Thanks to Darla for sharing this awesome video she created to show support for Mel’s amazing talent. Enjoy!

Actor Mel Gibson has told Scotland on Sunday that William Wallace was a “monster” and admitted he romanticized the iconic 13th century freedom fighter in his film Braveheart.

In an interview to mark the 15th anniversary of the film’s release, the Hollywood star said his version of the patriot was less thuggish than the real Wallace, who led Scotland’s fight against the English.

“Wallace wasn’t as nice as the character we saw up there (on the screen), we romanticized him a bit,” Gibson, 53, said.

“He was a monster. He always smelled of smoke; he was always burning people’s villages down. He was like what the Vikings called ‘a berserker’. We shifted the balance because someone’s got to be the good guy against the bad guy; that’s the way stories are told.”

His remarks have fuelled the controversy that have surrounded the film, which was adopted by many Scottish Nationalists as a rallying call for independence.

The film won a string of Oscars, including Best Film and Best Director, but historians and critics have long criticized it for its inaccuracies.

However, Gibson’s revised analysis of the historical figure on whom he based his character was also disputed by historians yesterday.

“It’s fascinating,” said Fiona Watson, a Wallace biographer. “After 15 years, he’s giving us the other version of the myth, the knuckles dragging across the floor one, which is equally untrue. The real man surely lies in between. After all, Wallace went to the continent on diplomatic missions after the debacle at Falkirk, and I don’t know (of) many berserkers who did that.”

Watson added: “And if we’re looking for uncivilized behavior in that period then Wallace is not the only one indulging in it – Edward I was surely at least as bad if not worse.”

Source: Scotland on Sunday

How did I not realize this until the last minute!

Braveheart and Gladiator are now available on Blu-Ray. Thanks to Mark for sharing his thoughts on what makes the two films so amazing on his site Wooden Shed Creative. You can check out his review here and explore!

And remember to get your copy.

Source: Wooden Creative Shed

You can relive Mel Gibson in all his face-painted glory in 1080p this September. Braveheart will be released in Blu-ray on September 1. The release will be one of the first in Paramount Home Entertainment’s brand new Sapphire Series Blu-ray line and, although we don’t have pricing details, you can take a look at the special features and cover art below. The film stars Mel Gibson, Catherine McCormack, Brendan Gleeson, Brian Cox and Sophie Marceau.

William Wallace is a Scottish rebel who leads an uprising against the cruel English ruler Edward the Longshanks, who wishes to inherit the crown of Scotland for himself. When he was a young boy, William Wallace’s father and brother, along with many others, lost their lives trying to free Scotland. Once he loses another of his loved ones, William Wallace begins his long quest to make Scotland free once and for all, along with the assistance of Robert the Bruce.

Special Features:

-Interactive Timelines: Three distinct timelines featuring a combination of video, images, text and audio that can be accessed linearly or randomly.
- Production: A comprehensive chronology of the motion picture from conception through theatrical release, from a behind-the-scenes point of view.
- Historical: Chronological modules feature Scotland’s greatest patriot, along with historical places, figures and events surrounding his life and struggle.
- Fiction: A comprehensive timeline identifying the chronological events of the film.
- Braveheart: A Look Back- Features new interviews with members of the cast and crew reminiscing about their experiences making the film and its enduring impact on cinema.
- Smithfield: Medieval Killing Fields-Relates the remarkable history of Smithfield, which for centuries was regularly filled with the roars of crowds, regal fanfares and rowdy games. Smithfield is also known as the site of William Wallace’s execution, along with other terrifying spectacles when heretics, rebels and criminals were put to death.
- Battlefields of the Scottish Rebellion- Two major Scottish battlefields, Falkirk and Bannockburn, will be presented as 3D models that can be explored for further investigation into the military strategies and timetables employed in each. Topography, weapons, troop movements, and leadership data can also be accessed. An alternate playing mode will allow the story of each battle to unfold in an “automated” fashion, much like the interactive dioramas displayed at historical site museums around the world.

Source: Movie Web

Mel Gibson begged firefighters to save his two Oscars when a wildfire threatened to torch his California home.

The actor lives in sun-kissed Malibu, a dry area regularly affected by blazes.

And when one particular fire came close to his sprawling estate, Gibson’s first concern was the statuettes he won for Braveheart.

He says, “When the house was threatened by fire in the canyon, I told the firemen, ‘Don’t let the boys burn.’ They thought I meant my kids.”

Source: Contact Music

So sad. He was awesome.

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Emmy-winning actor Patrick McGoohan, famed for his role in the cult 1960s television series The Prisoner, has died in Los Angeles, his agent said Wednesday. He was 80.

McGoohan, who played the un-named Number Six in the surrealistic series about a secret agent trapped in a giant prison disguised as a seaside resort, passed away following a short undisclosed illness, agent Sharif Ali said.

“He was writing up until the end, there was a lot going on. As an agent, he was the kind of actor you wanted to work with,” Ali told AFP.

Born in New York but raised in Ireland and England, McGoohan won two Emmy Awards for his work alongside Peter Falk in two Columbo television movies.

Other notable roles included the part of King Longshanks in Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning 1995 epic Braveheart.

“Mel (Gibson) will always be Mad Max, and me, I will always be a Number,” McGoohan was once quoted as saying, in reference to his iconic role in The Prisoner.

McGoohan also had parts in the 1996 screen adaptation of John Grisham’s A Time to Kill and in Don Siegel’s 1979 Clint Eastwood thriller Escape From Alcatraz, where he played a fearsome prison warden.

McGoohan is survived by his wife of 57 years and three daughters.

Soource: AFP via Google

Back in August it was reported that Shane Black had handed in a detailed treatment to Joel Silver for a Lethal Weapon 5, which he hopes to direct.

When Black signed on to helm Cold Warrior for Universal, we assumed that the project fell into development hell. Not so, turned out that the sequel was just waiting on Mel Gibson’s approval.

Now IGN has talked with Columbus Short, who was at one point rumored to be involved with the project. Short not only confirmed that is he up for a role, but claims the film is being fast tracked into production by Warner Bros.

No word on if Gibson has seen Black’s treatment or given his thumbs up to go ahead, but it certainly sounds like it. Rumor has it that Short would play Murtaugh’s son.

The Die Hard series may have overshadowed the Lethal Weapon franchise for some film-goers, but the original Donner films still stand up to the test of time. And with Black back for a new take on the series, which will supposedly involve the addition/introduction of a new generation of cops and Riggs and Murtaugh coming out of retirement for one last case, I can’t see what’s not to be excited about.

Source: Slash Film

Braveheart has been named as the best Scottish film of all time, research has found.

The award-winning Hollywood blockbuster starring Mel Gibson topped a poll voted for by more than 1,000 Scots.

Trainspotting was named second, while Whisky Galore! and Greyfriars Bobby were joint third.

The poll of Scottish film-goers was carried out by movie chain Odeon.

Gibson’s portrayal of William Wallace in the 1995 film secured 26% of the vote.

Twelve per cent of those polled voted for Trainspotting, the gritty Edinburgh-based drama in which Ewan McGregor made his name as drug addict Renton.

Whisky Galore!, in which a group of Scottish islanders raid a shipwreck for its consignment of whisky, received 9% of the vote, as did Greyfriars Bobby, the sentimental film about a shepherd and his loyal Skye terrier.

In fifth place was Mrs Brown, the 1997 dramatization of Queen Victoria’s relationship with her servant.

Other films in the top 10 include Gregory’s Girl and The Last King of Scotland.

Paul Hills, general manager at Odeon Braehead in Glasgow said: “These films are a fantastic reflection of Scottish film heritage.”

Source: The Press Association

Mel Gibson is to receive the Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema Award at the fifth annual Irish Film and Television Awards in Dublin on 17 February.

Gibson will attend the ceremony at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre to accept the award, the first award of its kind to be presented by the Academy.

The Australian actor has starred in over 48 film and television productions in a career that spans over four decades. He is best known in Ireland for 1994’s Braveheart, which he starred in and directed in Ireland.

The movie was the first major international film to use Ireland as a location under new tax incentives and went on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Speaking about the award, Áine Moriarty, CEO of the Irish Film and Television Academy, said they were “delighted to welcome Mel Gibson back to Ireland”.

She added: “The Academy holds Mr Gibson’s film achievements in the highest regard. His drive, vision and determination have inspired so many young Irish filmmakers over the past three decades who have followed his creative journey in film making, both in front of and behind the camera, moreover since he filmed the epic Braveheart here.”

The Australian actor has Irish connections on both his mother’s and father’s side.

His late mother, Anne Patricia Reilly, was born in Co Longford and his great grandfather on his father’s side was Patrick Mylott, who moved from Ireland to Australia in the late 1800s to escape the Famine.

Gibson’s grandmother, Eva Mylott, was a celebrated opera singer who performed across the globe, moving from Australia, to Europe and then to America, where she finally settled and married John H Gibson, the actor’s grandfather.

Hutton Gibson, the star’s father, was born in Chicago. Anne Reilly and Hutton Gibson married in Brooklyn in 1944 and Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born on 3 January, 1956 in Peekskill, New York.

He is the fifth child in a family of 11 children. Gibson is named after the Church of Saint Mel located in his mother’s birthplace, Co Longford, while his middle name, Columcille, is that of the Irish diocese where his mother was born and also the name of the Irish saint.

When the star was 12-years-old, the Gibson clan emigrated to Australia, but first the family traveled to Ireland to share a family holiday and learn about their ancestors.

Gibson began his career on Australian TV. His breakthrough role in film was in 1979’s Mad Max, while he was catapulted to international stardom in 1987 as LAPD detective Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon. The buddy movie later spawned three sequels.

In the years following Braveheart, he has starred in Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, The Patriot and We Were Soldiers. His most recent works as a director were 2003’s controversial The Passion of the Christ and 2005’s Apocalypto.

The Irish Film & Television Awards take place on Sunday 17 February at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre. They will be broadcast live on RTÉ One from 9.30pm with an IFTA Red Carpet Show to follow on RTÉ Two at 7.30pm on 18 February.

Source: RTE Entertainment