Braveheart Edit?

Hello! I watched Braveheart on bluray last night. As a general comment about the film it's interesting to note that it got a 'best picture' oscar. Maybe it was one of the first big blockbusters with scenes of war, but I think large scale battles etc has been done far better since and it feels a bit dated now! Really good film but ... Oscar for best picture?! This wasn't helped that I saw Interstellar for the first time afterwards. My god, what a film!!! :shock:

Anyway, on to the point.

During the torture scene, me and my girlfriend both noticed that there wasn't a shot of mel's guts, at all. We're positive that there was at least one shot of this. From my recollection you saw one of his intestines over a hook like torture weapon.

Am I imagining this, or has it been removed? The Internet has provided no answers.

No, there never was a shot showing the results of the torture.
I remember watching it at the cinema and thinking at the time that I was surprised at the lack of blood in that scene given how graphic the previous fights scenes were.

There wasn't any blood just a 'subtle' shot of giblets on a hook.... Perhaps it was all a dream!!

Going into more detail, a shot at waist height, looking up at the sky and the castle (and perhaps some of the crowd) with the aforementioned hook in the lower portion of the screen.

Nitefly said:

Really good film but ... Oscar for best picture?!

Click to expand...

In how many other war films do you get fake blood spattered on the camera?

The Producers likely recognised that to include the torture would have bumped up the age rating to 18.

Other than the eighties Vietnam films, I think it was one of the first films to be recognised for its realistic & violent depiction of war; until Saving Private Ryan came along four years later.

There was a scene when two dwarves play acted out what was going to happen to Wallace. They used rope instead of intestines. Maybe that's what you're remembering?

I also don't remember the disembowelling scene explicitly showing Mel's intestines being removed.

Yeah, insides never shown. They used Wallace's face to convey the agony of it all.Worked as well.

That film deserved everything it got award wise. Sadly. Gibson was probably the weak link. So many magnificent performances from the likes of Patrick McGoohan (best of the lot), Brendan Gleeson, James Cosmo, the nutty Irishman (his name escapes me) and more. Fantastic all round. The music was one of the first things that came to mind when I heard James Horner had died.

It's one of my landing films. Named because if I land on it when flicking through, I will watch all of it.

This is what I call the "Scarface effect" and has been documented before with violent scenes. Many people including myself thought you saw the chainsaw cut through the guys arm in Scarface but actually it is just good use of sound and editing.

It's scary the blanks that your mind fills in, you can see why witnesses to crimes get it so wrong sometimes when questioned at a later date.

The only thing that annoys me about Braveheart (and all Mel Gibson films) is it is basically him saying how much he hates the English. It is hardly historically accurate either.

Just watch the Patriot. Same thing again. English are all big and evil. Gets a bit boring really.

Historically ridiculous but that's as expected.

Good film though

Nitefly said:

Hello! I watched Braveheart on bluray last night. Maybe it was one of the first big blockbusters with scenes of war, but I think large scale battles etc has been done far better
Anyway, on to the point.

Click to expand...

Your definition of "Blockbuster" needs revising .... I'm a Braveheart fan, but movies 40 - 50 years ago were kicking its arse in regards battle scenes . Zulu had about 30000 extras .

While not a battle scene ... Ghandi has 300,000 extras

Yeah, the battles are just a small part of what made Braveheart great. The acting, the script, the music, the action, the cinematography. All of it together was an amazing package.

I don't remember seeing any guts either.

I think this would have detracted from the emotion from his final moments (AKA disemboweling hook scene) when he 'sees' his wife in the crowd of spectators and drops her handkerchief/rag.