10 Brilliant Historical Movies With Unforgivable Inaccuracies
7. The Americans Were Just As Brutal As The British - The Patriot (2000)
For those who haven't seen The Patriot, it's essentially an American Braveheart. Man, was this thing filled with over-bloated American pride - at one point, Mel Gibson literally charges someone with an American flag!
Gibson plays Benjamin Martin, a composite character inspired by several real figures. He's forced to take up arms after the English burn down his home and kill one of his children. Due to the character's story being largely fictional, the filmmakers cherry picked what historical facts to draw from. But, given that the film is set against the backdrop of the Revolutionary War it had a certain responsibility to portray the conflict accurately.
To drum up a sense of loathing for the main antagonists, the film portrays the British in two ways. Either, they are foppish dandies with ludicrous accents, or they are bloodthirsty war criminals, who have no issue committing atrocities. The British are seen killing prisoners of war, and burning civilians alive in a church. Not only is there little evidence that events like this took place, it would have been counter intuitive to attack civilians who were still considered subjects of the British Crown.
Oh, and Francis Marion - a main inspiration for Gibson's character - was also known for massacring Native Americans and raping his slaves.