A film for all seasons

“It’s really a universal appeal.” Says Gibson. “Braveheart worked because of the story.”

“It was great to have the scope, and the battles were incredible, but I think it’s really a universal story, which I don't think is in any different perspective today than in the original release. 

“I think the best way to gauge that is to see or to talk to someone who was too young to see it, or wasn’t even born then, someone fifteen years old.

“Get their reaction to it, and if it still resonates for them, it still resonates in the same way that it did.”

Resonate is the certainly the word. For fans of the Scottish National football team, tennis star Andy Murray or other elite Scottish sports stars like Sir Chris Hoy, the legacy of Braveheart couldn’t be clearer.

The ‘Tartan Army’ as they are branded in the media, awash in unrelenting pride, take their cues from Braveheart’s anachronistic tartans and bright blue face paint.

Joining together in unison, they are as fearsome a sight for any visiting team as the English found Wallace’s army in the film.

Indeed, even the teams themselves look to the film for inspiration.

Wallace’s famous ‘Freedom’ speech has been played before big games in international football and rugby, and the iconic theme song piped into the changing rooms.

Whether the film deserves its plaudits, or whether its controversies and inaccuracies outweigh its cinematic pedigree, the effect of the film on the collective psyche of Scotland is clear.

Rarely does a film enter the zeitgeist like Braveheart, and love it or hate it, there is no denying it’s place in cinematic history.

As for Gibson’s thoughts on the film in 2009, well there are a few things he’d change…

Next: Retrospectively speaking