Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a veteran of the 1754-1760 French and Indian War, is a widower raising his seven children (five sons and two daughters) on his farm in 1778 South Carolina. He manages his land with free servants and employs in carpentry, particularly fashioning rocking chairs, though he has little success with it. Revolutionary War has been waged in other colonies for some time, though Benjamin does not share his enthusiasm for war. In 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, Benjamin Martin was called to Charlestown to vote in the South Carolina General Assembly on a levy supporting the Continental Army. Benjamin abstains, fearing war against Great Britain and not wanting to force others to fight when he himself would not. While there, it is voted that South Carolina join the war against the British despite Benjamin's advice against it. Still, the vote passes, and Benjamin's oldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), joins the Continental Army against his father's wishes. Colonel Harry Burwell (Chris Cooper), a friend and ally of Benjamin's, promises to watch out for him. The war wages on for two more years, and Gabriel writes letters to his family throughout, expressing the horrors of war he's witnessed. At home, Thomas is found by Benjamin, trying on a red coat stored away in his father's war chest, and expresses his desire to join the army. Though Benjamin refuses to let him join, he relents that Thomas may enlist when he's seventeen in two years. Four years later, in 1780, Charlestown falls to the British Army, and a wounded Gabriel returns home carrying rebel dispatches. The Martins care for wounded British and American soldiers. The porch is used as a makeshift ward, and Benjamin receives praise from a British lieutenant (Grahame Wood). British dragoons arrive, led by Colonel William Tavington (Jason Isaacs). Tavington is given the discovered dispatches and orders the identity of the carrier. Gabriel turns himself in, hoping to spare his family any punishment, but Tavington orders the British lieutenant that the wounded Continental troops be killed and the house burned down for having harbored the enemy. Tavington press gangs the Martins' African-American former slaves into the army and arrests Gabriel as a spy. Gabriel's brother Thomas (Gregory Smith) tries to free him, but Tavington kills Thomas, then orders the Martins' house burned and all the wounded Americans executed. Gabriel is led away in a separate convoy, and the home servants, including housekeeper Abigail (Beatrice Bush) are forced into British service. After the British leave, Benjamin goes into the burning house and grabs his collection of muskets and ammo from his war chest, along with a tomahawk. He returns to his remaining children and instructs his daughters, Margaret (Mika Boorem) and Susan (Skye McCole Bartusiak) , and his youngest son William (Logan Lerman), to hide in the fields before making their way to their aunt's house come nightfall. He then gives rifles to his older sons, Nathan (Trevor Morgan) and Samuel (Bryan Chafin), and tells them to come with him. Benjamin and two of his older sons ambush the British convoy transporting Gabriel. Benjamin slaughters all but one of the soldiers in front of his children. Benjamin shows ferocious brutality when he takes his tomahawk vengefully to one of the British privates. Gabriel is freed, and they reunite with the rest of the family at Charlotte Shelton's (Joely Richardson) plantation, the sister of Benjamin's late wife. A solitary survivor of the convoy attack is brought to Tavington. The man gives his testimony and explains that it seemed that just one man was responsible for the attack, proclaiming him as a 'ghost' of some kind. Gabriel rejoins the Continentals, and Benjamin soon follows, leaving the younger children in the care of his sister-in-law, Charlotte. Benjamin meets his former commanding officer, Colonel Harry Burwell, who appoints him as colonel to raise a militia unit and places Gabriel under his father's command. Benjamin and Gabriel split up. Gabriel travels to a quaint town and is reunited with a childhood flame, Anne Howard (Lisa Brenner). Before leaving, he asks permission of Anne's father, Peter Howard (Joey D. Vieira), to write to her. Benjamin is tasked with weakening Lord Cornwallis's (Tom Wilkinson) regiments by guerrilla warfare to keep him at bay in the south before French navy reinforcements arrive. French Major Jean Villeneuve (Tchéky Karyo) helps train the militia and promises more French aid. Among the enlistees is John Billings (Leon Rippy), an old friend of Ben's whose young son shares his contempt for 'redcoats.' John jokes with Ben, saying that rumors have spread of a tomahawk-wielding ghost wreaking havoc on British soldiers. Gabriel asks his father why Villeneuve and other militia often mention Fort Wilderness, and Benjamin tells him that while fighting in the British Army, Benjamin and his men discovered atrocities against British colonists by French soldiers in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Enraged, they caught up with the retreating French at Fort Wilderness and killed all but two of them. The survivors had to present the severed heads of their comrades to the Cherokee, which convinced the tribe to betray the French. Though regarded as a hero, Benjamin never forgave himself. Benjamin's militia ambushes many British patrols and supplies caravans, including some of Cornwallis's personal effects (including a personal diary) and his two Great Danes, and burns bridges and ferries that Cornwallis needs. As Cornwallis attends a lavish party, a supply ship in the bay outside his plantation explodes in a brilliant display while Benjamin and his men row away disguised as redcoats, having stolen all the luxuries on board. Benjamin and Gabriel visit Anne's hometown, where Gabriel calls on her and spends the night, sewn by Anne's mother (Mary Jo Deschanel) into a traditional bundling bag, meant to allow courtship but deter intimacy. Benjamin and his men set up a roadblock and prepare to ambush an approaching supply wagon train. He calls out his militia hiding in the fields to intimidate the British soldiers from retaliating, but the wagon covers are pulled back, and more soldiers emerge. When Benjamin notices Tavington's cavalry approaching, he fires at the convoy and orders his men to retreat. Benjamin and Gabriel barely escape into the forest as the rest of the surviving militia are either killed or captured upon surrender. The captured militia are to be hanged for treason, and Benjamin comes up with a plan. He requests parlay to meet with Cornwallis at the fort where the militia is being held and rides out with his Great Danes. Benjamin pretends that even he has some of Cornwallis' men under his custody, their red uniforms barely visible on a distant hill, and offers a straight swap. Cornwallis agrees, and Benjamin's men walk out. But when Cornwallis' forces go to collect their men, they turn out to be scarecrows. After Benjamin uses a dishonorable and embarrassing ploy to free his captured men, Cornwallis allows Tavington to do everything possible to arrest him. With the aid of Wilkins (Adam Baldwin), a local Loyalist, Tavington has several militiamen's homes burned and their families executed. Benjamin's family flees Charlotte's plantation to live in a Gullah settlement with formerly enslaved residents. There, Gabriel marries his betrothed, Anne. Benjamin gives Anne his late wife's necklace, which has a talisman of Polaris, the north star. He explains that the star is a symbol of unwavering strength and serves as a constant guide. Benjamin begins to bond with Charlotte, having grown feelings for her, and, when he and Gabriel prepare to leave, shares a tender moment with his youngest child, Susan, who speaks to him for the first time since her mother's death. Anne and her family return to their hometown after the wedding, while Gabriel moves on with his father and the rest of the militia. Tavington's brigade raids Anne's town and assembles everyone in the church, including Anne. Knowing that they are secretly aiding the militia, he demands the location of their camp. Despite one towns-person giving it away, Tavington burns the church, killing everyone inside. Upon discovering the tragedy, Gabriel and several other soldiers attack Tavington's encampment, where Tavington kills Gabriel before fleeing. Benjamin contemplates desertion, but after seeing the American flag Gabriel repaired, he is reminded of his son's patriotic dedication and decides to rejoin the others. Villeneuve berates Benjamin's resignation and tells him of how he watched as his wife and two daughters were strung up on a ship overrun by British soldiers and burned alive. Benjamin devises a battlefield tactic that uses Cornwallis's pride against him. Benjamin's militia joins the Continental Army regiment and confronts Cornwallis's troops at Cowpens. Watching the battle from afar, Tavington is impatient and decides, against Cornwallis' express order, to charge forth with his Dragoons. Benjamin and Tavington engage in personal combat. Benjamin rallies the militia to push forward and soon faces off with Tavington, dueling fiercely until Tavington manages to wound Benjamin, forcing him to the ground. As he is about to behead Benjamin, Tavington berates him for wanting to kill him before war's end. Benjamin ducks, grabs hold of a bayonet-fitted musket at the last moment, and stabs Tavington through the gut. General Cornwallis sounds the retreat of his forces, and the rebels celebrate. The British were defeated later that year at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. The French navy finally arrived to blockade the British, and Cornwallis was bombarded by both the Continentals and the French, holed up in his mansion. He finally acknowledges defeat and surrenders. Afterwards, Benjamin returns to his family and discovers that his former militia has rebuilt his homestead in honor of Gabriel's dream of building a new world.
Read more →
