| 100 |
ReelViews
Offeris an exhilarating, and occasionally touching, experience that has viewers leaving the theater caught up in an afterglow of wonder. These days, heros like William Wallace are as rare as motion picture displays of this high, uncompromising quality.
|
| 100 |
The New York Times
Caryn James
One of the most spectacular entertainments in years.
|
| 100 |
USA Today
Tempers moments of despair with deliriously romantic passages abetted by James Horner's traditionally lush score and photography by John Toll ("Legends of the Fall's" Oscar winner).
|
| 90 |
Mr. Showbiz
Matt Zoller Seitz
Startlingly vigorous and entertaining piece of work.
|
| 89 |
Austin Chronicle
Louis Black
Thrilling, a grand cinematic adventure -- beautifully handled myth-making from Gibson, who, by the way, is just fine in the lead.
|
| 88 |
Chicago Tribune
At its best, it's an exhilaratingly grandiose Highland fling. [24 May 1995, Tempo, p.1]
|
| 88 |
Chicago Sun-Times
An action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of "The Road Warrior."
|
| 80 |
Newsweek
Jack Kroll
Looks like a true epic...even if it is both bloody and bloody long.
|
| 80 |
Variety
Staff [not credited]
The sort of massive vanity piece that would be easy to disparage if it didn't essentially deliver.
|
| 75 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Despite a formidable effort and occasional grace, there's something cowardly about Braveheart -- it's an aspiring giant with a diminutive soul.
|
| 70 |
Film.com
The graphic battles may grow repetitious toward the end, the final scenes are almost sadistically drawn out, and the script often lacks humor. But this movie moves.
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
Hal Hinson
A completely adequate modern facsimile of the classic romantic epic.
|
| 70 |
Film.com
Gibson's raw energy and storytelling power in Braveheart are undeniable. If the film doesn't meet his ambitions, it's because he set the bar so high.
|
| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly
Braveheart features some of the most enthralling combat sequences in years, and the excessive ferocity of the violence is part of the thrill.
|
| 63 |
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kridler
His film would benefit from more subtlety and tighter editing, but as both director and star, Gibson takes the story by the hilt and plunges forward, as single-minded as Wallace screaming into battle.
|
| 60 |
Los Angeles Times
Peter Rainer
Never tries to confuse our loyalties or question the strategies of our hero or bring home the all-embracing soul-destroying horrors of war for all sides. Braveheart may be rip-roaring, but it isn't all that brave.
|
| 60 |
TV Guide
A massive, sweaty, frequently silly epic that nevertheless delivers enough brute pleasure to pass a rainy afternoon.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Braveheart comes up short by beating the drums of human treachery and violence so loudly they become assaults.
|
| 40 |
Film.com
As a director, Gibson leads with a heavy hand, settling for another bloody battle whenever the repetitiously and marginally eventful script begins to fold in on itself.
|
| 30 |
Time
Braveheart is too much, too late.
|
| 20 |
Washington Post
A rambling disappointment.
|
