Continuity mistake: During the scene in which William Wallace is being executed, the camera pans the crowd and shows the ragged peasants staring in silence. An extra, who is a young woman with light hair and a dirty face and is standing near the front of the shot, stares directly at the camera for a few seconds while all the other extras look in a different direction towards the execution. (02:44:00)
Suggested correction: That is purposely done. It is meant to show her locking eyes with Wallace.
Factual error: In the night scene after Malcolm Wallace's funeral we see the silhouette of a man playing bag pipes. Argyle tells William that they are outlawed tunes played on outlawed pipes. However, the bagpipes have only ever been banned twice in Scotland: in 1560 after the Reformation and again in 1746 after the Battle of Culloden (evidence for bans on bagpipes in the 18th century is weak at best). In the late 13th Century the bagpipe enjoyed similar popularity in England, although Scottish bagpipes were particular to the region, and had an established cultural importance. Whether these early bagpipes were as strongly associated with highland culture as later forms of the instrument is unclear; lowland and border musical tradition is more closely linked with small pipes.
Continuity mistake: When heavy cavalry charge the Scots in the first major battle, the camera cuts to a quick shot of the Scots holding the long spears before Wallace actually gives the signal.
Continuity mistake: When Smythe and his two men watches Murron and Wallace as they walk away from each other, you can see Smythe sitting and both of his men are standing in front of him. When it cuts, both his men are standing behind him, and he is suddenly wiping his mouth. (00:39:35)
Plot hole: In the scene where William takes Murron for their initial ride, he shows up in pouring rain, yet all further shots show the two of them totally dry. The tone of her mother's voice when they get back suggests they did not spend the night together, and the whole sequence appeared in a couple hours. They could not have gone from soaking-wet to bone-dry that fast.
Revealing mistake: At the end of the battle of Stirling we see a Scotsman stab something with his sword and we can hear "Ouch". However there is no one on the ground where he stabs. He just rams the sword into the ground. Then he does it again and we hear "Ouch". Quite fun to watch. (01:27:55)
Revealing mistake: In the scene when William Wallace rides into Mornay's bedchamber to kill him, Mornay's body is replaced with a dummy several frames before the weapon strikes his face. The face is already disfigured.
Factual error: At the battle of Falkirk, the Irish soldiers fighting for Edward change sides at the last moment and go over to fight with the Scots. In reality, there were no Irish troops present at the battle. The only troublemakers amongst the English army were the contingent of Welsh bowmen who showed a reluctance to fight Wallace but this was more out of fear rather than sympathy for the Scots.
Continuity mistake: Just before Wallace picks up the archer to throw him over the ledge, you can the archer has a tin looking hat around his head with part of his suit covering his head below the hat. In the shot from in front of the ledge when Wallace is throwing him off the cap has now disappeared before he has been thrown. The following shot as he is falling its a bit hard to see his cap but you see it come off. (00:50:45)
Continuity mistake: When Hamish and Wallace are throwing stones, Hamish gets hit on the head. When he falls to the floor his head is bleeding, but in the next shot there is no blood and a very faint cut. (00:25:30)
Factual error: Scots did not wear the kilt until the 17th century. They wore the saffron shirt prior to that (in Braveheart's time).
Continuity mistake: At the end, when the main executioner bends down, his cloak shifts and you can see he is wearing brown shoes with red rubber soles. These rubber soled shoes are worn today and had not been invented yet.
Continuity mistake: When Wallace arrives at the home of Murron to invite her for a ride in the rain, the mother's head covering changes several times between shots. Sometimes it has the yellow fringe close to her face and other times it does not have the fringe at all. (00:29:40)
Continuity mistake: At the very end of the movie, watch the man standing to the left of the Bruce at Banickburn. In a shot from behind, there is a man with very short and curly hair. In the very next shot, from the front this time, a different man with very long and straight hair is to Robert's left.
Continuity mistake: When William realizes that the Bruce has been bought by the King, he gives up and lies on the ground. Earlier, he had been hit with an arrow and if you look hard you can see the arrow move when he lies down. This shows the arrow to be attached to his clothing and not actually piercing his body.
Continuity mistake: During the scene in which Steven (the crazy Irishman) joins up with William Wallace and they converse about killing Englishmen and such, pay attention to Steven's forehead. It's very obvious that the scene was composed of multiple takes because of the way that repeatedly throughout the scene Steven's hair changes. There are a couple of locks of hair that go from being stuck across the middle of his forehead to being off to the side with the rest of his hair. (01:09:00)
Factual error: Prince Edward was not a mincing homosexual stereotype. His homosexuality did not become obvious until after he became king and started taking male 'favourites'. Before then he was regarded as the perfect prince.
Continuity mistake: After Murron's funeral, Wallace kneels before her father, who at first makes a fist, then places his hand flat on Wallace's head. His palm is down, fingers outstretched. But when it cuts to the wide shot, he's suddenly gripping Wallace's hair in his fist.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the English on horseback charge the Scots, look at the lighting on the ground. One moment it appears to be sunny, and the next it is cloudy.
Continuity mistake: When Morrison bumps into an English soldier, he falls to the ground. At the same time he swings his sword from his right. When it cuts, he is on his legs swinging his sword from his left. (01:26:10)
