How Braveheart Should Have Ended

I have mentioned previously that I lived in Scotland for 3 months. The town that I lived in was Stirling. Stirling is just north of Edinburgh and Glasgow and pretty much sits right between them. It was about a 45 minute train ride to Edinburgh and Glasgow from Stirling. Head north of Stirling just a little bit and you hit Callander, Rob Roy country.

But Stirling was definitely William Wallace country. The battle of Stirling Bridge took place here as did the Battle of Bannockburn. That large rocket ship looking monument jutting into the skyline of Stirling is none other then the William Wallace Monument. Outside of the monument is a statue of William Wallace that looks suspiciously like Mel Gibson. Inside you can climb a series of winding stairs up to the top of the tower and take in the view of Stirling. Along the way you can check out Wallace's sword.

I ran across this entertaining video on youtube called How Braveheart Should Have Ended

"Sons of scotland, I am William Wallace...William Wallace is 7 ft tall -Aye, so I've heard, kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse."

I hope you enjoyed it, and Pipe on!

Stardust Movie Review

I saw the movie Stardust on Friday. I didn't know a lot about it but it had a good cast, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, and Peter O'Toole. The story is based off of a Neil Gamon novella and sounded interesting. I did have reservations though, I like some fantasy based movies but there are a lot that have disappointed me. So off I went with a somewhat open mind tainted by a hint of skepticism.

I was pleasantly surprised and definitely give it two thumbs up. The cast came through and the story was great! It's your basic boy thinks he's in love with girl and goes off on a journey to prove his love. Along the way he encounters pirates, witches, prince's, ghosts, and a fallen star. And of course, like any good coming of age story he learns a lot about himself and what's important in life along the way.

I read that the director's original pitch for that movie was The Princess Bride meets Pirates of the Caribbean and that's an accurate and succinct description of the movie.

And because you have no reason to trust my movie reviews since this is the first one I've done on this blog, I like Rotten Tomatoes movie reviews for a second opinion.

The official movie site is also useful to check out.

When I got home I kept thinking about the movie (the trademark of a very good movie) and I found myself remembering how beautiful the cinematography was. So I looked up where it was shot and found out that, lo and behold, a great deal of it was filmed in the Scottish Highlands and on the Isle of Skye which is an island off of the west coast of Scotland.

Here's the movie trailer, you can see some of the wonderful scenery in the last bit of the preview:


So, if you want to watch a well casted, well crafted, and well told story set against the backdrop of beautiful Scotland, off to this movie with you!

Has anyone else seen it? I'd love to hear other opinions.

Pipe on!

Bagpipes Go to the Movies

One of the permanent links on my blog takes you to the Bagpipes Go to the Movies website but I've never really blogged about it. To someone like me it's really a phenomenal site, and even if you're not a bagpipe fanatic like me it really is a novel site and worth checking out.

They have a nice user friendly alphabetical listing of the movies and also detail where in the movie the bagpipes are featured. They don't just limit themselves to movies, there are a few commercials and tv shows mentioned as well.

It's pretty amazing how many movies have bagpipes playing both on and off screen, and they really do cross all movie genres.

Some of my favorite movies that are included in their database are:

Backdraft-funeral scene with pipers

Bedknobs and Broomsticks-I need to watch this movie again, I don't remember this scene very well, but apparently phantom pipers fight off a German invasion.

Braveheart-awesome soundtrack!

Dead Poet's Society-A piper is featured at the start of the movie and in a couple of other spots in the movie. One scene features a man playing the practice chanter which is what all bagpipers start out on and looks like a recorder but with a reed. According to the website this is the only commercial movie that features the practice chanter.

Far and Away-another awesome soundtrack!

Ferris Bueller's Day Off-Pipers are featured in the parade scene.

The Fugitive-Another parade scene.

Gallipoli-An awesome early Mel Gibson movie, about the WWI battle of the same name.

Her Majesty Mrs. Brown-A really unique movie about the relationship between Queen Victoria (played by Judi Dench) and her servant John Brown (played by awesome Scottish actor/comedian Billy Connolly).

Highlander-I liked the first one the best and the tv series.

Iron Will-I'll have to re-watch this one, I guess there's a pipe band at the start of the dog sled race.

Lawrence of Arabia-short scene with pipers.

Out of Africa-Apparently a piper plays the wedding march on the pipes, I'll have to check this one out again too.

A River Runs Through It-I dearly love this movie, there's a piper in the picnic scene.

Rob Roy-A definite R rated movie but awesome fight scenes.

Titanic-Another good soundtrack.

Willow-And yet another good soundtrack, and an awesome movie starring Val Kilmer.

There are many other movies mentioned, check them out for yourself. Some weekend I'll have a bagpipe movie marathon, coming to a blog near you!

Have fun and pipe on!