Source: DVD Town

Director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin are well known for their popcorn films. “Independence Day” and “Godzilla” will never be remembered for their thought-provoking content or deep storyline. They will be remembered as entertainment, though “Godzilla” may be remembered for the immense disappointment felt by many whom watched the film. With Mel Gibson attached as the film’s star and a historical setting for the picture, many had hoped that “The Patriot” would be a more serious film and less of a popcorn flick than what is customary for the team of Devlin and Emmerich. The fact is, the filmmakers do not fully shake their tendencies of creating a popcorn film, but the historical background and performance of Mel Gibson offers more credibility to “The Patriot” than any other film the duo has created.

In “The Patriot,” Mel Gibson portrays a family oriented farmer, Benjamin Martin. Martin is a hero of the French and Indian War, but after losing his wife, he has settled into raising his seven children, farming and unsuccessfully making rocking chairs. The year is 1776 and the colonies are voting to wage war against England and govern themselves. Martin does not want any part of the fighting and does not think that a war against England is the intelligent thing to do. However, his son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) wants nothing more than to fight for independence and joins the Continental Army against his father’s wishes. After the fighting delivers tragedy to the Martin family, Benjamin is forced to go to arms and save Gabriel from hanging.

The prime nemesis in the film is portrayed wonderfully by Jason Isaacs. His character, Colonel Tavington is the leader of the British cavalry. He has earned quite a nickname for himself because of his brutish tactics and merciless killing of captured Continentals and goes so far as to burn the homes and farms of farmers and kill children. It is Tavington who must find and kill Martin, who has waged a very successful guerilla campaign against the British. Tavington is considered an outcast by the noble British, but they realize they must turn him lose if Benjamin Martin is to be stopped. This simply builds for the final climactic confrontation between Martin and Tavington in a breathtaking final battle. However, the formulaic battle of wits and outcome of the Tavington/Martin feud is what keeps “The Patriot” connected to its popcorn film roots.

Though it wears epic clothing, “The Patriot” is entertainment. The film covers a wide range of time, but the Martin children fail to age. Every cliché imaginable is present in this picture. Major plot twists and story arcs are predictable and there is nothing really surprising or fresh to be found from the opening credits to the final crawl. However, it is entertaining. The nearly three hour running time moves by quickly and it is extremely easy to cheer for the Martins as they undermine the nasty and evil Tavington, who should be booed every moment he inhabits the screen. This film is certainly better than “Godzilla” and “Independence Day,” but it does not quite compare with a film it has always been compared to, “Braveheart.”

The original transfer of Columbia TriStar’s “The Patriot” was an absolutely breathtaking transfer. With the large amount of space this lengthy film takes, I would believe that some quality was sacrificed in order to get the supplements and commentary track onto the disc. However, in a direct A-B comparison of the two films, I was unable to detect much of a difference between the Superbit film and the original release. There did appear to be some very minor improvements around the edges and very minor improvement in detail. You have to look close to note the differences and I’m not sure they are entirely worth the extra ten dollars this DVD will cost you.

The film itself is presented in the same 2.35:1 anamorphic aspect ratio of the original release. The world created by Roland Emmerich is breathtaking. Everything is full of life and color. “The Patriot” simply looks gorgeous. A lot of CGI work was done to accomplish the look and feel of the Revolutionary War, and this DVD does a fine job of delivering the filmmakers efforts to the small screen. Colors are perfectly saturated. Black levels are perfect. The image is impeccable. There are no faults in the source materials, and you will be hard pressed to complain about film grain taking away from the viewing experience. Emmerich has created a stunning world and Columbia TriStar has created a stunning DVD.

Colonel William Tavington (Jason Isaacs) - based on Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton
Source: patriotresource.com

The repulsive and brutal character of Tavington was based on Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Tavington, like Tarleton, believed that civilians aiding and abetting the Patriots had chosen sides in the war and as a result, deserved to be treated as combatants or punished as spies. His drive for total victory is also attributed to the fact that his father had squandered their money and had ruined the family name.

Colonel Tavington also seems to need or desire the approval of General Cornwallis in his activities. It goes beyond that of Cornwallis being his commanding officer. Tavington seems to strive to be a noble as Cornwallis does and gain his approval, although in a scene that was cut, Tavington mentions to his second that Cornwallis' great-grandfather was nothing more than a servant to Tavington's ancestors.

After initially being criticized by General Charles Cornwallis for using such brutal tactics under Cornwallis' command, Cornwallis gives his tactics an unofficial blessing when Benjamin Martin makes a fool out of Cornwallis. Tavington is the chief nemesis of Benjamin Martin and the entire Martin family since he kills Gabriel, Thomas, Gabriel's wife Anne, her family and threatens Charlotte and the younger Martin children. He does, of course, pay up by the end of the movie.

Source: drinkfromthefurrycup.com

Arrr well onto characters then… Firstly our chief villain the British Green Dragoon commander, Colonel Tavington; well isn't he a nasty piece of work, but what do you expect after all he is the chief protagonist. A rather modern character who doesn't follow the rules of war, much to the continued annoyance Cornwallis and I'm sure all his victims!