The Good…
"A spectacle that could cause its audience to rise up against the dull treatment of this marvelous episode from history teachers."
*Harvey Karten, COMPUSERVE
"Every moment leads naturally to the next, and the overall effect is thrilling."
*ORLANDO SENTINEL
"The Patriot delivers what it promises."
*Philip Wuntch, DALLAS MORNING NEWS
"Whether protecting his brood or his nation, Gibson is the quintessential American stoic."
*Duane Dudek, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
"The Patriot approaches the grandeur of the better John Ford films, echoing the master's blend of action, humor, sentiment and patriotic idealism."
*Jack Garner, ROCHESTER CHRONICLE
"It boldly asks what you'd be willing to sacrifice to gain that freedom. And what more could you ask from a Fourth of July movie?"
*John Hartl, SEATTLE TIMES
"Gibson is the main draw, and he provides ample reason for that with an on-fire performance that exceeds the limitations of the material."
*Jeff Vice, DESERET NEWS
"For all its adherence to formula, The Patriot is certainly handsome and effectively rousing in small but resounding ways."
*Rob Blackwelder, SPLICED ONLINE
"Exciting and entertaining as any good summer blockbuster should be."
*Jonathan Lewis, THE REEL SITE
"This isn't just some ordinary war movie."
*Christopher Null, FILMCRITIC.COM
"The fight scenes are careful, powerful, stunning, and quite realistic."
*Ross Anthony, HOLLYWOOD REPORT CARD
"Having fought the British centuries before in Braveheart, Gibson brings the same intensity to The Patriot."
*Bob Thomas, ASSOCIATED PRESS
"The Patriot pays handsome tribute to the sacrifices of men who deserve to be remembered."
*Donald Munro, FRESNO BEE
"Gibson's performance drives the movie."
*Chuck Schwartz, CRANKY CRITIC ®
"The Patriot delivers, for the most part, effective, populist entertainment."
*J. Rentilly, TNT'S ROUGH CUT
"A rip-snorting good flick that breaks the cinematic jinx against Revolutionary War stories."
*Hap Erstein, COX NEWS SERVICE
"Hollywood clichés and the Revolution’s complex history -- still succeeds mightily in bringing the era roaring back to life."
*Serena Donadoni, METRO TIMES DETROIT
"A riveting, slick, graphically violent piece of entertainment."
*Philip Booth, ORLANDO WEEKLY
"A solid effort for everyone involved."
*Berge Garabedian, JOBLO'S MOVIE EMPORIUM
"A good film."
*Nick Nunziata, CHUD
"Simply looks amazing from the first frame to the last."
*Jon Popick, PLANET SICK-BOY
"If you're looking for good, blood 'n guts escapist fun, watch The Patriot."
*Michael Moses, DRDREW.COM
"Although the plot was anything but original, the filmmakers pulled off an extremely well acted, well-produced war movie."
*Scott Wells, MOVIEFAN ONLINE
"The Patriot comes across strong with some excellent supporting performances, oftentimes breathtaking cinematography and a plot that, like it or not, does tap many emotions."
*Mac Verstandig, WTPN RADIO
"A film of overwhelming visual power."
*Paul Fischer, CRANKY CRITIC ®
"The Patriot is a huge, bloody, 2-hour-and-40-minute battle epic, lavishly appointed and beautifully shot."
*Michael Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"As long as it stays on the battlefield, The Patriot is a brutishly compelling broad-canvas entertainment."
*Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"It's never boring, and it'll sweep you up in its momentum if you give it a chance."
*Jay Carr, BOSTON GLOBE
"The movie projects a confessional frankness about human relationships that has the messy feel of truth."
*J. Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE
"While it's easy to sound cynical in describing this paint-by-numbers plot, The Patriot is, by and large, well-made and enjoyable."
*J. Robert Parks, PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH
"It has everything you want in an epic."
*Richard Schickel, TIME CANADA
"The storyline remains engaging to the very last shot."
*Ron Harner, CHECKOUT.COM
"It wisely focuses upon common folk rather than prominent figures. "
*Todd McCarthy, REUTERS
"Watching this movie is like watching fireworks in some grandly appointed public place."
*Cynthia Fuchs, POPMATTERS
The Bad…
"The next time Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich decide to crank out another of their manipulative popcorn epics, I hope they'll stick to aliens and giant lizards and leave history alone."
*Edward Johnson-Ott, NUVO NEWSWEEKLY
"I particularly disliked the manipulative way the film used Martin's children as the primary vehicle to raise the dramatic stakes."
* Jim Chastain, NORMAN TRANSCRIPT
"Robert Rodat’s script is specious and false on every level."
*Jim Lane, SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW
"The film is undeniably handsome ... but no cliché is left unturned."
*Maitland McDonagh, TV GUIDE
"It repeats the formula of exclusionary representation, conceiving American history as the domain of whites, where blacks, free and slave are left on the sidelines, local color for more 'heroic' characters."
*Josh Jones, POPMATTERS
"Like the war itself, it's too long and too bloody; unlike the war, it doesn't pay off in the end."
*Eric D. Snider, THE DAILY HERALD
"Very brutal and bloody at parts and has a few surprises along the way but in the end it doesn't all add up."
*Ted Pfeifer, REELINSIDER.COM
"The film feels preachy, hollow, and -- in its celebratory staging of violence -- flatly hypocritical."
*Dave Kehr, CITYSEARCH
"Big, dumb, predictable, too long."
* Todd Anthony, SUN-SENTINEL
"So the result -- in spite of the puffy white shirts, mussed ponytails, 13-starred American flags and nameless slaves -- feels more like 1996."
*Wesley Morris, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
"Gibson gives a mechanically precise but soulless performance in which he seems more concerned with how he looks than what his character is thinking or feeling."
* Kirk Honeycutt, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"A typical Hollywood product that aims to get the adrenaline rushing and tug at the heartstrings, but doesn't much care about how shamelessly it goes about doing so."
*Frank Swietek, ONE GUY'S OPINION
"The Patriot is a shiny package for an empty box."
*Fred Thom, LA PLUME NOIRE
"The rules of summer movie-making wreck The Patriot."
*Sean Means, FILM.COM
"It's not being unpatriotic to wish for a better, more original movie."
*Steven Rosen, DENVER POST
"What makes The Patriot exhausting, despite its handful of blood-boiling sequences, is the way it numbingly resembles other movies."
*Robert Horton, FILM.COM
"Director Roland Emmerich's battle scenes may look authentic to anyone who has ever stared hard at a history book, but in every other way, the film is long, empty and bogus."
* Mick LaSalle, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"Yet for its real virtues, The Patriot is never completely satisfying."
*Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"There's no majesty, no tragedy, no feeling here; it's all FX and costuming and casting directors."
*Stephen Hunter, WASHINGTON POST
"Gibson gives the part his all, but he can't create a coherent character: the movie won’t let him."
* David Ansen, NEWSWEEK
"It seems certain that whatever extraordinary ingredients are necessary to fashion a 1776 home run, this movie doesn't have them."
*Michael Atkinson, MR. SHOWBIZ
"There's not much to get excited about."
*James Berardinelli, REELVIEWS
"Gibson gives a fine, emotionally charged performance as the brave and often tormented hero."
* Doris Toumarkine, FILM JOURNAL
"The fireworks amount to little more than a fizzle."
*Scott Von Doviak, CULTUREVULTURE.NET
"The Patriot has the look and feel of an epic, but none of the actual feeling that would make it memorable leaving it to rank as a major disappointment."
*Erik Childress, EFILMCRITIC.COM
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