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| Mel
Gibson, Patrick McGoohan, Brendan Gleeson, Sophie Marceau, Katherine
McCormack |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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King
Longshank:
The trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots.
In
medieval Scotland, a man becomes a leader of the rebellion after his
wife is killed by English soldiers.
 Having
spent the better part of two decades honing down his persona of the
edgy reluctant hero with quick wits, Gibson here delivers the culmination
of all these roles in a historical epic to rival Spartacus in
scope and sensibility. As William Wallace, feelings of grief and mourning
are strangely transformed into passionate patriotism, and it's a tribute
to Gibson's skill as a director that the film's tempo never flags long
enough for us to take much notice.
The narrative is a historically risible but cinematically accomplished
juggling act of expert action sequences, sinister court intrigue, romance,
light comedy and pathos. The fact that he manages to sustain this throughout
the three-hour running time is further evidence of Gibson's directorial
prowess. As an actor, he is too old for the part he's playing and the
twinkle in his eye seems a little fatigued, but he is backed up by an
excellent troupe of (mostly Irish) character actors. |
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Currently
available for Region 1 and Region 2. The Region 1 release is
one a single-disc and the Region 2 release is a 2-DVD set, both have
identical extra features.
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at 2.35:1. The understated cinematography,
mostly drained of color to give the movie its realistically medieval
feel, is beautifully rendered in this anamorphic transfer.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix brings the thundering battles right
into your living room. The soundstage is deep and wide, with a great
clarity that brings all the sound effects frighteningly close.
Mel
Gibson's audio commentary takes a little getting used
to, as he is silent for whole stretches of the movie. He only
appears to speak when he feels there is something worth saying
about the movie, or when something makes him guffaw as he
remembers an anecdote or piece of history. His knowledge of
the actual historical events appears to be surprisingly solid,
and his narration provides a sound combination of background
information, technical details and entertaining anecdotes.
The 30-minute featurette 'The Making of a Legend' is
much better than the promotional featurette found on most
DVD releases. It provides plenty of insight into the movie's
production, yielding an entertaining and informative documentary
on an impressive movie. The
menu screens are somewhat disappointing: there is no sound or animation,
and the background images, composed of stills from the movie shrouded
in different colors of fog, look rather tacky.
Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
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