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The Patriot (2000)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 132
Fresh: 82 | Rotten: 50

The Patriot can be entertaining to watch, but it relies too much on formula and melodrama.

Average Rating: 5.2/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 16

The Patriot can be entertaining to watch, but it relies too much on formula and melodrama.

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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 390,310

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Movie Info

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, the director/producer team responsible for such sci-fi blockbusters as Independence Day, Stargate, and Godzilla, take a step back in time with this drama set during the American Revolution. Farmer Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) was born and raised in South Carolina, and fought bravely during the French-Indian wars. But since the death of his wife, Benjamin has renounced violence and quietly tends his crops, raising his seven children alone. In 1776, over Benjamin's

R, 2 hr. 48 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure

Directed By: Roland Emmerich

Written By: Robert Rodat

In Theaters: Jun 28, 2000 Wide

On DVD: Apr 25, 2006

Box Office:$2.3M

Columbia Pictures

The Patriot Trailer & Photos

More Photos (18)

Cast

Mel Gibson
Benjamin Martin
Heath Ledger
Gabriel Martin
Joely Richardson
Charlotte Selton
Jason Isaacs
Colonel William Tavingt...
Chris Cooper
Colonel Harry Burwell
Tcheky Karyo
Major Jean Villeneuve
Rene Auberjonois
Rev. Oliver
Lisa Brenner
Anne Howard
Tom Wilkinson
Charles Cornwallis
Donal Logue
Dan Scott
Leon Rippy
John Billings
Adam Baldwin
Loyalist/Captain Wilkin...
Gregory Smith
Thomas Martin
Mika Boorem
Margaret Martin
Skye McCole Bartusiak
Susan Martin
Trevor Morgan
Nathan Martin
Joey D. Vieira
Peter Howard
Jay Arlen Jones
Occam
Beatrice Bush
Abigale
Shannon Eubanks
Mrs. Simms
Peter Woodward

Critic Reviews for The Patriot

All Critics (149) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (85) | Rotten (51) | DVD (37)

Emmerich's battle scenes may look authentic to anyone who has ever stared hard at a history book, but in every other way the film is long, empty and bogus.

June 18, 2002 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comments (2)

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

Make no mistake about it: The Patriot is a cartoon, even if it does have real people playing the parts.

March 22, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

A grand yarn with a sense of the weight of history and an awareness that the winners are often those who have lost the most.

August 9, 2001 Full Review Source: Salon.com

| Comment

Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

Top Critic

Deserves a salute as the first Hollywood epic about the American Revolution to successfully blend ferocity and feeling.

May 10, 2001 Comment

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

There's not much to get excited about.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews

| Comment

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Top Critic

It wisely focuses upon common folk rather than prominent figures.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Todd McCarthy

Variety

Top Critic

Many graphic battle scenes, not for all teens.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comments (2)

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

While his hero is conscience-stricken about killing, Emmerich sure enjoys serving it up in generous helpings.

September 12, 2007 Comment (1)

Jeffrey Overstreet

Looking Closer

A big-budget epic of the American Revolution, with Mel Gibson, of all people, leading the charge.

August 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine)

| Comment

Christopher Smith

Bangor Daily News (Maine)

I never got past the sense that these were actors acting in a drama that was trying awfully hard to be epic.

April 16, 2006 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

Bloody, overlong and straining for significance ...

January 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

| Comment

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Often melodramatic and manipulative but it is solid, involving filmmaking so one willingly takes the ride it offers.

July 14, 2004 Comment

Louis B. Hobson

Jam! Movies

It's the plot that's hackneyed.

July 14, 2004 Comment

Randall King

Jam! Movies

The Patriot is best when it focuses on Gibson. Unfortunately, half the time it focuses on Ledger.

May 30, 2003 Full Review | Comments (3)

Jeffrey Westhoff

Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

It's the best film ever made about the Revolutionary War.

December 8, 2002 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment (1)

Chris Gore

Film Threat

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Patriot

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Appallingly bloody but nevertheless greatly poignant epic stars Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, a hero in the French and Indian War, but preferring to just be a farmer. He is shocked to find that his son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) will soon enlist to fight in what we now know as the American Revolution, and in protection

September 16, 2011

Alexander Diminiano

Super Reviewer

"Yay! Let's get all patriotic and misty eyed!" And that appears to've been the goal in this Braveheart redo, American style, only revenge is the rationale given for freedom here, for patriotism. Sumptuously filmed and grandly staged, it certainly looks impressive though.

July 18, 2007

moon rivers

Super Reviewer

The Patriot Quotes

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1. Benjamin Martin: Vive le france?
2. Major Jean Villeneuve: Vive le liberte.
– Submitted by Haroon M (53 days ago)
1. Colonel Harry Burwell: Wars are not fought only by childless men.
– Submitted by Lina-Reed S (2 months ago)
1. Benjamin Martin: I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me, and the cost is more than I can bear.
– Submitted by Olivia B (3 months ago)