Both films are based on historical events but take plenty of liberties with the facts, so for me it's not an issue of which is more realistic but which is simply the better story, and in that regard I'd pick Gladiator.
Now that doesn't mean I don't like Braveheart. I love both of these movies, and if I see either of them on TV I'd probably sit and watch 'em. However, sometimes the characters in Braveheart (at least to me) act a little strange or out-of-character, and personally it feels like the movie loses steam about halfway or two-thirds through.
Gladiator on the other hand has a sense of scale, and while Braveheart hits the audience over the head with "Scots are wonderful and English are horrible," the conflict in Gladiator is also a revenge story but it keeps the focus on Maximus with the concepts of loyalty and what it means to be Roman. In Braveheart, Wallace's wife's death happens and gets him involved with fighting the English, but aside from a few times he sees his wife's ghost (?!) it's never really brought up again and we feel like Wallace was going to fight the English anyway. In Gladiator, Maximus' struggle because of the deaths of his family are directly intertwined with the conflict against the Emperor.
Personally I like Gladiator more; don't get me wrong it's far from perfect, and Braveheart is a decent epic as well.
Can't be too careful with all those weirdos running around.
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FirstBlood1982
9 years ago
"but aside from a few times he sees his wife's ghost (?!) it's never really brought up again and we feel like Wallace was going to fight the English anyway."
They actually tried recruiting him to fight against the English before the death of his wife, he refused and said "if I can live in peace, I will."
So in the context of the film, it definitely didn't come across like "he was going to fight them anyway."
If he could've lived a peaceful life without fighting them, as he wanted to, that's what he would've done.
+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++
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