Other mistake: When Robert the Bruce returns to the battlefield at Falkirk, there are 2 children supposedly crying over a loved one. If you look at the blonde girl she is actually laughing. (02:12:00)
Revealing mistake: After Wallace kills the Scottish noble in bed, he jumps out of the castle window into a river on a horse. As he is falling, you can see that the horse is a model and when they fall into the water one can see the fake horse bobbing around. (02:15:45)
Continuity mistake: In the prison cell scene, after Princess Isabelle enters the cell and the jailor leaves, the jailor leaves the cell door half closed. The camera moves to William again then back to Princess Isabelle and the door is now fully open. (02:28:45)
Continuity mistake: At the end when Wallace is being led to be executed, he is pelted with food. Much of it sticks to his face and hair. A few moments later when they are standing him up he is completely clean. (02:37:50)
Revealing mistake: William Wallace's footwear (as seen at the end of the movie) has metal eyelets. Either he was ahead of his time or wardrobe wasn't paying attention to detail. (02:40:20)
Continuity mistake: During the scene in which William Wallace is being executed, the camera pans the crowd and shows the ragged peasants staring in silence. An extra, who is a young woman with light hair and a dirty face and is standing near the front of the shot, stares directly at the camera for a few seconds while all the other extras look in a different direction towards the execution. (02:44:00)
Suggested correction: That is purposely done. It is meant to show her locking eyes with Wallace.
Revealing mistake: At the end, Wallace's friend is charging in slow motion, and if you look closely you will see his battle axe flopping around like it's made of rubber. (02:49:50)
Continuity mistake: In a major fight scene two soldiers on opposite sides are jumping and spinning and tapping each other on the head with their swords.
Continuity mistake: In another major battle scene William Wallace is running into battle with a bloody claymore in his hand. In the next shot of him it is back in its sheath. Then in another scene he has it in his grasp again, but this time it is clean.
Continuity mistake: In the first large battle with England at Falkirk the same scenes are used when the English fire the arrows. The first time the arrows are fired, a blonde young man is hit in the foot, they then moon the English so they fire again and the same man is seen getting hit in the same foot. A man in the same battle is shot in the hip - when he grabs the wound you can see the shape of the cushioned bulb that the arrow is attached to. If you watch during all the battle scenes you can detect men who are supposed to be on opposite sides standing and talking, also you can see the choreographed moves being played out in almost slow motion - their swords aren't even striking.
Continuity mistake: At Stirling an English archer is hit by the nobles on horseback causing his helmet to fall off. He's then hit again and somehow his helmet falls off again. Then when he lands he is still wearing his helmet despite it having fallen off (twice).
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Wallace takes over the town after his wife is killed, watch as one of the English archers gets thrown off the scaffold and you can see him fall into a large pad.
Factual error: Princess Isabella was a 13-year-old girl living in France when William Wallace was executed in 1305. She didn't marry Prince Edward until 1308, and the marriage took place in Boulogne, not London.
Factual error: The Battle of Stirling (Bridge) is shown inaccurately in the film: the English and Scots line up on a battlefield and proceed to set about each other, with the Scots winning, with no bridge in sight. In the actual battle the English were crossing a bridge over the River Forth. The bridge was narrow, so they had to file down into small ranks. Wallace and the Scots waited at the top of a hill until half the army had crossed, then, before the English had time to regroup and form battle lines, the Scots charged down the hill and massacred the unprepared English.
Visible crew/equipment: In the execution scene at the end, right as Wallace is being quartered, you can clearly see (on widescreen) a plastic spray bottle on the upper left part of the screen, presumably filled with fake blood.
Suggested correction: This is absolute rubbish. Even on wide screen. The main reason for this being is we are never shown him being quartered. We see the executioner bringing the axe down to behead Wallace but that's where it all ends. The next scene is on a battlefield. Yes, we are told he was quartered but not shown. Being beheaded is not being quartered. For obvious reasons.
Continuity mistake: When Wallace, Hamish and Stephen burn the hut with the English soldiers inside watch for a fourth man who appears for one shot only then disappears. He also has a torch despite Stephen only lighting three.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the English spy is killed by the crazy Irishmen, the sword handle changes from being horizontal to vertical in consecutive shots.
Factual error: The film hints that Wallace is the father of Isabella's child (and the ancestor of all future kings and queens of England) but Isabella's baby (the future Edward III) was born in 1312, seven years after Wallace's execution in 1305.
Factual error: The voice-over at the beginning of the film tells us that Malcolm Wallace was a commoner with his own lands and constant references are made through-out the film to William being a commoner. However this is a common historical myth. Malcolm Wallace was in fact born as a minor noble and became a knight, as was William. They were poor as noble families went but were still infinitely more privileged than the commoners of the day.
Factual error: Malcolm Wallace had three sons: John, William, and Malcolm. He was not killed in a minor scuffle with the English. He, in fact, fought for several years with the English in order to free John de Baliol from the tower of London. At the time, Baliol was the rightful heir to the Scottish crown, and that was actually William's reason for fighting the English. Robert the Bruce was the one who actually liberated Scotland, right?
