Is The Patriot Movie Historically Accurate

1108 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Historicity of The Patriot movie

The film I have chosen to review is the Patriot starring Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, and Jason Isaacs. The director of the Patriot is Roland Emmerich and was produced by Dean Devlin, Mark Gordon, and Gary Levinsohn ("Is 'The Patriot' Patriotic?." )The first time I watched the Patriot was on DVD at home with a bag of popcorn and a bottled coke. The Patriot is broadly based on the Revolutionary War and Americas fight for independence.
The Patriot is set in the 18th century in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War and tells the story of Benjamin Martin and his family as he rallies against the British Army. A patriot of the French and Indian War and now a widower and a father of seven children, he finds himself hesitant to fight for the Continental …show more content…

The setting of the Patriot begins in 1776 in South Carolina as tensions are building between Britain and America. In an attempt to recreate colonial South Carolina, the director and the people behind the making of the Patriot used historic locations such as “Brattonsville” “Charleston” and “Camden” a historic battle site in an attempt to make the film more historically accurate. To make the setting for the Patriot as historically accurate as the crew could, the director deferred to the “Smithsonian Institute” for information regarding the Revolutionary …show more content…

The movie gave the viewers a picture of what it was like to fight in a war in that era and having to fight face to face with your opponent. Mel Gibson did a wonderful job of transforming his character Benjamin Martin from a gentle man who had renounced his violent past and who at the beginning was opposed of going to war to an enraged father who will let no one stand in his way in his quest for revenge. Another great actor in the Patriot was Jason Isaacs who plays a sadistic British Coronel who murdered Benjamin’s sons and burned down a church full of people. The movie had an abundance of blood, gore, and violent death scenes, which comes with the territory of a war movie. The movie though based on the Revolutionary War comes across as more of a story about a father’s lust for vengeance for his young son’s death than about the details about why the war was actually happening. The film could have focused a little less on Benjamin and his need for blood and more on the war itself. The movie was not all blood and guts though there was a side of romance in the movie as well, though it seemed a little pointless to the plot. Benjamin and his sister in law Charlotte, have a budding romance in the movie as well as Benjamin’s oldest son Gabriel. When you

Show More
Related

  • 1776: A Colorful Insight into the American Revolution

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    1776 by David McCullough is a non-fiction historical book that historically accounts an in depth view of The American Revolution. The book starts from late 1775 and spans to the end of 1776. The book includes the Battle of New York, the Battle of Brooklyn, the Battle of Boston, the Battle of Fort Washington, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the ending Battle of Trenton in 1776. David McCullough adds a sense of emotion and color to this book where it 's more than a history book that lists facts. Not only does he add a sense of enjoyment to read, 1776 provides detailed accounts of the military life during the end of 1775 to the end of 1776 and detailed accounts of the battles. The author, David McCullough, is trying to make a point that 1776 is

    Read More

  • The American Revolution In Robert Gross's The Minutemen And Their World

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American Revolution started in the year 1765, when the Colonists rejected the Parliament of Great Britain to tax them without representation and ended in 1783 with the peace treaty with Britain; Treaty of Paris. But a lot of major events occurred in the colonies before the American Revolution could be over and these events would result in series of social, political, and intellectual transformation in American history. In his book, The Minutemen and Their World, Robert Gross’s describes the lives of people in Concord, Massachusetts before, during and, after the American Revolution, where much of these events took place and changed the way of life people lived in Concord. He goes through a very brief detailed aspects of colonial life in

    Read More

  • The Making Of A Patriot Sparknotes

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... 1774. A person who professed his loyalty to the British crown, Mr. Franklin changed changed from a loyalist to a patriot.The analysis presented by Ms. Skemp of Bejamin's life allow and show the how the man who was once a loyalist that did everything in his power to keep the ties between the colonists and British changed his ways. While more could have been included about the Cockpit event, Ms. Kemp does a wonderful job of proving her thesis and showing how the events of the Cockpit change Mr. Franklin and lead to his involvement of the Thirteen Colonies becoming a nation.

    Read More

  • Simon Birch Analysis

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    For my movie review I chose the movie “Simon Birch”. The main stars of this movie are: Ian Michael Smith who played the role of Simon Birch, Joseph Mazello who played the role of Joseph Wenteworth, Ashley Judd who played the role of Rebecca Wenteworth, Jim Carrey who played the role of Joseph Wenteworth in his older years, Oliver Platt who played the role of Ben Goodrich, and David Strathairn who played Rev. Russell. This movie is a coming of age/Comedy-drama.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Patriots And The Loyalists

    408 Words  | 1 Pages

    As far the Patriots are concerned, they were most citizens who wanted the revolution and freedom from the British. The Patriots were sick and tired of the British rule and their unfair treatment towards them. The Patriots

    Read More

  • Jamestown, 1607

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    The drama of the American Revolution and the birth of a great nation come to life at Yorktown Victory Center. In provocative indoor galleries, witness the Revolution through the eyes of those who were there—from soldiers on the battlefields to women on the home front, from American Indians to African Americans. The evocative film, A Time of Revolution, places you in a Continental Army encampment where soldiers spend an evening reminiscing and musing on their lives and the war that has brought them together. Outdoors, experience the sights and sounds of the Revolutionary War in the re-created Continental Army encampment.

    Read More

  • Reasons to Join the Revolutionary War as Portrayed in The Patriot

    2029 Words  | 5 Pages

    Colonialists were in search of a better life in the newly discovered land of the Americas. Ties with their mother-country of Britannia, over three thousand miles away, resulted in miscommunication and arguments. Eventually these arguments and miscommunications lead to the Revolutionary War, provoking many American Colonists to join the Continental Army. Each soldier from the militia to the regular recruits had reasons to fight; many of these reasons were influenced by the first Age of Enlightenment and other reasons were formed by personal experiences with the conflicts of Britannia and the American Colonies. The movie, The Patriot, presented many reasons that are supported by major historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, and that also are backed by personal testimonies of the American Colonists who joined the Continental Army.

    Read More

  • Hollywood vs history

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Revolutionary war, sparked by the colonist’s anger towards taxation without representation, was a conflict between the United States and its mother country Great Britain. This event had been considered the most significant event in the American history. It separated the thirteen colonies from the tyrannical ruling of King George. The revolutionary war was not a big war, “The military conflict was, by the standards of later wars, a relatively modest one. Battle deaths on the American side totaled fewer than 5,000”1. However, the war proved that the thirteen colonies were capable of defeating the powerful Great Britain. Over the years there were many Hollywood films made based on the revolutionary war, 1776, Revolution, Johnny Tremain, and The Patriot. But, no movie has stirred up as much controversy as the Mel Gibbson movie The Patriot. The patriot is very entertaining but it is historically inaccurate. Too much Hollywood “spices” was added to the movie for viewing pleasures.

    Read More

  • 1776 Book Review

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    McCullough also examines the mistakes the British made, that may have cost them the victory in the war. 1776 is truly eye opening. It takes a more human look at men like Washington and his generals, and is full of letters and stories written by actual soldiers from both the British and American armies. One of the things that I enjoyed about this book was the way McCullough manages to also show the way the British felt towards the Americans and their opinions and thoughts about the rebels.

    Read More

  • My Review on Full Metal Jacket

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...oung American men had to endure from the time that they had joined back in their boot camp days, and the brutality of war that showed them no mercy. To me the importance of the movie was to show what truly went on over in Vietnam through the eyes of a soldiers eyes of what happened, as the film created a very disturbing yet a real picture of The Vietnam War.

    Read More

  • George Washington in 1776: A Detailed Account

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author David McCullough wanted to write about George Washington and his men through losses and miserable retreats, as well as his big successes. Not forgetting McCullough uses his opening chapters to summarize the state of the opposing armies and to introduce some of his major characters: Washington, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and William Howe. 1776 gives a very detailed and informative account of the battles and military life from the Battle of Boston to the Battle of Trenton. Finally the author, David McCullough, of the book as many other works and experiences that tell the reader why and how 1776 is such a credible source as well as expertly written. Many histories that spend a great deal of time narrating the Continental Congress’ development of the idea of “freedom” and “liberty” as it applied to the colonies, this book takes the reader right in the drains following

    Read More

  • Paul Revere

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...n, was in sight and dividing themselves into a battlefield formation as they came upon Lexington Green. What happened next is still debated. A shot was fired, and neither side would claim responsibility for this first act of war. But when it was over, two massive British volleys had been fired, answered by only one, weak volley of American musket fire and eight militiamen were dead and ten wounded, including Captain Parker. But this was only the start of the Revolutionary War. In the years to come, many Americans and British soldiers would die in their battle to stand up for a country and a future that they believed in. As for Paul Revere, his role in calling the patriots, the minutemen, the militia of the countryside together and up in arms will remain as imperative to the study of American history as any battle or shot that took place in the Revolution of America.

    Read More

  • Mobs Violence Leading up to the American Revolution

    1682 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...he Revolutionary War should be deemed just as important as the war itself. The repeal of the Stamp Act of 1765 with the mob action towards Andrew Oliver and Thomas Hutchinson, the Boston Massacre propaganda of 1770, and the resistance movement of the Boston Tea Party were all events that inspired radical views and revolutionary change. These events were backed and played through by the use of mobs especially like men of the Sons of Liberty. In the end, these men weren’t just “a rabble of boys”, “disorderly sailors”, or “miscreants” nor just a motley crew who was purely destructive and mindless. Rather they were men who acted for the betterment and survival of a people; patriots. These mobs help drive the resistance of the British from idea to movement toward greater change. In other words, these men steered America toward resistance and finally toward revolution.

    Read More

  • Analysis of 1776, by David McCullough

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    David McCullough author of 1776 puts faces and feelings to the events of the Revolutionary war making this an exciting novel even when the ending is known. Acting as a companion to an earlier work of McCullough’s, John Adams, 1776 is a strictly military view of the era versus political. Although the reader may have to get accustomed to the vast amount of characters introduced McCullough makes sure that those you are supposed to remember you will. Every character introduced is described incredibly well and throughout the novel you begin to feel as if you know the character and are going through the battle with them, specifically General George Washington with whom the reader emphasizes constantly with throughout the war. With the great description of the characters and events we feel as if we are there and in doing this the author creates understanding, the reader by knowing all sides and characters’ personalities the feels they know why the Revolution happened the way it did.

    Read More

  • How Revolutionary Was The American Revolution?

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, the American Revolution was very revolutionary. It was a huge milestone in American history. The war not only gave America their own independence from the most powerful country in the world, it gave the American government the basis of how it runs today and brought about many social and political changes. Although many historians see the war as a change of power from one greedy power to another, Americans wouldn’t have a democracy and citizens wouldn’t have the rights they have.

    Read More

More about Is The Patriot Movie Historically Accurate

Open Document