Poster © Paramount Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreDrama & War
RatedR
Runtime2 hr 58 mins
ReleasedMay 24, 1995
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorMel Gibson
StarringMel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan
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Braveheart (1995)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Braveheart's Details | |
| Genre | Drama & War |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 05/18/1995 (Seattle); 05/24/1995 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 58 mins |
| Budget | Not reported |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Braveheart's Interests | |
| General | Kilts, bagpipes, thistles, Highland hills, blue face paint, very long speeches on horseback. |
| Music | James Horner, with bagpipes and uilleann pipes doing a lot of heavy lifting. |
| Movies | Outlaw King (2018). Robert the Bruce gets a movie of his own. |
| Television | Outlander. More Scotland, more kilts, plus time travel. |
| Heroes | Hamish. Big, loyal, and throws boulders for fun. |
| Braveheart's Crew | |
| Director | Mel Gibson |
| Writers | Randall Wallace |
| Producers | Mel Gibson, Alan Ladd Jr., Bruce Davey |
| Cinematography | John Toll |
| Music | James Horner |
| Edited By | Steven Rosenblum |
| Production | Icon Productions, The Ladd Company |
| Distributed By | Paramount Pictures (United States and Canada), 20th Century Fox (International) |
178 minutes. That’s how long Mel Gibson needs for a story where the deepest character note is great hair in a strong wind. The history is loose enough to make a teacher cry. The romance with Sophie Marceau’s princess feels pasted in from a different, sleepier movie. And yet. The Battle of Stirling is huge and muddy and loud, and Gibson shoots it like he’s personally mad at the grass. Patrick McGoohan plays Longshanks so cold he could chill a drink by looking at it. Brendan Gleeson shows up as Hamish and makes every scene feel like a party you want to be invited to. IMDb has it at 8.3 from 1.17 million ratings, so the world clearly forgave the runtime. My Take is a 6.6 because the speeches hit and the battles rumble, but I felt every one of those minutes in my lower back. $639 says you paint half your face blue before a group chore and nobody follows you into battle.
What works: The Stirling battle is enormous and messy in the best way, and Patrick McGoohan plays Longshanks with a chill that carries every scene he’s in.
What doesn’t: It runs nearly three hours, plays fast and loose with history, and the romance with Isabelle feels bolted on from a slower movie.
Who it’s for: People who want a big speech before every battle and don’t mind a history lesson that’s mostly vibes.
Spoilers
Wallace is betrayed, captured and executed in London, refusing to beg right to the end. The film closes with Robert the Bruce leading the Scots into battle at Bannockburn in Wallace’s name.
In late thirteenth century Scotland, King Edward I of England, known as Longshanks (Patrick McGoohan), has taken control of the country. William Wallace grows up in the shadow of that conflict and is raised abroad by his uncle. Years later the grown Wallace (Mel Gibson) comes home wanting a quiet farm life and secretly marries his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack). Then the cruelty of the English garrison reaches his own door, and Wallace answers by starting an uprising that pulls in clans across Scotland, plus his big, loyal friend Hamish (Brendan Gleeson). Mel Gibson also directs. One hundred seventy-seven minutes, face paint required.
Anyone ready to give a speech on horseback. Blue face paint is optional, but encouraged.
| Mel Gibson | William Wallace |
| Sophie Marceau | Isabelle |
| Patrick McGoohan | Longshanks |
| Catherine McCormack | Murron MacClannough |
| Angus McFadyen | Robert the Bruce |
| Brendan Gleeson | Hamish |
| David O'Hara | Stephen |
| James Robinson | young William Wallace |
| Ian Bannen | Robert the Bruce's father |
| James Cosmo | Campbell |
| Brian Cox | Argyle Wallace |
| Peter Hanly | Prince Edward |
| Alun Armstrong | Mornay |
| John Murtagh | Lochlan |
| Peter Mullan | Veteran |
| David McKay | Young Soldier |
| Seán McGinley | Murron's father |
| Gerda Stevenson | Murron's mother |
| Stephen Billington | Phillip |
| John Kavanaugh | Craig |
| Tommy Flanagan | Morrison |
| Rupert Vansittart | Lord Bottoms |
| Tam White | McGregor |
| Michael Byrne | Smythe |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 8.3 / 10 (1,174,800 votes) → 8.3 / 10 (1,174,852 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +520 Numbers refreshed: Production budget Not reported → $72M; Worldwide box office $213.2M; Domestic box office $75.6M; Opening weekend $9.9M; Profit / loss (est.) -$1.4M; Rotten Tomatoes 74%; CinemaScore A−; box office chart updated; RT 74% (140 reviews); Metacritic 68 / 100; CinemaScore A−; IMDb users 8.3 / 10 (1,174,800 votes); movie.guru score 7.8.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.