Braveheart Finds Renewed Success On Streaming

3 days ago 6

Published Feb 8, 2026, 9:00 AM EST

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Mel Gibson’s 1995 film Braveheart has stepped back into the spotlight.

Braveheart lands the #10 spot on Pluto's Top 10 streaming chart and proves that historical controversy has not affected the film's success. Three decades after its release, the 1995 historical war epic continues to attract viewers despite its reputation for misrepresenting the events that inspired it.

While the film’s emotional storyline and intricate battle sequences helped make it a box office hit, historians have long criticized its accuracy. The Sunday Times ranked Braveheart as the second most historically inaccurate film ever made and cited several inconsistencies as well as blatantly fabricated events.

One of the biggest protests regarding the film was Gibson's character, William Wallace. The publication slammed Braveheart for making him a commoner when his real-life counterpart was actually a landowner and a knight. The writer also took issue with the protagonist's love interest, Queen Isabella, revealing that she was a two-year-old during the time in which the movie took place. She added that the inclusion of kilts three centuries before the garments were even conceived.

Historical inaccuracies aside, Braveheart was a major box office hit during its theatrical run. The film earned $75.5 million in the United States and Canada. It grossed $133.5 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $209 million, which exceeded its estimated budget of $72 million. It also remained in the U.S. box office Top 10 for nine weeks.

The film was also praised by both film critics and casual moviegoers, who don't mind that the movie didn't stay true to the events that it was based on. Braveheart holds a strong 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many praising Gibson's performance and the film's ability to capture the audience's attention from beginning to end, despite being 2 hours and 57 minutes long.

Braveheart is available to stream on Pluto, Netflix, and Paramount+.