Where to watch Braveheart (1995)

Trivia & production notes

• Mel Gibson initially passed on the script despite liking it, but the project kept nagging at him until he decided to take it on.
• Gibson wanted to direct without acting and considered Brad Pitt for the lead role of William Wallace before reluctantly agreeing to play the part himself.
• Terry Gilliam turned down the opportunity to direct the film.
• Sean Connery was asked to play King Edward but declined due to prior commitments; Gibson later used Connery's pronunciation of 'goulash' as a reference for his Scottish accent.
• Warner Bros. offered to fund the film only if Gibson agreed to make another Lethal Weapon sequel, which he refused.
• The Irish government convinced Gibson to relocate most of the shoot from the UK to Ireland and provided 1,600 members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras.
• To save money, Gibson used the same Irish Army reservists to play soldiers in both opposing armies, having them grow beards and change out of their uniforms for medieval costumes.
• Gibson toned down the battle scenes to secure an R rating instead of an NC-17, which was rated for brutal medieval warfare.
• The original cut ran 195 minutes, but Paramount head Sherry Lansing requested it be trimmed to 177 minutes.
• James Horner composed the score with the London Symphony Orchestra, marking his second collaboration with Gibson as director.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Braveheart, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.