of the two scottish historical epics that were released in 1995, this one is definitely my favourite! (braveheart was a hokey bore - fight me). this was an enjoyably flamboyant and swashbuckling adventure to watch; and dodgy accents side, there are some excellent performances to be found here. john hurt, jessica lange and brian cox are all on top form but of course it's tim roth who steals the show as one of the most punchably vile villains i've seen in a while. liam neeson turns in a reliable ass-kicking performance, although it has to be said, character wise, rob roy isn't the sharpest tool in the box. i watched the film with my boyfriend who spent a large part of the film rooting for roth's villain for the simple reason that he played a really smart game and rob roy just keep making pretty stupid decisions that ultimately hurt his family. a note on much talked about sword fight at the end - i was kinda disappointed with it to be honest, despite its fame as one of the best sword fights in cinematic history. why? well, the towering neeson first selects a laughably heavy sword to wield during the fight, the heft of which he visibly struggles to manoeuvre throughout the match. meanwhile, the smaller, highly skilled and spritely roth smartly wields a lightweight rapier and puts in hella work, putting neeson through his paces and just as he is about to honourably win the fight, neeson takes a dirty troll-like swing at him with his stupid-huge sword and cuts the dude in half. for a guy who spends half the movie espousing the importance of integrity and honour, it wasn't exactly an honourable kill. if i had my way, lange would have been the one to deliver sweet, sweet retribution after that horrendous rape while the dullard roy stayed at home with the kids. oh well, at least she got to stick it to brian cox.