The Patriot (2000)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writer (WGA):

Robert Rodat (written by)

Release Date:

28 June 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

What would you do if they destroyed your home, threatened your family. Where would you draw the line?

Plot:

Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son.

Plot Keywords:

British | South Carolina | French | Revolution | American Revolution

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 17 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 19

11:30 AM

TNT

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Benjamin Martin
Heath Ledger	...	Gabriel Martin
Joely Richardson	...	Charlotte Selton
Jason Isaacs	...	Col. William Tavington
Chris Cooper	...	Col. Harry Burwell
Tchéky Karyo	...	Jean Villeneuve
Rene Auberjonois	...	Reverend Oliver
Lisa Brenner	...	Anne Howard
Tom Wilkinson	...	Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis
Donal Logue	...	Dan Scott
Leon Rippy	...	John Billings
Adam Baldwin	...	Capt. Wilkins
Jay Arlen Jones	...	Occam
Joey D. Vieira	...	Peter Howard
Gregory Smith	...	Thomas Martin

Also Known As:

Der Patriot (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong war violence.

Runtime:

165 min | 175 min (extended version)

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:Unrated (extended version) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:U | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R15 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (Certificate #37232)

Filming Locations:

Botany Bay Plantation - 7510 Botany Bay Road, Edisto Island, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Paul Walker auditioned for the role of Gabriel Martin.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Benjamin and Gabriel are watching over the disastrous Battle of Camden, at which Benjamin marks Gates' stupidity at fighting muzzle to muzzle with the Redcoats, the American army are all Continental infantry. Martin and Gabriel meet up with the defeated army in camp, in command now by Colonel Harry Burwell. Later in the movie, before the final battle, still traveling with the same army, it is stated that nearly half the army is militia, yet before they were all Continentals. The Battle of Camden was 16AUG1780 and the battle of Cowpens was fought on 17JAN1781. This is 5 months after Camden. During this time, the army had undergone many changes, among them was the addition of nearly 1300 militia. The TOTAL force at Cowpens was estimated at about 1900 men. This would put the total militia at over 50%. Furthermore, it is not stated that Gates only had regulars at Camden. Infact, of the 3,700 he had at Camden, only about 1500 were regular troops, with the remaining being militia.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[repeated line]
Benjamin Martin: I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost is more than I can bear.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-01-22)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

The British Grenadiers

Liked it - see below

Just watched this movie for about the 20th time (I have it on TiVo) and for the life of me I cannot find the disdain many who have written here have commented on. Last I heard, this was FICTION - NOT a documentary; Ken Burns did not produce not write nor direct nor narrate this piece - Roland Emmerich, a man known for action FICTION did. Yes the depiction of the Revolutionary War was NOT 100% accurate but was never intended to be; just a drama set against the background of a war and it was refreshing to see the war in the background, whereupon American blood is spilled on American soil, was the Revolutionary War and not another Civil War piece; indeed, the Civil War has been played so many times in films over the past quarter century it was just refreshing to see a different war....

Being somewhat of a military historian I will say that the depiction of soldiers going musket to musket in the open field was indeed accurate; many may find it interesting to know that according to the gentlemanly practices of King George's army, both sides would also recess for tea at noon every day and resume the fighting afterwards - guerrilla warfare was not popular during the day which is why Gibson's militia unit was so overtly successful early on. That being said, the comments about the accuracy with the muskets are fairly accurate but I will say that I only see straight barrel musket rifles - none of the bell shape tipped muskets; the longer you keep a projectile on a straight course the more accuracy at longer ranges despite the lack of rifling grooves in the barrels (I spent time on Rifle Teams for 5 years). The prime inaccuracy I noted was when Tavington shot the rider (running away on horseback) in the back with a musket pistol at probably 40 yards or more - so unlikely, it tarnished the whole scene.

My favorite person - Billings; Leon Rippey's cynical, almost giggly snickering laugh completely stole the every scene where it was used and he is a long term favorite actor of mine; Jason Isaacs absolutely best screen villain of this movie (and perhaps in top 10 screen villains of all time).

I guess it boils down to "different strokes for different folks" we all have our opinions on this and I've aired mine.