The Patriot

At the beginning of the American Revolution, Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a South Carolina veteran of the French and Indian War and a widower raising his seven children on his farm. Gabriel (Ledger), the eldest, is anxious to join the American forces fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. Knowing war from personal experience, Ben tries to discourage his son's ambitions, but his son enlists anyway.

Gabriel returns home two years later, stumbling wounded into the family home and carrying military dispatches. The next day, a military skirmish have the Martins caring for the wounded from both sides. British soldiers - the ruthless Green Dragoons cavalry - arrive and kill the Colonial wounded, burn down the Martin house and arrest Gabriel as a spy, intending to hang him. Ben's next eldest son Thomas (Smith) is shot and killed by the leader of the Green Dragoons, Colonel William Tavington (Isaacs).

Making use of his knowledge of fighting in the wilds, Ben and his two younger sons, Nathan (Morgan) and Samuel (Chafin) set forth to ambush the British column in the woods. They manage to kill most of the soldiers in an ambush and free Gabriel. The boys are horrified at their first glimpse of their father's ferocity. Gabriel rejoins the cause against his father's will again, stating it is his duty as a soldier. Ben decides to join as well, leaving the rest of the children in the care of their aunt Charlotte (Joely Richardson), Ben's sister-in-law.

Continental Army Colonel Harry Burwell (Cooper), having fought alongside Ben in the French and Indian War, asks him to organize a militia designed to keep British General Cornwallis (Wilkinson) in the south until the French navy arrives to assist. French officer Jean Villeneuve (Karyo), is present to help train the militia.

Ben's South Carolina militia uses guerrilla warfare, attacking the British supply lines. To combat the militia, Cornwallis has Tavington track Ben's family to their refuge with Charlotte and burns down her plantation. However, the family escapes, and are led to a safe haven by Gabriel. Gabriel also marries his childhood friend Anne (Brenner). Soon after, Tavington orders Anne and her family, along with all the townspeople, to be burned alive whilst locked in the church.

A grief-stricken Gabriel rides out with others to avenge their loss. During the ensuing fight, Tavington kills Gabriel and escapes. Ben is devastated and his zeal for combat extinguished, but soon returns to the Continentals to avenge his sons, and manages to kill Tavington. The tide of battle quckly turns and Cornwallis is forced to retreat and eventually surrenders.

Martin and his family return to their home to find the militia helping to rebuild it. Occam (Jones) tells Ben, "Gabriel said that if we won the war, we could build a whole new world. Just figured we'd get started right here, with your home." Benjamin smiles



At the beginning of the American Revolution, Benjamin Martin (Gibson) is a South Carolina veteran of the French and Indian War and a widower raising his seven children on his farm. Gabriel (Ledger), the eldest, is anxious to join the American forces fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. Knowing war from personal experience, Ben tries to discourage his son's ambitions, but his son enlists anyway.

Gabriel returns home two years later, stumbling wounded into the family home and carrying military dispatches. The next day, a military skirmish have the Martins caring for the wounded from both sides. British soldiers - the ruthless Green Dragoons cavalry - arrive and kill the Colonial wounded, burn down the Martin house and arrest Gabriel as a spy, intending to hang him. Ben's next eldest son Thomas (Smith) is shot and killed by the leader of the Green Dragoons, Colonel William Tavington (Isaacs).

Making use of his knowledge of fighting in the wilds, Ben and his two younger sons, Nathan (Morgan) and Samuel (Chafin) set forth to ambush the British column in the woods. They manage to kill most of the soldiers in an ambush and free Gabriel. The boys are horrified at their first glimpse of their father's ferocity. Gabriel rejoins the cause against his father's will again, stating it is his duty as a soldier. Ben decides to join as well, leaving the rest of the children in the care of their aunt Charlotte (Joely Richardson), Ben's sister-in-law.

Continental Army Colonel Harry Burwell (Cooper), having fought alongside Ben in the French and Indian War, asks him to organize a militia designed to keep British General Cornwallis (Wilkinson) in the south until the French navy arrives to assist. French officer Jean Villeneuve (Karyo), is present to help train the militia.

Ben's South Carolina militia uses guerrilla warfare, attacking the British supply lines. To combat the militia, Cornwallis has Tavington track Ben's family to their refuge with Charlotte and burns down her plantation. However, the family escapes, and are led to a safe haven by Gabriel. Gabriel also marries his childhood friend Anne (Brenner). Soon after, Tavington orders Anne and her family, along with all the townspeople, to be burned alive whilst locked in the church.

A grief-stricken Gabriel rides out with others to avenge their loss. During the ensuing fight, Tavington kills Gabriel and escapes. Ben is devastated and his zeal for combat extinguished, but soon returns to the Continentals to avenge his sons, and manages to kill Tavington. The tide of battle quckly turns and Cornwallis is forced to retreat and eventually surrenders.

Martin and his family return to their home to find the militia helping to rebuild it. Occam (Jones) tells Ben, "Gabriel said that if we won the war, we could build a whole new world. Just figured we'd get started right here, with your home." Benjamin smiles






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LETTERS OF IWO JIMA

In the present day, Japanese archaeologists explore tunnels on Iwo Jima. They find something in the dirt and the scene changes to Iwo Jima in 1944. Private First Class Saigo, a baker conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army, and his platoon are grudgingly digging beach trenches on the island. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi arrives to take command of the garrison and immediately begins an inspection of the island defenses. He saves Saigo and his friend Kashiwara from a beating for having uttered 'unpatriotic speeches' and orders the men to stop digging trenches on the beach and begin tunnelling defenses into Mount Suribachi.

Later, Lieutenant Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi, a famous Olympic gold medalist show jumper, joins Kuribayashi for dinner. They discuss the grim prospect of no naval support and the fanaticism their fellow officers would show. Kuribayashi evacuates the civilian population of Iwo Jima to mainland Japan. He clashes with some of his senior officers, who do not agree with his strategy of defending inland instead of the beaches; Kuribayashi believes the Americans will take the beaches quickly, and only the mountain defenses will have a better chance for holding out against the enemy.

Poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions take their toll on the garrison; many die of dysentery, including Kashiwara. The Japanese troops begin using the caves as barracks. Kashiwara's replacement, a young soldier named Superior Private Shimizu, arrives for duty on the island. Saigo and his friends suspect that Shimizu is a spy sent from Kempeitai to report on disloyal soldiers. The first American aerial bombings occur shortly after, causing significant casualties. After the raid, Saigo is sickened when he sees the corpse of a friend, still sitting upright. Another casualty was Jupiter, Baron Nishi's horse, which was also killed by a bomb. The raid forces the Japanese to dig deeper into the volcanic island. The battle for Iwo Jima begins.

As the landings occur, the American troops suffer heavy casualties, but the Japanese beach defenses are quickly overcome, and the attack turns to the defensive positions on Mount Suribachi. Saigo assists the defense by carrying ammunition to machine gunners. When a Japanese machine gunner is killed by a shell from an American ship, Saigo is ordered by the company commander to use his rifle, since the machine gun is damaged. He handles it so clumsily that he is sent to retrieve some machine guns instead. While delivering the request from his company commander to the commander of the Suribachi garrison, Saigo overhears General Kuribayashi radioing orders to retreat northward. The Suribachi commander, however, ignores the order from the general and instead orders Saigo to deliver a message ordering the men of his company to commit suicide. The Japanese soldiers of Saigo's unit commit suicide with grenades, and the company commander shoots himself in the head with a pistol, but Saigo runs away and leaves the cave with Shimizu, convincing him that it is more productive to continue the fight rather than die. The two men flee to friendly lines, but they are accused of deserting Suribachi. They are about to be executed for cowardice when General Kuribayashi appears to stop the punishment, confirming that he had indeed ordered the retreat.

The soldiers from the caves attempt a futile attack against American positions, with the Japanese taking heavy losses. A wounded U.S. Marine is subsequently captured by Nishi's men. He reveals his name to be Sam, and Nishi orders his medic to give him aid despite the Japanese's dwindling medical supplies. Despite their efforts, the Marine dies of his wounds. Nishi reads a letter the American received from his mother.

As a bomb hits Nishi's cave, Nishi is badly wounded and blinded. His men bind his wounds, and Nishi orders them to another position on the island. As a last favor, he asks Lieutenant Okubo to leave him a rifle. After leaving that position, the soldiers hear a distant gunshot from Nishi's cave.

Shimizu divulges to Saigo that he had been dishonorably discharged from the Kempeitai. In a flashback, it is revealed that he was discharged because he refused to obey a superior's order to kill a barking dog. He was then reassigned to Iwo Jima. This causes Saigo's attitude towards Shimizu to soften considerably. Shimizu breaks down and fearfully asks Saigo to surrender with him.

Shimizu surrenders to a U.S. Marine patrol and finds himself in the company of another Japanese soldier who had surrendered. One of the American guards, who does not want to be burdened with POWs, later shoots them. The dead soldiers are discovered by the Japanese and Lieutenant Okubo points it out as a lesson for anyone else who wishes to surrender. Saigo, deeply saddened by his death, puts Shimizu's senninbari on his dead body.

Saigo and the remaining survivors find that Kuribayashi's cave is under attack, and a fierce battle rages. They charge through the crossfire, and lose several men, including Lieutenant Okubo. They enter the cave under a storm of American bullets, meeting up with Kuribayashi, who recognizes Saigo. One last attack with all the remaining men is planned. Kuribayashi orders Saigo to stay behind and destroy all the documents, including his own letters to his family. By this, Kuribayashi saves Saigo's life a third time. Kuribayashi and his remaining troops launch their final attack. Most of Kuribayashi's men are killed, and Kuribayashi is critically wounded.

Kuribayashi's loyal aide Fujita drags him away from the battle. The next morning, Kuribayashi orders his aide to behead him; however, the aide is shot dead by an American marksman as he raises his sword. Saigo appears at this moment, having buried some of the documents in the cave instead of burning them all. Summoning his last reserves of strength, the very weak Kuribayashi asks Saigo to bury him so that nobody will find him. Kuribayashi then draws his souvenir M1911 pistol (In two previous flashbacks, it was revealed to be a gift from a party in the United States before the war, where Kuribayashi was given the pistol as a gift at a ceremony where he was the guest of honor) and shoots himself in the chest. Saigo carries away the dead general and buries his body.

Upon his return, Saigo finds that a patrol of American Marines have claimed Kuribayashi's pistol and Fujita's sword as war trophies. Upon seeing the pistol tucked into a Marine's belt, Saigo swings angrily and wildly at the Americans with his shovel. Too weak to fight properly, Saigo is knocked unconscious with a rifle butt and is taken on to a U.S. aid station on the beach. Awakening a while later, he glimpses the setting sun, with ships in the distance, as well as a U.S. truck, and smiles grimly.

The scene shifts back to the Japanese archaeologists who uncover the bag of letters written by Japanese soldiers on the island, never sent, that Saigo buried in 1945. As the letters fall from the bag, the voices of the fallen Japanese soldiers are heard reading from them.

troy

King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) of Mycenae is in Thessaly, Greece, with his army looking to expand territory and influence. On the battlefield, Agamemnon's soldiers prepare to engage in combat against the army under the Thessalonian king, Triopas (Julian Glover). Rather than suffer great losses, Triopas agrees to Agamemnon's proposal to settle the matter in the traditional way - through a decisive match between the best fighters of the opposing armies. Achilles (Brad Pitt) is summoned by Agamemnon, and after arriving, easily kills the Thessalonian champion Boagrius (Nathan Jones). Accepting defeat, Triopas presents Achilles with a scepter as a token for his king. But Achilles refuses, saying Agamemnon is not his king.
In Sparta, Prince Hector (Eric Bana) and his young brother Paris (Orlando Bloom) negotiate an end to the war between the outlying kingdom of Troy and Sparta. On the last day of a week-long peace festival, Paris manages to smuggle Helen (Diane Kruger), Menelaus' (Brendan Gleeson) wife, back to Troy with him. Infuriated by Helen's disappearance, Menelaus vows revenge. Meanwhile, Agamemnon (Menelaus' brother), who had for years harbored plans for conquering Troy, decides to use his brother's situation as a justification to invade Troy. He is advised by his general, Nestor (John Shrapnel), to call upon Achilles to fight for the Greeks, insuring they can rally enough troops to the cause. Agamemnon relishes the prospect of gaining complete control over the Aegean Sea by conquering Troy.


Odysseus (Sean Bean) is then sent to Phtia to convince Achilles and his Myrmidons to fight, and finds him training with Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund), his nephew and student. Odysseus says they'll be sailing to Troy in three days, and that this war will never be forgotten. Achilles consults his mother, Thetis (Julie Christie), and she tells him that should he stay, he will find peace, and should he go, he will find glory, but he'll never return. Achilles decides to go to war.

The Greeks land at Troy and take control of the beach on the first day of the war. Achilles and the Myrmidons kill many Trojans and also desecrate the seaside temple of Apollo, slaying the unarmed priests that reside there. Within the temple, Achilles and Hector meet but do not fight, with Hector outnumbered but allowed to leave. Briseis (Rose Byrne), a member of the Trojan royal family who has chosen to dedicate her life to service to the gods, is captured and taken as a prize to Achilles. However, he treats her with kindness, which makes her initially cautious. They soon become lovers.

Achilles and his Myrmidons do not take part in the next day's fighting because Agamemnon had taken away Briseis, but they watch the events from a distance. With the Trojan army beneath the walls of Troy and the Greek army surrounding it, Paris challenges Menelaus to a duel to settle things. Menelaus agrees, knowing he is the better warrior. Agamemnon then decides he will attack afterward anyway, regardless of the outcome. Paris, severely outmatched, is easily defeated. Terrified of dying, he crawls back to his brother's feet. Menelaus approaches and moves to finish Paris, but Hector intervenes and kills Menelaus. A shocked and distraught Agamemnon orders his army to charge the Trojans. The Greeks are easily repelled, mainly because their attack brought them within range of the Trojan archers. At the pleas of Odysseus, who fears seeing the Greeks annihilated, Agamemnon withdraws the troops.



The Trojans launch a surprise attack on the Greek camp at dawn. As the Greeks seem to be on the verge of defeat, Achilles appears with the Myrmidons, and joins the battle. He brings courage to the Greeks, and eventually fights man-to-man against Hector. The Myrmidons are initially surprised by Achilles apparently being outmatched by Hector, and in a quick fight, having his throat cut by the Prince Hector. This energizes the Trojans and dismays the Greeks. Hector kneels and pulls Achilles' helmet off, and finds it is actually Patroclus(Garrett Hedlund) who he has killed, not Achilles. Grieved at having slain someone so young, Hector gives him a killing blow out of mercy. Both armies agree to end fighting for the day, and Odysseus informs Hector of the boy's identity. Achilles, who had slept through the battle, is told by the Myrmidons of his nephew death. They had also mistaken Patroclus for Achilles, since he had put on the same armour, and moved in the same way. Later that night, Achilles leads the funeral ceremony, complete with a funeral pyre.



he next day, an enraged Achilles approaches the gates of Troy alone and demands Hector come out and face him. Hector requests a pact that the loser be given proper funeral rites by the winner, which is angrily refused by Achilles. Achilles kills Hector, and then ties the body to the back of his chariot, callously draging it back to the Greek camp. That night, King Priam visits the Greek army's camp to retrieve Hector's body. After an emotional talk given to him by Priam (Peter O'Toole), Achilles breaks down into tears near Hector's body. He lets Priam take Hector's body back, promising him that no Greek will attack Troy for twelve days in order to give time for the proper funeral rites to be performed on the prince, also saying that Hector was the best he'd fought. Achilles lets Priam take Briseis back as well, and gives her the shell necklace Thetis made for him. He later makes amends with Eudorus, and gives him one last order: to take the Myrmidons home.

During the 12 days that Troy mourns Hector's death, the Greeks plan to enter the city using a hollowed-out wooden horse, devised by Odysseus. The Greeks leave the horse at the location of their camp, then withdraw to the beach hiding in their ships behind a nearby island. Paris warns Priam about the dangers of the horse, and says they should burn it. However, Priam neglects his warning and is blinded by the priests' talk of the horse being a "peace offering from the Greeks", in order to appease the god Poseidon for a safe passage home during their retreat. Assuming victory, the Trojans take the horse into the city and celebrate. A band of Greeks come out of the horse at night, killing the guards and opening the gates to the city, allowing the main army outside the city to enter. Troy is sacked, and King Priam is killed by Agamemnon.



Achilles frantically searches for Briseis, who is at the shrine of Apollo being threatened by Agamemnon. She kills him with a concealed knife, and is saved from Agamemnon's guards by Achilles. Paris finds Achilles, and shoots an arrow that goes straight through Achilles' heel. Crippled, he turns to face him but is hit in the chest by several more arrows, despite fervent pleas from Briseis. The wounds are fatal, and Achilles urges Briseis to join Paris as he flees the city through a secret passage.

After a last disorganized and futile attempt by surviving Trojan soldiers to repel the invaders, the battle ends and the Greeks storm the inner palace only to find that Achilles has died just a few moments earlier. Funeral rituals are performed for him the next morning. The movie ends with Odysseus delivering the final words: If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles.