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The Patriot
After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.
2000 · Directed by Roland Emmerich · 165 min · Drama · History · War · Action · Screenplay in the scene database · 13 frames
Tagline
Before they were soldiers, they were family. Before they were legends, they were heroes. Before there was a nation, there was a fight for freedom.
Plot
In 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, Benjamin Martin, a French and Indian War veteran and a widower with seven children, is called to Charles Town (Charleston, South Carolina) to vote in the South Carolina General Assembly on a levy supporting the Continental Army. Benjamin abstains, fearing war against Great Britain and not wanting to force others to fight when he himself would not. Still, the vote passes, and Benjamin's oldest son, Gabriel, joins the Continental Army against his father's wishes.
Four years later, in 1780, Charlestown was beseiged by the British Army, and a wounded Gabriel returns home carrying rebel dispatches. The Martins care for wounded British and American soldiers before British dragoons arrive, led by the ruthless Colonel William Tavington. Tavington press gangs the Martins' African-American former slaves into the army and arrests Gabriel as a spy. Gabriel's brother Thomas tries to free him, but Tavington kills Thomas, then orders the Martins' house burned and all the wounded Americans executed. After the British leave, Benjamin and two of his younger sons ambush the British convoy transporting Gabriel. They succeed in killing all the soldiers and rescuing Gabriel, but Benjamin's brutality frightens his sons.
Gabriel rejoins the Continentals, and Benjamin soon follows, leaving the younger children in the care of his sister-in-law, Charlotte. Benjamin meets his former commanding officer, Colonel Harry Burwell, who appoints him as colonel to raise a militia unit and places Gabriel under his father's command. Benjamin is tasked with weakening Lord Cornwallis' regiments through guerrilla warfare. French Major Jean Villeneuve helps train the militia and promises more French aid. Gabriel asks his father why Villeneuve and other militia often mention Fort Wilderness, and Benjamin tells him that while fighting in the British Army, Benjamin and his men discovered atrocities against British colonists by French soldiers in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Enraged, they caught up with the retreating French at Fort Wilderness and mercilessly slaughtered all but two of them. The two survivors had to present the severed heads of their comrades to the Cherokee, which convinced the tribe to betray the French. Though regarded as a hero, Benjamin never forgave himself.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Robert Rodat
- Cinematography: Caleb Deschanel
- Edited by: Julie Monroe, David Brenner
- Music: John Williams
- Production design: Kirk M. Petruccelli
- Produced by: Gary Levinsohn, Dean Devlin, Mark Gordon
Cast
- Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin
- Heath Ledger as Gabriel Martin
- Joely Richardson as Charlotte Selton
- Jason Isaacs as Col. William Tavington
- Chris Cooper as Col. Harry Burwell
- Tchéky Karyo as Jean Villeneuve
- René Auberjonois as Reverend Oliver
- Lisa Brenner as Anne Howard
- Tom Wilkinson as Gen. Cornwallis
- Donal Logue as Dan Scott
Production
- Country: Germany, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Columbia Pictures, Mutual Film Company, Centropolis Entertainment, Global Medien KG
- Budget: $110,000,000
- Box office: $215,294,342
- Themes: daughter, mission, general, southern usa, loss of loved one, rebel, patriotism, insurgence, gore, south carolina
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