King Shit.......go Braveheart

As a proud Scot, I naturally have to give our great national hero 5 stars. It can be argued that Robert the Bruce, who became King of Scotland, brought greater stability to the country, but it was Wallace's over-riding sense of nationalism, defiance and unrelenting courage that set the ball rolling. Unlike Bruce, Wallace never changed sides during the conflicts (Bruce had changed allegiances by fighting for the English on a few occasions). Incidentally, Mel Gibson was born in America and his Scottish accent(like the final scenes in the movie) was equally torturous.

Today is August 5, and on this day in history, 1305, William Wallace was betrayed and captured by forces working for England. He was taken to London for "trial" and execution.

I give him a five star rating. I do this for his modern cultural impact and not for what he did at the turn of the Fourteenth Century.

The "Braveheart" film, with all its historical inaccuracies, made a cultural and political impact all out of proportion to its showing on the silver screen.

Scots nationalism received a shot in the arm from this movie that is still rolling today. Scotland now has a local parliament, and is moving towards independence. That is remarkable in light of British history where the UK has always been unionist, centrist and English dominated.

"Braveheart" and the legend of Wallace really struck a chord in the hearts of the Scottish people. I firmly believe that historians to come will note "Braveheart" as the turning point.

Don't get me wrong. The Scottish Nationalist Party started the ball rolling three decades ago, but it took political ferment and support to get the Blair Government to do what it did. I give "Braveheart" and the Wallace Legend a large part of that. We are actually watching a peaceful sea change in a governmental system without violence.

Read about Wallace at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wallace

Don't be silly. He doesn't belong on this list.

Sometimes a legend can be stretched, but sometimes this is all the better due to the story it creates.

He beat all odds... and made a damn good movie.

All the information we have on William Wallace is based on a blind poet.

He only managed to win one battle against the English, and then the English totally whopped his ass the next time. I admit, watching Braveheart makes me feel proud to be Scottish, but it shouldn't, its loosely based (and god do I mean loosely) on history. I find it incredible that in Scotland they now have a statue of Mel Gibson with 'Braveheart' underneath - he's bloody Australian!!!!!!

MEL GIBSON WAS A GREAT FIGURE IN SCOTTISH HISTORY

In my opinion one the elite of leaders. He lead a Scotish uprising in the middle ages that was unheard of....seemingly immpossible. But he did it. He gave is life, to which his parts were scattered in four corners of the British Isles, but he lead the Scots on to defeat the English and gain Scotland a stateship.

I guess in reality we don't know much about William Wallace, so the movie "Braveheart" is just a Hollywood elaboration on the little information we have. I'm guessing the movie is a little too good to be true, but if even half of "Braveheart" is accurate, Wallace deserves at least four stars. Here's a regular guy who fought with such skill and determination that he won amazing victories against the English and became a Scottish national hero.