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The Patriot (2000)

thereviewers
Dec 27, 2014
2 min read

The Patriot focuses on Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) who, after a sadistic British Officer murders his son, leads the colonial militia in South Carolina to exact revenge on the British, during the American War of Independence.

Overall Review Score

8.5 out of 10

Review

The Patriot is an action-packed drama outlining how one act, seemingly inconsequential to a wider war effort, can easily turn neutral forces into enemies and lead to one man forming a colonial militia to fight back against tyranny. While the Patriot has an all-star cast, immersive storyline, and epic fight sequences it does suffer in places from shocking historical inaccuracies, such as, despite the film taking place during the American Revolutionary War of 1775-1783, the British are referred to as ‘Red-Coats’ – yet this term was not applied to British soldiers until the 1870s. Overall, despite questions surrounding the accuracy of the film, the Patriot displays a unique insight into the Southern Theatre of the American Revolutionary War and depicts the ideals of America through a 158 minute fictional story about how far one man will go to exact revenge, defend his family and fight for the birth of a new nation.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 9 out of 10

Comments:

Though this 158 minute film seemed daunting, the Director Ronald Emmerich did an amazing job at keeping the audience focused with an immersive story and some well constructed battles between the British 'Red-Coats' and the Colonial Militia. This film is especially memorable for the on-set chemistry between the main characters, as well as, the harsh juxtaposition of the two conflicting sides, that showed some things are worth fighting for.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 8 out of 10

Comments:

While the Patriot contained some well choreographed fight scenes, a villainous enemy in William Tavington (Jason Isaacs) and guided the audience from scene to scene in an emotional way. It did not, in my opinion, offer anything new and could have easily been mistaken for a film that was directed by and stared Mel Gibson in 1995, where he painted his face blue and shouted ‘freedom’ before hacking and slashing at the British.