Braveheart

Production

Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox released Braveheart in May 1995. Randall Wallace wrote the screenplay based on a fifteenth-century epic poem by Blind Harry. Most exteriors were shot in Ireland and Scotland with the cooperation of the Irish Defence Forces.

Story

After the English crown imposes a feudal yoke on Scotland and kills his young wife, the commoner William Wallace begins a popular uprising. He defeats English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, raids northern England, and is eventually betrayed and executed in London.

Reception

Braveheart received ten Academy Award nominations and won five, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film has been the subject of considerable debate among historians for liberties taken with the period, even as it helped revive interest in medieval epics.