Roland Emmerich's The Patriot

As exciting as the sound of bugle calls us to arms, the Patriot, directed by Roland Emmerich, earns people’s hearts by its attractive and enthralling plot of the epic of a South Carolinian planter and widower Benjamin Martin(played by Mel Gibson) fighting the ruthless and brutal British dragoon captain called William Tavington(played by Jason Isaacs). A father of seven children, Martin is one of the British army during the French-Indian War, but with the tension evoked between America and Britain, and the unfortunate deaths of his two sons, Martin is determined to fight a bloody battle against the British in American Revolution. In general, the movie is attractive and heart-stirring, yet the actions of characters are so inaccurate, making the viewers to experience the illogical exaggeration combined with excitement.
First of all, the history of American Revolution was violently rewritten from a complex series of facts to a simply good-versus-bad, vengeful, and extremely bloody fairy tale, a tale that has childish, naïve thoughts but too violent for children. The rewriting of
the real history is not only a deception to the audience, but also a severe disrespect for the British, a nation famous for its gentle and polite characteristics, in that the colonel Tavington’s inhumane and extremely cruel deeds such as burning a church full of villagers and killing women and children. During American Revolution, the British would not act so contemptibly and roughly like the Nazi in World War II did. These shocking and brutal actions are indeed a humiliation to the nation of Britain, for they represent a completely wrong and misleading image of the British to the audience.
Another failure is the unadorned and fantastically inappropriate portrait of the relationship and humanity. As mentioned in the movie, Martin has previously been in the French-Indian War. He should have known exactly how it feels when he takes someone’s life. Normally, a person would feel extremely guilty. Martin evidently cannot feel a single bit of guilt because he is preoccupied with revenge. Nonetheless, when he stabs the last British soldier belonged to the team which he and his two younger sons ambush, does he realize that letting out his hatred by tearing an already-dead body like a monster in front of his sons cause a total nightmare on them? Or does he realize after his face and his clothes are covered with the fresh blood, this miserable scapegoat is no different than his dead son? Both of them cannot move, talk or smile.
Set all the disturbing facts aside, the movie is undeniably enjoyable.
The whole “fighting for freedom” ideology is well suited to the title. The transition of Martin walking out of the misery of the death of his second son Gabriel Martin (played by Heath Ledger) is well described. The process of fighting is quite exciting and has lots of actions, like the 19th century version of Fast and Furious. The estimated investment of the movie is $110,000,000. In 1999 when the movie was shot, the money was more than huge. Therefore, the background and the costumes have high qualities.
Taking all into account, if you want to watch an action movie which is indeed attractive, the Patriot is a good choice; if you want to get inspired by the American way of chasing dreams and freedom, the movie is an inspiration. However, if you want to learn about American History, the movie will apparently disappoint
you.