Going Medieval: 25 films to watch while waiting for Game of Thrones season 8

8) Braveheart (1995)

Yes, it’s an obvious one, but Braveheart (Mel Gibson) belongs on any list of great medieval movie. Always worth a re-watch, this 13th century action epic was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and walked away with five: Best Picture, Best Director (Gibson), Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Best Sound Editing.

The film is a fictionalized chronicling of the story of the Scottish folk hero/warrior William Wallace as he led the Scottish clans in revolt against King Edward I of England. Spurred to get revenge for the murder of his beloved wife and deliver the Scots from brutal English rule, Wallace’s defiance exploded into the later-named First War of Scottish Independence.

Despite its awards and commercial success, Braveheart wasn’t always a critical darling. For example, the British film review magazine Empire ran a poll in 2005 that had Braveheart topping the list of “The Top 10 Worst Pictures to win the Best Picture Oscar,” but also had a reader poll where the film was voted the best film of 1995. Roger Ebert enthused, “(it’s) an action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of The Road Warrior. What people are going to remember from the film are the battle scenes, which are frequent, bloody and violent.”

Whatever one thinks of Gibson’s historical inaccuracies and heavy-handed myth-building, the battle sequences are still as mind-blowing now as they were then. Game of Thrones alumni James Cosmo (Lord Commander Jeor Mormont) also appears in the film.