The Patriot

The Patriot (2000)

Timing: 2:45 (165 min)

7.183/10
4256

7.949/10
116138

7.2/10
312000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 45

Actors and characters

Release date

2000-06-28

Country

Germany, United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures, Centropolis Entertainment, Mutual Film Company, Global Medien KG

Genre

Drama, History, War, Action

Budget

$110 000 000

Revenue

$215 294 342

Website

Director

Roland Emmerich

Actors

Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper, Tchéky Karyo, René Auberjonois, Lisa Brenner, Tom Wilkinson, Donal Logue
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Gary Levinsohn, Mark Gordon, Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Ute Emmerich, William Fay

Operator

Ueli Steiger

Composer

John Williams

Artist

Richard F. Mays, Tom Reta

Audition

April Webster, David Bloch, Stephanie Corsalini

Editing

David Brenner, Julie Monroe, Christopher Holmes
All team (403)

• Harrison Ford turned down the offer to play the lead role because he disliked the script, which he believed depicted a narrative about the War of Independence, even bordering on a melodrama about 'lone revenge.'
• Screenwriter Robert Rodat wrote 17 draft versions of the script before settling on a final acceptable version.
• During filming, Heath Ledger performed all the stunts himself, without using stunt doubles.
• According to the script, Benjamin Martin's character had six children, but Mel Gibson insisted that his character be given another child, as he himself has seven children.
• The signature mark of director Roland Emmerich (44) can be noticed in the tavern where Martin recruits volunteers for his unit, and it can also be seen on the label of a wine bottle.
• The character of Colonel Tavington is partially based on the real-life figure of Banastre Tarleton, who was a commander of the Cornwallis cavalry. Colonel Tarleton had his weaknesses and flaws, but he was nowhere near as ruthless and evil as Colonel Tavington (despite being depicted as such in many historical accounts).
• The same house was used for filming Aunt Charlotte's house as was used in the film 'Forrest Gump' (1994), with only minor changes to the interior decoration. The stone fence seen in 'Forrest Gump' is hidden by bushes in this film.
• While training Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger in the use of muzzle-loading rifles, props master Mark Baker gave the actors this advice: "The smaller the target, the smaller the miss." His point was that if you aim at a person and miss, you don't hit the person, but when you aim at a button (for example) and miss, you still hit the person. Gibson liked this little tip so much that he actively used it in the film, especially in scenes involving ambushes.
• Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Gabriel Martin several times, but the role ultimately went to Heath Ledger.
• One of the "English soldiers" (which were actually mannequins) floating face down in the river after the "ambush" is a mannequin of John Travolta.
• Kevin Spacey was originally slated to play Colonel Tavington. However, after the filmmakers paid Mel Gibson $25 million for his participation in the project, the film's budget could not accommodate a similarly substantial fee for Kevin.
• Ryan Phillippe was almost cast as Gabriel.
• Heath Ledger beat out over 200 candidates for the role.
• At the 28th minute, as the royal army approached Benjamin Martin's house, the general asked who had delivered the dispatches; at that moment, Gabriel Martin was in a shirt, and a second later he was in a blue uniform.
• Filming took place from September 7, 1999, to January 20, 2000.