The Patriot (2000)
Trivia
Jump to:
Spoilers (3)
During a rough day of filming, producer Dean Devlin noticed most of the extras looking tired and stressed from doing several takes, while wearing heavy costumes in the one hundred degree South Carolina heat. During a break, Devlin suggested to Mel Gibson that he recite his famous "freedom" speech from Braveheart (1995) to cheer them up. Gibson got on a horse and proceeded to give the speech, which he still had memorized, boosting their morale.
When teaching Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger how to shoot a muzzle-loading rifle, technical advisor Mark Baker gave them the advice to "aim small, miss small", meaning that if you aim at a man and miss, you miss the man, while if you aim at a button (for instance) and miss, you still hit the man. Gibson liked this bit advice so much, he incorporated it into the movie, just prior to the ambush scene.
Heath Ledger didn't work for a year because he only got offers for teen heartthrob roles. He was about to quit acting, and return to Australia, when he was cast in the film.
Heath Ledger said working on the film answered his question of why Americans "wave their flag so high." "It's because they went to hell and back to build their country."
In addition to Francis Marion, a.k.a. The Swamp Fox, Mel Gibson's character is also based on the life of South Carolina militia leader General Andrew Pickens. Pickens had his estate torched, and lost a son, before he went back into action and led the militia forces at Cowpens.
The scene where Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) returns the dogs to General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) may be based on a similar story told about General George Washington. During the Revolutionary War, Washington reportedly noticed the terrier of a British General wandering the battlefield. He subsequently negotiated a cease-fire, and both sides stopped firing until the dog was returned to the British commander.
Aunt Charlotte's house is the same one used in Forrest Gump (1994), with slightly different interior paneling. The stone hedge visible in Forrest Gump is camouflaged with bushes in this film.
Everyone in the battle had to undergo a two-week long boot camp before shooting began. The hand-to-hand combat moves are authentic to the time, and are still used by the military today.
The historical accuracy of the costumes and settings was overseen by the Smithsonian Institution. It's the first time the Institution ever worked directly on the production of a movie.
One of the "redcoats" (actually dummies) that is floating face down in the river after the "trap" is a dummy of John Travolta.
Mel Gibson and Jason Isaacs practiced their complicated fight sequence almost every day of the one hundred day shoot.
Kevin Spacey was the first choice to play Tavington. After paying Mel Gibson $25 million, there was not enough in the budget to pay him.
The video game Assassin's Creed III (2012)'s combat system was influenced by the famous tomahawk scene in this movie.
The character Benjamin Martin was originally written with six children, but Mel Gibson added one more, because he himself had seven children.
Joshua Jackson, Elijah Wood, Jake Gyllenhaal, Brad Renfro, Paul Walker, Ryan Phillippe, and Heath Ledger were considered to play Gabriel Martin. The filmmakers narrowed their choices for this role to Ryan Phillippe and Heath Ledger, with the latter chosen because director Roland Emmerich thought he possessed "exuberant youth".
It was hard finding a swamp for filming. The production rented out a botanical garden and flooded it.
The character of Benjamin Martin is loosely based on the real life soldier Francis Marion, a.k.a. The Swamp Fox. The Swamp Fox taught soldiers guerrilla tactics.
Harrison Ford declined the lead role, feeling the script had boiled the Revolutionary War down to a "one-man's-revenge" melodrama.
Mel Gibson improvised the "soon" line. He wasn't supposed to give any response.
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, and Chris Cooper; and one Oscar nominee: Tom Wilkinson.
The studio wanted to cut a certain shot in the cannonball scene to avoid an R-rating, but Roland Emmerich felt it was important not to sanitize war.
The term "Redcoats" was used to describe British soldiers as early as May 7, 1645, according to written history.
The Battle of Cowpens, upon which this movie is based, took place on January 17, 1781. This battle has been commemorated by the U.S. Navy, which named two ships after it. The U.S.S. Cowpens (CVL 25) was a World War II light aircraft carrier, which won twelve battle stars, more than any other light carrier in the war, and was the first ship to enter Tokyo Harbor, and land Marines on the Japanese mainland. The U.S.S. Cowpens (CG 63) is an Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser, serving in the Pacific Fleet, from San Diego, California.
Screenwriter Robert Rodat called the final battle a hybrid between the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and the Battle of Cowpens: The mixture of militia and Continental army in the battle. The militia's reputation of not holding, and the tactic of using that, to lure the British in. The militia only firing a couple of volleys before a planned retreat to a secondary line composed of the Continental army. The Continental army firing and then performing a bayonet charge.
Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned several times, and was considered for the role of Gabriel Martin, but eventually lost out to Heath Ledger. They would later star in the movie Brokeback Mountain (2005) together, and become very close friends.
Among the American cavalry officers who participated in the real Battle of Cowpens was Lieutenant Colonel William Washington - General George Washington's cousin, who went man-to-man with Banastre Tarleton in a saber clash.
Benjamin's retort on "tyrants" is actually a rephrasing of a quote by Mather Byles, a Loyalist clergyman from Boston.
Robert Rodat wrote the character of Benjamin Martin with Mel Gibson in mind.
Jason Isaacs, who plays William Tavington, is from Liverpool, England. The real-life Banastre Tarleton, on whom Tavington is based, actually served as a member of Parliament from Liverpool after the Revolutionary War.
The crew built a fake exterior on an existing plantation so they could burn it without hurting the house.
The scene where Benjamin and Villeneuve fight over giving quarter the British is included to show that atrocities were committed on both sides during the war.
Roland Emmerich said the scene where the two armies march toward each other is like a "Couple of thousand people playing Russian Roulette."
Joely Richardson used Scarlett O'Hara as inspiration for her role as Aunt Charlotte.
The swamp froze solid the day after shooting the scene where Benjamin and Gabriel have just bonded over Thomas. If the filmmakers had been delayed, the shot would have been impossible.
The film's biggest competition on its opening weekend was The Perfect Storm (2000) starring George Clooney, in a role Mel Gibson turned down to film this movie.
This is the second time Rene Auberjonois has played a clergyman serving his country during a war. In Robert Altman's [link for MASH - the title number of tt00066026 was not recognized by IMDB], he portrayed Father Mulcahey, aka "Dago Red," a Catholic chaplain stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War.
Robert Rodat wrote seventeen drafts of the script before there was an acceptable one.
The scene where Benjamin walks toward the church in Pembroke to pray was Mel Gibson's idea. He wants to show Benjamin Martin's moral dilemma.
Logan Lerman played Mel Gibson's son in this movie, and played Mel's younger self in What Women Want (2000).
After the explosion of the cargo ship, we hear Tavington smash his glass when placing it down. He really just places it down, but it was decided to add a smashing sound for comic effect. We never actually see the glass breaking.
Lisa Brenner and Dean Devlin met on the set and married on July 4, 2003.
The scene where the Martin family looks on as a battle encroaches on their backyard was cut from the script. The filmmakers only shot it because they got ahead of schedule.
Roland Emmerich was inspired by John Ford, who was known for his wide shots.
The scene where Benjamin gives Burwell a letter to give to his family is based on two real events: the Battle of Cowpens, won by the Patriots and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, a costly victory for the British.
When they are ambushed at the bridge, the kid on whom they focus the camera is Thomas as a British soldier.
Mel Gibson was paid $25 million for making the film.
According to Roland Emmerich, the scene where Cornwalis thanks Benjamin for taking care of his dogs was difficult to film because of all the natural light from the windows. He made sure there were no windows behind Mel Gibson to simplify things.
As for the scenes where windows are visible, the camera needed to be stopped down and the interior lighting had ramped up to approximately three times the normal settings to compensate for the exterior light, plus the setup required many more lights and reflectors to fill in the projected shadows, including those concealed behind furniture. This is a typical lighting problem that is frequently seen in marketing images for window shutters and drapery.
As for the scenes where windows are visible, the camera needed to be stopped down and the interior lighting had ramped up to approximately three times the normal settings to compensate for the exterior light, plus the setup required many more lights and reflectors to fill in the projected shadows, including those concealed behind furniture. This is a typical lighting problem that is frequently seen in marketing images for window shutters and drapery.
David Arnold, who composed the scores to Roland Emmerich's Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), and Godzilla (1998), created a demo for the film that was ultimately rejected. As a result, David never returned to compose any of Roland's future films, and was replaced by Harald Kloser and Thomas Wanker.
Halfway through reading the script for the first time, Roland Emmerich knew he had found his next film.
The tomahawk Benjamin uses to fight the Redcoats is made of rubber for safety, but when Benjamin gets ready to throw the hatchet, it is metal hatchet heavy enough to throw.
During pre-production, the producers debated on whether Benjamin Martin would own slaves, ultimately deciding not to make him a slave owner. This decision received criticism from Spike Lee, who in a letter to The Hollywood Reporter accused the film's portrayal of slavery as being "a complete whitewashing of history". Lee wrote that after he and his wife went to see the film, "we both came out of the theater fuming. For three hours The Patriot (2000) dodged around, skirted about, or completely ignored slavery." Mel Gibson himself remarked: "I think I would have made him a slave holder. Not to seems kind of a cop-out."
The theme music was played after President Barack Obama's acceptance speech on election night in 2008.
Sadly, Skye McCole Bartusiak (Susan) passed away from a combination of prescription drugs and other substances at her home in Houston at the age of 21 in July, 2014. While she had appeared in quite a few roles, including a series of episodes in the second season of 24 (2001), she described her favorite role as being The Patriot.
Three actors in this film went on to act in three separate Batman adaptations. Donal Logue is in Gotham (2014), Tom Wilkinson was in Batman Begins (2005), and Heath Ledger was in The Dark Knight (2008).
The family takes refuge on Saint Helena island, South Carolina, which is in proximity of the resort community of Hilton Head island. It was, as described by Benjamin, an island occupied by slaves (some freed, but not the majority) and other groups that came to be known collectively as the Gullah. Having strong African roots, it developed its own language, which is a form of Creole. It was originally given the name Saint Elena by the Spanish in the 16th century and was the capital of the Spanish territory of Florida. It later was taken by the French and then the British.
Resembling the low, rice-growing lands of west Africa, it saw the arrival of many slaves that were brought there after being captured in what is now Sierra Leone. It is surrounded by marshland particularly around the southern end and, with several virtually interlocking islands being to the east, it only has exposure to the Atlantic at the north and south ends. The location depicted in the film, while being geographically inaccurate, is near the southern end of the island on the eastern shore.
Benjamin describes it as being, "right under the British noses." It did not provide much of a strategic benefit and would not have a British presence. Even so, the family would not have been difficult to find, which makes the use of it more of a narrative convenience than a practicality.
Resembling the low, rice-growing lands of west Africa, it saw the arrival of many slaves that were brought there after being captured in what is now Sierra Leone. It is surrounded by marshland particularly around the southern end and, with several virtually interlocking islands being to the east, it only has exposure to the Atlantic at the north and south ends. The location depicted in the film, while being geographically inaccurate, is near the southern end of the island on the eastern shore.
Benjamin describes it as being, "right under the British noses." It did not provide much of a strategic benefit and would not have a British presence. Even so, the family would not have been difficult to find, which makes the use of it more of a narrative convenience than a practicality.
The score used in the film is also used as the opening music in the 2004 television series Jack & Bobby (2004). Both featured Logan Lerman, who played Benjamin Martin's youngest son William, and future president Robert (Bobby) McCallister.
Colonel Tavington's (Jason Isaacs's) line "Stupid boy!" (about Thomas Martin, whom he'd just shot) was echoed (with exactly the same inflection) by Ralph Fiennes when Voldemort said "Stupid girl!" (about Ginny Weasley's outburst) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).
This is Chris Cooper's second time playing a Colonel. He was Colonel Frank Fitts in American Beauty (1999).
The main character of Assassin's Creed III (2012) and Mel Gibson's character in this movie both fight skillfully using a tomahawk in the main hand and a knife in the off hand. They both also use flintlock pistols.
The Patriot (2000) is one of the favorite films of the young Italian director Christian Orlandi.
Ben Daniels was offered a role, but turned it down.
Spoilers
The character of Colonel Tavington is loosely based on Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who was Cornwallis' cavalry commander. Colonel Tarleton had a bad reputation, but some say he was not nearly as cold-hearted and evil as the fictitious Colonel Tavington (though many historians portray them equally). In the movie, Colonel Tavington died at the end of the Battle of Cowpens. The real Banastre Tarleton lived to grow old until 1833, became a General, and even served in the British Parliament.
In an earlier version of the script, Anne is pregnant with Gabriel's child when she dies in the burning church.
