Like many historical films, the patriot involves a mixture of fact and fiction. The patriot is a historical fiction film directed by roland emmerich. Principal among the movies gross inaccuracies is the portrayal of british soldiers as evil, bloodthirsty sadists. The first thing i would say about the movie is that almost everyone watches the movie. Gladiator is more accurate but even then so much is changed. The patriot is a melodrama that follows one mans revenge against a british officer and it just so happens his vengeance helps american in the american revolution. Francis marion, the real patriot the american conservative. This includes his interaction with the soldiers and generals, his political stance, and his involvement through the towns. How historically inaccurate is mel gibsons the patriot. Having watched this movie multiple times i can gladly say this movie is most definitely on my top ten favorites list.
The movie tora, tora, tora has more facts, less fiction. Patriot, troy, and robin hood are extremely inaccurate. What are some historical inaccuracies in the movie the. Essay about historical accuracy of the patriot 950 words. Mel gibsons film braveheart is both one of the most celebrated and one of the most reviled pieces of historical filmmaking ever. It is a revenge story where a father seeks to revenge the cruel murder of his son. The american revolution as you watch the patriot you see many of the battles fought during the american revolution.
So interpretations, exaggerations and idealistic scenes are added to the movie to make it more interesting for the audience. The patriot, like glory, while inaccurate in its historical details, distills the essence of the nobility, sacrifice, and suffering necessary to found and keep such a republic. Benjamin martin is based on a combination of real historical figures. Movies are made to be sold and not history to be perfectly told. Historical accuracy of the mel gibson movie the patriot 2000. Jan 26, 2011 truth is the first casualty in hollywoods war, read the headline of the london telegraphs take on the patriot. I like both movies, although both movies have some historical inaccuracies. This is a very violent movie, with many graphic battle scenes, vividly portrayed.
But if you look to the left the trees are way too huge a bad scale. The movie glosses over the reality and portrays the character as a hero when he was much less of one. The patriot is a film whose storyline is based on the war between the british army men and the americans who were backed up by the french soldiers. The patriot is a 2000 american epic historical fiction war film directed by roland emmerich, written by robert rodat, and starring mel gibson, chris cooper, heath ledger, and jason isaacs. The most serious deficiency of the patriot is its almost complete omission of the loyalists. Mel gibson blots his copybook yet again with this account. The movie, the patriot, is the story of a south carolina plantation owner, benjamin martin, who leads a local militia against british troops in the south during the beginning of the american revolutionary war. These passages and others including the dead man who is not really dead have been trucked directly into the patriot from the warehouse of timeless cliches. There were also other details in the film that were not accurately shown. A character commits suicide when his family is killed. Historical inacuracies continued historical inaccuracies much of the patriot is not historically accurate. The patriot 2000 movie mistakes, goofs and bloopers. The patriot the movie, the patriot, is the story of a south carolina plantation owner, benjamin martin, who leads a local militia against british troops in the south during the beginning of the american revolutionary war.
These were most notable in some ways they depicted. The patriot, directed by roland emmerich and starring mel gibson. Peaceful farmer benjamin martin is driven to lead the colonial militia during the american revolution when a sadistic british officer murders his son. The patriot historical critique of accuracies benjamin martin is a composite character made up of thomas sumter, daniel morgan, andrew pickens, and francis marion all whom are real people. It basically wants to be a summer action movie, with a. The british had been taken by surprise by the american colonists rebellion in 1775, which started the american revolution 17751783. The patriot in my opinion is a great historical flick. The popular film the patriot is loosely based on the exploits of several real life historical figures including a british officer, lt. Another effect of the tumultuous times was the development of a derogatory use of patriot. I was quite surprised when my yr old daughter came home with a permission slip stating that her social studies american history class would be watching mel gibsons the patriot 2000 because it shows many important aspects of this historical event, including the advantage of guerilla warefare and tactics over conventional european fighting, the reluctance of of the population to join. The patriot teachers guide for many americans, hollywood serves as the producer of history. Mackubin thomas owens is professor of strategy and force planning at the naval war college in newport, ri, and an adjunct fellow of the ashbrook center. His early war experience was mostly destroying native american homes, burning their crops and generally starving th.
While the primary purpose of the movie is to entertain, it does mostly follow historical events of the early years of the revolutionary war. A significant segment of the population of the carolinas and georgia. Yet the wild liberties it took with history have led it to be repeatedly panned by historians and critics. Historical inaccuracies of the patriot by roberto loya on. In britain at the time, the word patriot had a negative connotation and was used as a negative epithet for a factious disturber of the government, according to samuel johnson. It explains the difficulties that he had to go through so as to achieve his revenge subject to the difficulties of. Parents need to know that the patriot is a 2000 movie in which mel gibson plays a south carolina farmer who joins the cause of liberty in the revolutionary war. The makers of the patriot confuse this by putting all the loyalist troops in red uniforms to make the battle scenes more clear. Thus, to view the patriot as a factual representation of history requires a healthy dose of skepticism. In the shot where benjamin is riding his horse to the top of the hill, the camera pans from left to right and in the distance is the british army.
However, it would be called a documentary, which most people get fed up of. At the beginning of the movie when benjamin is taking the children to aunt charlottes house in charleston, there is a woman on the street that does not move, and wearing a big hoop dress. Marion was originally the lead character in the script, but because of controversy and to allow for more dramatic storytelling more fiction, martin was introduced. Jun 28, 2000 the patriot is a fable arguing the futility of pacifism, set against the backdrop of the revolutionary war. However, numerous details within the movie were changed to improve the drama and action. The film takes place during the events of the southern theater of the american revolutionary war. Historical accuracy in the movie the patriot essay essay. The patriot the movie, the patriot, is the story of a south carolina plantation owner, benjamin martin, who leads a local militia against british troops in the south during the beginning of the. The patriot is a 2000 american epic historical fiction war film directed by roland emmerich. I watched the movie called the patriot and in this paper i will compare the story of the patriot with real history to figure out if the movie contains a. The film mainly takes place in rural berkeley county, south carolina, and depicts the story of an american colonist, nominally loyal to the british crown.
In the movie s version of events, the revolution is nearly lost because general george washington and the main patriot army are being pursued by a much larger british army in the north, while cornwallis has destroyed the rebel army in the south. The film industry has long offered its version of historic events, with. Hes been handed fail marks for braveheart and apocalypto. Its a horrible movie from a historic point of view. If movies include a complete history, it wouldnt be known as a movie anymore. Truth is the first casualty in hollywoods war, read the headline of the london telegraphs take on the patriot.
With mel gibson, heath ledger, joely richardson, jason isaacs. You also see the uniforms they wore to battle, and the guns they used and how they were used. Tavington is pursued and confronted by good guy martin. The patriot, 2000 top 10 historically misleading films.
The clothes in this movie are accurate for the time period. The term was assumed by people who claimed devotion to ones country and government but whose actions or beliefs belied. Some may recall that the 2000 mel gibson movie, the patriot, was loosely based on the military career of marionalthough the connection between real history and reel fantasy was loosened to. It is rousing and entertaining, and you get your moneys worth, but there isnt an idea in it that will stand up to thoughtful scrutiny. Fans of historical battle reenactments will enjoy just about every minute of this film. Principal among the movie s gross inaccuracies is the portrayal of british soldiers as evil, bloodthirsty sadists.
However, in terms of bigscreen entertainment, the patriot certainly makes up for its lack of historical accuracy by employing the formula used with great success by emmerich and devlin in 1996s independence day. Am friends with several people with extensive revolution war research backgrounds who worked on the patriot. Filming took place for 101 days from september of 1999 to january of 2000. Although the historical advisor for the film is the smithsonian institute it does not seem to have noticed that the toy soldiers used in the film some in superb closeup are all dressed in uniforms of the mid to late 19th cent. The persecution of martin by cornwallis army was real and based on francis marion. The patriot is a movie that seems to have been made as historically correct as possible while adding a personal and emotional side behind it. People watch all types of movie including action movies, adventure movies, comedy movies, and many other categories, but when it comes to the history movies, people do not think if the story of the history movie is a truly based on our real history or it is just filled with bunch of fiction. Patriot towns created juries of men called committees of safety. The most historically inaccurate movies ever readers digest. The four battles depicted in this movie were taken from five original battles that really happened.
Martin, who is a widower with six children and a veteran of. It is considered a fictional story with a serious historical backdrop. She is there to hide the fire hydrant on the street underneath her dress. The sprawling historical events portrayed in this film are big enough to. The critics of british rule called themselves whigs after 1768, identifying with members of the british whig party who favored similar colonial policies. He is last seen fighting alongside the british in the final battle of the movie. Members of the sons of liberty wore a medal with a picture of a tree on it. Historical accuracy of the mel gibson movie the patriot. The many historical facts the movie braveheart got wrong.
Spoilers 4 when teaching mel gibson and heath ledger how to shoot a muzzleloading rifle, technical advisor mark baker gave them the advice to aim small, miss small, meaning that if you aim at a man and miss, you miss the man, while if you aim at a button for instance and miss, you still. A heartstirring and carefully crafted piece of storytelling, it won five oscars. In the movies version of events, the revolution is nearly lost because general george washington and the main patriot army are being pursued by a much larger british army in the north, while cornwallis has destroyed the rebel army in the south. Francis marion was known as the swamp fox and he helped.
Historical accuracy of the patriot the patriot by patrick. History is actually more glamorous than the common image lends it to be. Patriots would swear an oath to these men in order to get a pass to travel freely through patriot controlled land. The patriot is a historical movie the shows the life of an exwar hero, benjamin martin, and his life continuing on through the american revolution. Benjamin martin is a composite character made up of thomas sumter, daniel morgan, andrew pickens, and francis marion all whom were real people. The patriot is a 2000 american epic historical fiction war film directed by roland emmerich, written by robert rodat, and starring mel gibson, chris cooper, heath. The film mainly takes place in rural berkeley county, south carolina, and depicts the story of an american colonist, nominally loyal to the british crown, who is swept into the american revolutionary war when. However, using historical facts in a movie calls for the accuracy of shared information and the well inclination of each fact to the fictional story and characters but then in the movie the patriot, critics claimed that there was no accuracy in history as depicted in the movie that may result to false information being shared to the. The patriot was the largest employer in york county the productions headquarters while they were there. Sep 05, 2018 some may recall that the 2000 mel gibson movie, the patriot, was loosely based on the military career of marionalthough the connection between real history and reel fantasy was loosened to the.
1180 1354 370 1160 659 1085 383 524 1387 1354 139 1032 1160 390 741 1087 591 1400 563 285 1093 921 1362 1085 685 1258 1057 536 863 677 533 843 98 807 201 83 1409 1240 459 408 1423