However, in the DVD featurette "True Patriots," screenwriter Robert Rodat explains that Benjamin is based on several different real historical figures: Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, Thomas Sumter, Nathanael Greene, Andrew Pickens and Daniel Morgan. There was no Patriot militia leader called Benjamin Martin who fought in the Revolutionary War, and the details of Benjamin's life and family are fictionalized. Benjamin Martin Is Mainly Based on Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion
THE PATRIOT 2000 MOVIE MOVIE
Here's a breakdown of what parts of the Mel Gibson movie really happened, and what parts definitely didn't happen. And when it comes to depicting the battle strategies used by both sides in the War of Independence, The Patriot demonstrates some impressive historical accuracy.
But while it may be more historical fiction than historical fact, the movie is partly based on true events and people. The Patriot has been widely criticized for its unfair villainizing of the British, its invention of a war atrocity that didn't happen, and its sugarcoating of slavery. Related: What The Pacific Leaves Out About The True Story Regretting his earlier inaction and determined to get revenge, Martin recruits a militia and leads them in a highly effective guerrilla campaign against the British forces in South Carolina. However, his neutral stance comes crashing down when a group of Redcoats attack his home and their leader, Colonel William Tavington, murders one of his sons. Because he is not willing to fight himself, he is not willing to vote to send others to fight. Martin is initially impartial, explaining that he believes in the cause but is not willing to fight in a war for it. In The Patriot, Benjamin Martin is a veteran of the French and Indian War who is called upon to vote for South Carolina joining the American War of Independence. Characters kiss, and there are gentle sexual references in a scene depicting the colonial custom of "bundling bags" for courting couples.Roland Emmerich's 2000 historical war epic The Patriot, which stars Mel Gibson as an American revolutionary leader called Benjamin Martin, has become classic Independence Day viewing - but how much of what's shown in the movie happened in real life? Other than the violence, there's some use of words like "hell" and "damn," and characters drink wine and whiskey and use chewing tobacco.
The atrocities committed in a past battle are vividly described.
Dead Black people are shown hanging from a tree, and dozens of characters are burned to death while locked in a church. There's blood and gore throughout, as characters fight with muskets, rifles, swords, cannons, and hatchets. A solider is decapitated by a cannonball other soldiers lose their limbs to cannonballs. A character shoots himself in the head after his family is killed. While characters demonstrate courage and sacrifice, the movie is extremely, unrelentingly violent, with many graphic battle scenes. Parents need to know that The Patriot stars Mel Gibson as a South Carolina farmer who joins the cause of liberty in the Revolutionary War.