Braveheart corrections

Braveheart (1995) - 18 corrections

Directed by Mel Gibson, starring Mel Gibson, Patrick McGoohan, Sophie Marceau

Comments made in brackets are corrections from other visitors. As such, any aggressive/abusive corrections (and I get quite a few) written as if they're comments I've made myself will be ignored. To submit your own corrections for mistakes, just click "make changes" when viewing mistakes, and click "correct entry". Some entries have "duplicated entry" after them - these are entries which were already listed on the main page, but were submitted again. I occasionally leave these online for a while, just in case they were moved in error, so don't worry about pointing them out to me.

In the rock throwing scene as a boy, Wallace throws left handed. When he returns as an adult, Wallace throws right handed. [Many people throw easily with either hand.] Corrected by MovieGuy

After the Englishman slits Murron's throat, he wipes the blade, but there wasn't any blood on it. [Wiping the blade after using it was likely something he did as a reflex.]

After the battle where the British guy is thrown over the castle and impaled into a spike, when Wallace is walking through the dead bodies to kill the British leader, to the left there is a dead man who scratches his leg with his other leg. [1) He might not be dead yet, but dying a slow, painful death, and can still move a bit. 2) Dead bodies can still "twitch" and spasm after death as electrical energy stored in the brain is released through the nervous system.] Corrected by Jazetopher

At the execution scene near the end of the movie, the main executioner (the one in the red clothing) turns around and raises his hand to silence the crowd in one shot and then performs this exact same motion in the very next shot. [It's perfectly reasonable that the executioner would have to try and silence the crowd more than once; it was a large and noisy crowd.]

When Murron is in the forest in William's dream, and she says "Wake up, William", a figure in black passes on one side of her briefly, possibly a crew member. It happens quickly but is noticeable. [Looks like nothing but fog behind her to me.]

When Wallace attacks the English to avenge his wife one soldier has his whole leg cut off - yet no blood squirts even though an artery has been severed. [Sometimes, if a limb has been severed quickly, the vein or artery can be sealed. Rare, but it happens.]

In the scene where Longshanks is returning from overseas, he enters a room to talk with Edward. As he enters, Longshanks hands off his crown to a servant. Camera flashes to a nervous Edward, then back to Longshanks. He once again hands off his crown to a servant. [The first time we see Longshanks hand his crown to the servant. The second time Longshanks is motioning for the servant to leave the room and close the door. The crown can be seen in the servant's hands. It is not passed twice.]

In the scene when Wallace is being transported to the execution, and people are pelting him with vegetables, at one point he gets hit by a cabbage or something square in the knackers, and you can see him wincing in pain and coming loose from his bindings. [In the scene he is wincing in pain but never comes loose from the fittings holding his hands up.] Corrected by Lummie

As the battle of Stirling draws to a close and Wallace is inspecting the carnage, two extras far behind him can be seen swinging their swords lazily at each other. [More likely that its a representation of two opposing soldiers absolutely knackered but neither going to yeild. A fight to the death you could say.]

In the scene when young Wallace first meets his future wife (at the funeral after his Father and Brother are killed) her eyes are blue. Yet, when she is older, you can see her eyes are brown, hazel at the most. [There are cases as when people get older, their eye color changes.]

At the end of Murron's funeral as the people are leaving, William looks at Murron's parents. A white horse is clearly seen grazing over his left shoulder. The shot flashes to the parents and then back to William. The horse is gone. [It's true that the horse is gone, but that doesn't make it a mistake. To the right of the horse, you can see someone standing there. Presumably the owner of the horse, who attended the funeral and was now going home, taking his horse with him.]

Near the beginning, when the Premiere Nocta is being administered at the wedding, the bride comes close to her husband and mouths, "I'll be okay; everything will be okay." It's touching, but the term "okay" wasn't around in centuries-old Scotland. [Nor were almost all the terms used in the film: it is shot in modern English rather than the ancient forms of English and Celtic used at the time Wallace was alive. This is a straightforward film convention, not a mistake. ]

The Scottish flag of a white cross on a navy background is used in the film but this flag was not used until later. [This is probably the one bit of accurate history that Mel got right, and it was most likely an accident. In 909 A.D. the Scots prayed to St Columba for victory and bore his crozier before their army instead of a banner. This started a tradition, and 393 years later at the Battle of Roslin in 1302, this battle tradition was firmly in place and the Scots called on St Andrew, St Ninian and St Margaret, bearing their croziers before their army. Even at this early time, the crozier of St Andrew was a white diagonal cross on a blue background. Following this tradition, at Bannockburn, 1314, Robert the Bruce called on St Andrew again, using the same symbolism. The flag was not used to represent the country of Scotland though, confirming that which the previous submitter also mentions.]

In the movie, it seems like king Edward dies at the same time as Wallace. In reality, Edward I died in 1307, two years after Wallace. [Exactly - the movie only shows Edward I gravely ill. There's nothing in the film to suggest the king is dying as Wallace is being executed; rather he is suffering due to his illness.]

This happens in the scene where William is hunting with the other men. After the Irishman saves William's life, he pulls his sword out of the guy he just killed. It is very obvious that the sword is only half a sword. [The sword is a short sword, usually only a couple feet in length, not a prop mistake. You can see the same length sword when the Irishman runs up and pulls it out.]

At the battle of Falkirk, Robert the Bruce is revealed to be a traitor fighting for the English. In reality, the Bruce was not even present at the battle of Falkirk and even if he had been, he would not have betrayed his people. He was as ardent a patriot as Wallace ever was and actually achieved considerably more for his nation. [We don't know if Robert Bruce was present at Falkirk. But if he was he propably supported Edward I - we are sure that Bruce's father commanded English garrison in Carlisle. Robert the Bruce is without any discussion one of the greatest Scottish heroes. But that does not make him a saint - before he began his fight for the Scottish crown he did change sides a few times. We can't also forget that he murdered his rival John Comynn in the church in Dumfries. To kill someone on the sacred land was very severe crime - he was excommunicated.]

When the Duke of York's head is seen in the basket, the Prince takes off the cover. However after the king has thrown Phillip from the balcony he sits next to thebasket with the head still in it. The cover has magically placed itself back on the basket. [Prince Edward is off screen for a while, and given that he was repulsed by the sight of the head, he likely could have covered it back up himself.]

When throwing rocks at the bones as a boy, William Wallace uses his left hand. At the wedding, when he throws a rock at Hamish, he uses his right hand. [It was common practice in those days to encourage children to use their right hand - he might have been naturally ambidextrous but was forced to use his right hand, hence his skill developed with that one].