mel Gibson fan (in
fact, I've only really ever lauded him in `Ransom') but I felt that
he was outstanding here, truly balancing the political, emotional
and parental aspects of this man. He found the grit within the
script and used it to bring this character to life before our eyes.
Heath Ledger (R.I.P.) is also wonderfully used here. He had just
started building his career in 2000 and this is one of those
performances that makes you stand back and take notice. Tom
Wilkinson is always great (I love that man) and even though he
doesn't have a huge role, his scenes are brilliantly executed. Even
the token villain role is given an extra push through the eyes of
Jason Isaacs, who chews scenery like you wouldn't believe, yet not
in that regrettably clichéd way.
But, the films plot, which is little more than a revenge drama,
takes this film down a few notches for me. Unlike `Gladiator',
which came out this very same year and used a similar plot
structure (to drastically superior effect), `The Patriot' doesn't
seem to be able to use that element to its benefit. Instead, it
comes off rather elementary and hollow.
The films direction is effective, and the battle scenes (while
nothing overly impressive) are very well crafted. The savagery of
certain scenes (like the aforementioned hacking) is also used in an
effective and memorable fashion, and the cinematography adds layers
of beauty to the films gritty core. It is entertaining (although I
did find that it tended to drag in parts) but it falls short of
being anything truly remarkable, despite all that it has going for
it.
BTW, I'm not a history buff, and I don't pretend to be, so the
historical inaccuracies that many have called this film out for
don't really bother me (in fact, I didn't even really notice them).
For me, this film wasn't claiming to be a history lesson (which was
part of the problem, since the clichéd `revenge' formula should
have been ditched for a more astute look at the war) so I didn't
pick it apart for not being one.
This movie is a jokeReviewed by D. J. Nardi, 2010-03-02
I certainly accept that Hollywood can and will take liberties with history, but The Patriot (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray] does so to such an extent that it doesn't even resemble the Revolutionary War anymore. The historical errors are legion, from Mel Gibson's character not owning any slaves to the atrocities near the end of the film. All are unlikely for 1780s Carolinas. I hope you take the time to learn more about these issues before watching the movie (you can just Google Wikipedia's entry on this movie). Furthermore, the movie itself is a lackluster repeat of... Read more
BLU RAY VERSIONReviewed by AVID MOVIE WATCHER, 2010-01-15
BLU-RAY VERSION IS WORTH BUYING. I DON'T NEED TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE MOVIE, OTHERS ALREADY HAVE. BUT, NOT TOO MANY PEOPLE TELL YOU IF IT IS WORTH UPGRADING FROM YOUR REGULAR DVD TO BLU-RAY. THIS ONE IS WORTH IT. COLORS ARE STUNNING AND SOUNDS GREAT.
