WHY BRAVEHEART IS STILL THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME
There is a picture hanging in my dining room/foosball/cigar room. It’s the movie poster for Braveheart. And it’s awesome. The movie won 5 Oscars and deserved more. If you haven’t seen it I have a standing open offer and will watch it with you.
What makes a great movie? A great story? Great actors? What about comparing genres? Hard to compare a rom-com with a horror movie. Or Fast and Furious 7 with McFarland. No matter where you land on your favorite genre, Braveheart has it all. Adventure. Battle. Sacrifice. Redemption. Romance. Heroism. Good. Evil. Betrayal. Freedom. Characters to hate. Characters to love. Loss. Sorrow. Joy. Unexpected twists and turns. It is even based on a true story but contains some legend. It shows what happens when one person believes in something so deeply he is willing to die for it. It shows fighting against insane odds. The cause of freedom, of overturning an evil empire. Of helping men and women see themselves as they were meant to be. Free. Here are some quotes to inspire you:
“Every man dies but not every man truly lives.”
“There’s a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.”
“Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you’ll live… at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin’ to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take… OUR FREEDOM!”
“Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.”
“Now tell me, what does that mean to be noble? Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don’t follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they’d follow you…And so would I.”
“It’s all for nothing if you don’t have freedom.”
“Give me the strength to die well.”
What movie would challenge Braveheart (and lose) in being the best of all time?
I admire William Wallace. Sometimes I want to be William Wallace. But all the time I want to do something great. I want to do something meaningful.
Let me leave you with this challenge: If you haven’t found something you would die for, then you haven’t lived. Could there be something so important and so meaningful to you that you would give your life for it?
This is the poster that hangs in my house.