There are many similarities and differences between reality and the movie The Patriot. In some aspects, Hollywood did a great job replicating history exactly. But, in other areas, they could have made things more historically accurate. Despite this, The Patriot is still an all around awesome movie. It is probably in my top ten most favorite movies I have of all time.
One of the similarities between the movie and the reality is the reasons for fighting. At the beginning Benjamin Martin and his family are being mistreated by the British. Benjamin Martin (aka Mel Gibson) is loosely tied to the Continental Army Officer Francis Marion. It follows history in that South Carolina voted to support the war. They also accurately portray the British capture of Charlestown.
In the movie Colonel William Tavington (Jason Issacs) is accurately portray as the real-life Sir Banastre Tarleton. He too in real life employed ruthless tactics as shown in the movie. Guerilla warfare was also employed in the movies, a historical tactic used by the Continental Army. At the end of the movie, the war ends at the battle of Yorktown with the help of the French, just like in history.
Some of the things that are not historically accurate are usually minute details throughout the film. One big thing is the way the slaves were treated. In the movie they were treated very well, and in reality they were almost never treated this well. Another detail was the cannonballs. In the movie, they exploded on impact, in history they did not, they would simply roll and basically destroy anything in its path. Another key difference is the Laws of War in the two settings. When Colonel Tavington finds a group of wounded soldiers (both British and Colonial) on the Martin’s Porch, he orders the colonial soldiers to be shot and the house burned. In reality, this would never happen because historically, both sides obeyed the Laws of War.
Bibliography:
"The Patriot (2000 Film)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Patriot_(2000_film)>.
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