[The Iguana]

It's sad to think of what Mel Gibson could have done with this story. He took the (comparatively) obscure story of William Wallace and turned it into an Oscar winner. Imagine what he could have done with the first great work of western literature.

Gibson would likely have embued it with transcendent values, but in fairness he took as many liberties with the history of William Wallace and his times as Petersen takes with The Iliad.

[XJarhead]

Gibson would likely have embued it with transcendent values, but in fairness he took as many liberties with the history of William Wallace and his times as Petersen takes with The Iliad.

True. But the Braveheart both 1) was entertaining, and 2) conveyed the core of the message of who William Wallace was. The prima nochte, French princess, and Robert Bruce variants really didn't alter that message.

[JasonC]

It is not the number of the liberties, it is the direction. Gibson makes history more heroic than it probably was, to play up the cause of liberty. These people make a fictional epic less historic than even ordinary history is, to play down the cause of honor.

Trampling important things into the muck does not make high art.