Braveheart (1995) - 🤯📼First Time Film Club📼🤯 - First Time Watching/Movie Reaction & Review 

Steven the Irishman is an absolute legend.

I love this quote from IMDB, I hope it's historically accurate.😉 : When asked by a local why the Battle of Stirling Bridge was filmed on an open plain, Gibson answered that "the bridge got in the way". "Aye," the local answered. "That's what the English found."

Mathew got me with his historical accuracy! I was sitting here ... what are you talking about????? Well played sir! 😅

One of the greatest love stories on the big screen, Hamish and the French handmaiden.

So, I clearly have developed an infinite amount of trust in Matthew. When he said all that stuff at the beginning about the historians, I found myself thinking "oh, I must be wrong, then". AND I´M SCOTTISH.

"Here. You do it. I'll hold him down," always makes me laugh a bit.

As brutal as the execution was, they actually toned it WAY down for the movie compared to what was actually done to him.

James Horner's music for this film is absolutely incredible. This is my favorite film score of all time.

Matthew: "...crushed his head." Me: The Kids in the Hall!

"A child not of your line grows in my belly" is unexpectedly savage

Patrick McGoohan (King Edward aka Longshanks) made an epic TV show in the 60's, The Prisoner. The tag line: "I'm not a number. I'M A FREE MAN!"

There's no arguing the historical inaccuracies, but I did love the idea that Wallace's son would be Edward III, who started the Hundred Years War

For the torture is you watch you will see two little people acting out the torture to come before Wallace is brought up. You see them disembowel the dummy and start pulling out the intestines which is a roll of cloth with string around it like sausages. That is what they did to Wallace later but did not show.

Finally ❤❤❤ Emily has seen this gem of a movie Seeing Matthew when William and Robert the Bruce do the 'Predator Hand Shake' is our emotion when we first saw this movie

Of course, James Horner's epic score is half of the reason the movie is amazing! Still gets me.

Outlaw King is a good companion for this movie, pretty much picks up after this story ends and tells the tale of Robert the Bruce. it has it's own list historical inaccuracies but not quite as wild with its creative freedoms as Braveheart when it comes to the depiction of Scots at the time.

My Wife’s cousin was in the army and was in this movie. He met Mel and said he was a cool guy. However they went on strike when they didn’t get fed for a looooong time.

You're a *genius*, Matthew; you played that bit in the opening pitch perfect. I was about to type. 🤔😂🤣👍

Outlaw King is a fantastic follow up to this movie. Braveheart makes it look as though as soon as Wallace died Robert the Bruce stepped up and won the war, but the truth is that after Wallace died it took Robert several years to unite Scotland against the English. Outlaw King covers all of that and it's a fantastic movie. Also Robert had better fights, Wallace never had any 1v1 moments but Robert as a trained knight fought some killer battles.

@Just SUMM Reactions When Emily said "I didn't vote for him" when Wallace was told Longshanks was his King made me bust out laughing so hard! lol And Matthew, You TOTALLY got me at the beginning. I was just about to start typing that you were so wrong! Thanks for letting us know you were kidding! 🤣

Best soundtrack ever, James Horner is an amazing composer... May he rest in peace

I enjoyed this reaction/review so very much guys. Thank you. As a Scotsman myself, living only 40 miles from the location of the Battle of Bannockburn, and raised to remember the heritage and history of my country, Braveheart is close to my heart and with many the same here in Scotland. Some cite it’s small inaccuracies, but the story needed to be told in a way that would keep the attention of audiences. We are now locked in another vicious, dirty battle for our freedom. In 2022!! The Union of the crowns in 1603 by James VI was the WORST thing that could ever have been done. We’ve been subservient ever since, only now is it so glaringly apparent and we’re not standing for it any longer.

I have seen this film many, many times, and though I know it is coming, Robert the Bruce's betrayal hits me like a ton of bricks every. single. time. Regardless of historical accuracy, this film makes you FEEL the events, and for that I dearly love it.

Whilst the historical accuracy as regards plot is somewhat questionable, “Master and Commander, far side of the world” is great for its portrayal of Napoleonic era sea warfare and a good story.

Had to trick my wife and best friend to see this movie. Told them lets go to dinner and next I'm pulling into the theater parking lot. Afterwards as we're walking out Mike and Cristi stop me and he says 'ok, whatever the next 4 movies you want to see we will say nothing and just go.' The more I watch this movie the harder it is for me to watch because I know what's coming up and the emotional impact. Just an amazing movie to watch with someone that hasn't seen it yet. One of my favorites to watch with my nieces and nephews as they get old enough to take the gore and the themes

“I love you, always have, always will.”

"Historians will say I am a liar' - Matthew nods at the camera LOL

D'OH, I BEEN GOT GOOD!!! Matthew, you got me with that "accuracy" statement. My jaw was close to hittin' the floor when you said that.

Braveheart is one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever made. It features the most rousing and inspirational wartime speech ever put on film. Braveheart features one of the greatest, most heart-wrenching soundtracks to ever be made for a motion picture

I was preparing my response to "historical accuracy" when you said you were just messing with everyone and you could see people frantically typing a response.

Man, Matthew totally got me in the beginning - my jaw was on the floor!

I remember I was in my early 20's in '95. A friend recommended several movies to me, and he told me to save Braveheart for last. He was absolutely right. Since then, Braveheart has been competing in my mind with Heat and Apollo 13 as the best movie of 1995 (Toy Story was right behind those). Seriously, 1995 was a FANTASTIC year for movies.

I had to laugh at Emily. She was so convinced about Matthews historical accuracies

Another good Gibson movie, that is genuinely historically accurate for a movie, other than a documentary, is Hacksaw Ridge. It's the story of the first concientious objector to be awarded the medal of honor.

Finally! Hacksaw Ridge should be next - another Gibson masterpiece!

I have been to Stirling once, went to the Wallace Monument, saw the sword and went to Bannockburn.

Add me to the "you so got me" crowd, Matthew, as i was sitting there with my mouth hanging open going, "whhaaaats he talking about?". (Re: the historical accuracy of the movie)

My head nearly exploded at the historical accuracy punk out! 🤣🤣🤣 Whoooo!

Greetings from Central Scotland! I can see the Wallace Monument from my house. The premiere of this film was at the nearby Stirling University. Mathew got me good.

Emily : "I don't know what they did to him on that cross" .. Mathew: "well let me explain it to you " 😂😂

Fun fact! Robert the Bruce was actually the one called Braveheart, because when he died he asked his friend to put his heart in a box and take it on a crusade to the holy lands. His friend died but not before reputedly throwing the box at his enemies and crying "lead on, brave heart!"

Here is my comment before I even start watching the reaction. I hope your relationship is as good as it appears to be. It's a joy.

One of my all time favorite movies, great reaction Emily

Steven the irishman is by far the best character in the whole movie.

In the major battle scenes that were filmed on flat, wide open plains in Ireland, the extras included mostly Irish soldiers and they used regular army soldiers on one side with men from the reserve army on the other side. The real-life rivalry between them resulted in some genuine aggression in the fighting, and some real injuries on the set.

Despite the historical inaccuracies of this from beginning to end, this still remains one of my top 5 movies of all time.

2:41 My goodness. Matthew, that was absolutely beautiful.

Well Wallace was a real person, so that is historically accurate lol! Love your comment Matthew, I applaud you totally. I was also taken in for a moment too.

Horses in this movie were all fake. (if you slow it down you can see how stiff and wooden the horses are) Not a single horse was hurt during the filming, in fact, this was the movie that set that standard for all future movies in keeping horses from taking dangerous dives, etc. Everything did look realistic though Mel Gibson sent behind the scenes footage showing all the care that went into not hurting horses and using mechanical replicas.

Leprosy, that would be horrible. Especially if you were at the mall, looking at the map trying to find the Cinnabon. You Are Here➕Here➕and probably over here too.

The Princess of Wales would have been four years old at the time. The actor who played the king was one of our great English/Irish actors Patrick McGowan. A great actor. Rest in peace Sir.

While there are historically inaccuracies, the overall story is there and I can say this that when a friend of mine saw it in Scotland and after the movie ended the whole theater cheered and applauded.

Matthew, you just about got me in that intro. I thought “he has to know better than that” 😆 This is a great film. They should’ve just done it as a period piece and made up the names instead of advertising it as based on a true story. I think it would’ve served a much better purpose that way.

Wallace was so powerful he filmed this movie and beat the English simultaneously.what a guy!

You've got to understand, that's Sophie Marceau. No ghost wife in any world is strong enough to stop that from happening.

Everyone forgets that, while the king couldn't talk, he could still write. A quick note and the princess is meeting the business end of a noose.

Soon as I saw you guys were reacting to Braveheart, I was waiting for the Tiddies moment! And Emily, you did not disappoint 😉 This movie blew me away when I first saw it, and remains one of the few films to make me cry unashamedly. It was a watershed film of sorts, in that I think it influenced pretty much all historical woods and fantasy films that came after, from Gladiator and LotR to Game of Thrones. It's also 100% historically accurate, and anyone who says otherwise is spreading fake history news! I will agree with Emily though, that on repeat viewings the slow-mo build-ups really do drag on (especially the prelude to the village attack). Gibson relies a little too much on the old slow motion in general, and it can be a bit annoying. Other notes: No, the Scots didn't have kilts back then, but I think they did have plaid that they wrapped round themselves so it's not a major anachronism... and while they'd stopped wearing woad war paint centuries earlier, who is to say that Wallace and co. didn't put some on for old times sake?! Braveheart definitely owed a lot visually to Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Matthew, you were so spot on with calling out the Lancelot charge scene!), and it even shares a costume designer with Holy Grail. It was also one of the first films to use digital FX to extend the armies in the battle scenes (mostly when they're all lined up and waiting). It wasn't used consistently though, and you can see in several shots that there weren't nearly as many men there as we were led to believe! And one final note of historical semi-accuracy: the princess was kind of telling the truth about the Prince not ruling for long... she and her lover did end up conspiring against him and usurped his throne, and poor Edward II ended up being tortured to death on her orders! Girl power!

One of my all time favorite! Great reaction guys! Hope you get to react to The Birdcage by Robbin Williams and Nathan Lane😁😁

I think Daniel Day Lewis could have pulled this role off just fine. His role in Last Of The Mohicans was absolutely stellar.

Scotsman here. Kilts were worn in that time period but William Wallace was from lower Scotland where they didn’t wear kilts as everyday. He wore more of a tunic garb.

Stephen the Irishman was always the best character in the movie.

Like I wrote in many places about this film... it's probably the film of ALL TIMES with the MOST MANY historical inaccuracies... but in the same time, one of the MOST EPIC films in my TOP-10! It looks like a... hooligan of the Scotish "CELTIC FC" wrote the script, but... oh boy, what AN EPIC FILM it is! About the inaccuracies (SO MANY): - Wallace was a noble, not a farmer. Not so powerful, not so rich, but noble. That's why he led the first rebellion and others followed him. A common peasant wouldn't be that successful (to bring more men to join him). Also, he wasn't fighting as a common peasant (wearing just common clothes) but as KNIGHT, with full plate metallic armor and arsenal. - The Scots didn't worn the famous "kilts" (the "tartan" colored skirts) in 14th century. Scotland trademark cloth is actually a fashion that English QUEEN ELIZABETH brought to her Higlanders Special Unit of her army, in 1538 (16th century, 200 years AFTER Wallace's era). - There wasn't (OBVIOUSLY!) any "romance" between Wallace and the... Princess of Wales (the future Queen of England!!!!!!). And especially with THAT Princess, because the REAL Princess of that time was... 10 years old girl (when Wallace riot against the English)! She was engaged with King's son, but not present in England yet. - There is NO EVIDENCE at all, that Robert de Bruce betrayed Wallace. Actually THEY NEVER MET EACH OTHER, Bruce had his army and was fighting the English in DEFFERENT area of Wallace's army. - The Scots didn't fighting "painted", as Wallace and his friends did. That was their ANCIENT ANCESTORS' habbit - the PICTS! "Picts" was the ROMAN name they gave them, from the latin word "Picti" which means "painted". The ancient "Scots" (Picts) were fighting naked and painted (or full body tatoos) with blue/cyan color. - The first fight (the first great victory of Scots) that is portraited in the film, wasn't in a... valley or a grass field. The battle is known as "The Stirling BRIDGE's Battle". In that town (still exists in our present days), there was a narrow bridge leading from England to Scotland (and backwards), one of the very few bridges. So, Wallace had the clever idea to AMBUSH THE ENGLISH exactly on the exit of the bridge (from the Scotland's side), waiting the English army to cross the bridge and land on Scotish ground. The bridge was so narrow, that only 2-3 men could cross it side-by-side, so the huge army of the English was like a giant "snake" on the narrow bridge! Furthermore, Wallace first time used the "schiltron" formation (large group of men with huge pikes spread all around them). That's how the Scots defeated the English; then, after their defeat, the half (or more) remaining English army ran back (on the bridge) to flee... and by the large weight of those men the wooden bridge collapsed and almost all the remaining English were drowned! - There is no evidence about IRISH lietenants in Wallace HQ. Obviously like most of the viewers, I SUPER LOVE "STEVEN" character, but didn't existed. - The huge sword Wallace was using is the classic "Scotish Claymore", a huge broad sword almost 6 feet long! The sword in the film looks MORE accurated that the "actual Wallace sword" in the museum (is not the real thing, in the museum - is not even "Scotish Claymore" type, is just a very long common sword). - Robert de Bruce wasn't about to "kiss asses" and then "for the memory of Wallace" he decided to fight the Englihs (how the film ends). Robert de Bruce was FANATIC HATER of the English and he wasn't thinking at all to make peace with them. There is a new film (on Netflix) and shows quite accurate the story of Robert de Bruce, the film "Outlaw King". I could write for ever, too many inaccuracies... But... trust me... one of the TOP-10 films of all times!!!! So emotional, so dramatic, so EPIC, you won't stop crying at the end. I think I've watched this film OVER... 50+ times, seriously!

Come on! We knew what was coming up right after Wallace's wedding and we were waiting for Emily's "Tiddies!" The lean forward Emily did, I lost it! 😂😂😂

Another great movie of Mel Gibson to watch, The Patriot. Also The Messenger with Mila Jovovich is a good history piece portrayal.

This is definitely a great movie. Awesome reaction.

"Ye ole dms" LMAO, I lost it there.

Steven from Ireland is my favorite

Historians who have researched that period in history have told that William Wallace existed but the inaccurate parts of this movie is that he never meet Robert The Bruce & the princess wasn't born yet, William died before she was given birth to..& that the Scottish people had armors & helmets in real not those simple styles or paintings on their faces either

One of the most beautiful movies ever made. Gibson is just diferent, not just a greact actor and director. Dont give a damn about historical stuff, I just love stories like this. But the main thing for me in this movie, is how crazy good the cast is. Specially the british. Honorable mention to Angus McFayden and Patrick McGoohan, they acted like beasts!

LOL I was almost one of those 5 or ten people. Well played Sir, well played.

Agree with the husband. The wife calling it slow and tedious…. 🤬😳😡🤬. Those scenes are awesome. This is my favorite movie of all time. It’s #1, an easy 10/10.

Fun fact also the actress who plays the princess of France was the oil heiress/ villainess in the 19th 007 film the world is not enough

It took me a few years after it came out to watch this movie thanks to my dad, but my first experience was actually the soundtrack as I played the band arrangement for this suite in high school when I made honor band (just short of All-State :( ). James Horner's music was something else, you really felt the emotion from every second of music

emily, u mentioned wanting to visit ireland. check out diane jennings. she's an irish woman who talks about irish culture and the differences in american cultural differences. i love that matthew does the background movie trivia. yall are both awesome.

I was 12 when this came out. When his girl is looking into the distance desperate to see him riding over the horizon. I was standing on tippy toes trying to find him too. When the magistrate put his blade to her neck, I held my breath. When he dragged it across her throat, and I watched her die, it was like a piece of me went too. I had never felt hopelessness before. Despair and shock hit me in the gut so hard I felt my intestines turn to water. I didn’t breathe again until my father grabbed my wrist and gently pulled me back into my seat. When William Wallace began his vengeful assault I was beside myself shouting in a confused and tearful rage. Talk about catharsis. No movie had ever made me feel as much as Braveheart did up until that point, and maybe even then, a bit longer still.

Great review, as always. Greetings from Germany!

Those last three hours were pretty intense. I remember going to see this in '95 when there were ten people in the theater. NOBODY went to historical movies at that point in the 90s after Costner screwed up Robin Hood. But I was completely won over. By the time I talked my wife into seeing it the next week, the theater was PACKED. Word of mouth was real, and I'm convinced this gave it a push to the Oscars even though it was a mid-summer movie. I recommend watching the unofficial sequel OUTLAW KING with Chris Pine and Florence Pugh, which is all about what happened with Robert The Bruce after the death of Wallace, and it is looked at as a good deal more accurate. Netflix, I think.

Well played, sir. I paused, took a breath, and my wife said, well he just lost a bunch of credit. I pushed play, and you played me :)

You need to react to Apocalypto by Mel Gibson as well .....it's engaging, brutal and epic. One of the most underrated films of the 2000s

Not always! I went to a test screening of The Rock's Skyscraper a few years ago that had many incomplete scenes and effects work.

11:52 Stephen the Irish man! My favorite character 🙂

If you two are interested, The Outlaw King on Netflix takes place right after this movie. Still brutal, so just know that...

4:20 ....I know you said "Let's watch Braveheart" but I did understand "Let's watch Brainfart" and I was like "Whut???"..... XDXDXD....(Sometimes my own idiocy makes me fun in my brains)

In the immortal words of Michael Gary Scott "I Braveheart."

A great follow up to this is The Outlaw King on Netflix. It's about Robert the Bruce, and what happened after the death of William Wallace

Matthew you SOB you had me for as minute...LOL love you guys soooooooooooo much :D

The battlefields are filmed in Ireland. The munroe and mountains are Scotland.

I know it’s a reaction video but I couldn’t take my eyes off your beautiful cat on its bed 🥰

Oh man Emily gna cry for sure, brilliant but brutal film 😭 also as a side note, Stephen maybe one of my favourite characters in any film 😂

Love Mel Gibson s directing style. Braveheart is amazing film. One of my favorite lines from many of his films was the beginning line of braveheart....history is written by The Men who hang heroes. So even though this is a very loose interpretation of historical events, makes you wonder what was left out from the recorded events.

Since you mentioned "Rob Roy" A great movie! Probably the best movie nobody's seen. Why? It was released just a month apart from Braveheart. Stars Liam Neeson & Tim Roth. Tim Roth, receiving his only Oscar nomination (as far as I know) for his part in the movie. highly Recommended! And also about a real person and from the same part of the globe.

This movie, much like the film, Brian's Song, gets most of us men choked up. It's a kind of "buddy movie," with a historical backdrop.

The historical accuracy 🤣 you got me for a minute

Some People automatically assume that just because a film says based on a true story that it will be historically accurate.

Ok ok, Matthew got me 😂. I watching like “WTF Is he talking about!!”

Emily: See, they're smart ... got a secret wedding. Matthew: 👀

You got me Matt - I was seething when said 'historically accurate', well played Sir. Still - it's when the great epics of our time.....and Sophie Marceau.

I’m ashamed at how many years it took me to realize that Robert the Bruce was also Komodo from Warriors of Virtue (if you know that movie you had an amazing childhood)

Mel Gibson was an awesome actor and director. I first saw him in The Patriot (2000).

History aside... This movie is so amazing!