Mel Gibson stars as Benjamin Martin, a lone father of seven and a former British war hero during the French Indian wars.

The battle for Independence has been ongoing for 2 years and Ben wishes no part of it although his eldest son Gabriel is determined to enlist.

However, a tragic event unfolds which forces Ben to reluctantly enter the war and lead a band of guerrillas into numerous battles with the Brits.

How does the film turn out – mmm, take a guess!

I have to admit that prior to seeing this movie I was apprehensive to say the least.

The film was written by Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan), and although I enjoyed the opening battle in Ryan, I thought the remaining 2 hours were pretty flat and I felt it was the eclectic cast which saved that film.

Roland Emmerich directed this and although I own his previous film’s and can watch them, they don’t quite come into the category of greatness.

So how did the Patriot rate:

I found this to be a very moving, violent and humorous (in the places it needed to be and more importantly at the right times) film.

This is far and away Emmerich’s best film. The characters are well presented and the key leads deliver excellent performances.

Mel is superb as the reluctant hero with the wild side, think Martin Riggs mixed with his character from Ransom. The first battle scene that Mel is involved in is extreme, the way he repeatedly hacks away with his tomahawk until you see him walk away with his face covered in blood – AWESOME.

Heath Ledger as Gabriel Martin was fantastic, he definitely has presence on the screen and he plays his character perfectly.

Jason Isaacs as Colonel Tavington was brilliant, his character is so evil he makes Ralph Fiennes’ Nazi officer from Schindlers’ List look like a poster boy for the scouts.

The film runs at around 2 hours 50 minutes and didn’t feel that long as there appears to be a battle around every 15 minutes.

The battles are violent, you see heads and legs taken off and the film is very brutal but hey war is, it’s not won by paper, scissors, stone or on the toss of a coin.

The story is very good also, as I stated earlier, the characters are good but also the pacing of the film is good.

As far as the moans about historical inaccuracies go – THIS IS A FILM.

Expect the Patriot to appear on DVD (R2) in January.