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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 8255484" data-attributes="member: 4534">It's been almost 21 years since I saw the movie, but the lack of von Stueben wasn't a big problem as the movie focused on a ragtag group of militiamen who weren't part of the regular army.  i.e.  The exact type of soldier that Washington wasn't particularly fond of but whose efficacy became part of our national origin myth.  You're right that it's tough to even know where to begin with The Patriot but let's have some fun.  <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">As a general rule, the British were not a bunch of evil gits with a habit of burning a bunch of defenseless colonist in a church.  As an American I'm certainly on the pro-revolutionary side, but even Americans at the time didn't typically think of the British as being all that evil.  Both sides were keen to resume trade once the war was over.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"We're not slaves.  We work this ground, as freedmen."  Excuse me?  You're in South Carolina circa 1776 and all these black workers are "employees" of a white landowner?  That took me right out of the movie.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The militia were not all that effective against the British.  They were poorly trained, poorly disciplined, and really couldn't stand up to regular British soldiers.  </li> </ol>The sad thing is that The Patriot could have been an interesting movie. Ben Martin is reluctant to join the revolution for fear of returning to his barbaric ways during the French/Indian War. Seeing a former soldier return to his barbarous ways would have been interesting. Examining the cognitive dissonance involved in people crying about their freedom while keeping humans in bondage would have been interesting. Instead we got a lot of flash and little substance.</blockquote>

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