# Watching Rob Roy (1995) after a long time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377 "2012-01-23T06:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/21 "2012-01-23T21:29:26Z")
I own this movie, and there’s one mistake that is brutally, glaringly awful. When Rob Roy goes into the pub to kidnap Killearn, (“On your feet, Killearn”), there’s a flourescent bulb above his head plain as day. (I actually added this to the Goofs page in IMDb). ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/22 "2012-01-23T22:16:29Z")
Comparing the two movies- Braveheart and Rob Roy-- is bizarre to me. One is meant to be a historical epic, the other is a more personal revenge/justice story. They both feature kilts…thaaaat’s about where the comparison should end. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/23 "2012-01-23T22:28:35Z")
Watching it now. Good film. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/24 "2012-01-23T22:35:13Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > Maybe historically more accurate but that’s relative. The part where RR jumps off the bridge and the rope loops around the bads guys neck is a little ridiculous. That would have broken his neck or cruched his larynx, if not pulled his head completely off. And grabbing a sword blade so tightly so that your opponent can’t pull it back? I don’t know about that, either. I did like it when RR whacked with the villian with his sword, practically cutting him in half. I could see that happening. It’s been a long time since I saw it but isn’t Cunningham using a rapier? If so the blade wouldn’t be sharpened, and so could be grabbed. And Roy is a much more powerful man making this plausable in my view. Oh, and I agree it’s a great film. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/25 "2012-01-23T22:38:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Braveheart is more fun, Rob Roy is more historically accurate and better acted. Saying something is “more historically accurate than _Braveheart_” is not just setting the bar low, it’s getting a backhoe and digging a twenty foot pit, then burying the bar at the bottom of it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/26 "2012-01-23T22:45:17Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > It’s been a long time since I saw it but isn’t Cunningham using a rapier? If so the blade wouldn’t be sharpened, and so could be grabbed. IIRC, blood immediately starts welling from our hero’s hand when he grabs the blade. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/27 "2012-01-23T22:49:16Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > The only inaccurate historical point was that the Scots all wore shoes, which most of them would have sneered at in real life. Other than that, damn near perfect picture. It’s not shoes that Scottish people sneer at in in real life. > [@](#): > > Full disclosure: I own one of the kilts worn in the movie. 🙂 Well look at this. ---
**Author:** ![fspic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@fspic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fspic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/28 "2012-01-23T22:49:40Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > To be clear, the words and phrases mentioned by the OP are in the Scots language (Lallans), which is a Germanic language and is closely related to English (sometimes considered a dialect of English). > > Irish (Irish Gaelic, Gaeilge, Erse) is a Gaelic language. Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is closely related to Irish, but both are Celtic languages, not Germanic like Scots and English. The “Complaynt of Scotland” of about 1546-56 is an almost readable account written of the political and other doings of the time - probably by a bearded and kilt wearing tribesman of some education. Find it on the net. Very close to common English. By the same token southern English fishermen of the channel areas could sail into waters where they met Dutch who spoke their own dialect which was understandable. Except for the usual obscenities routinely presented in movies these days Rob Roy was a better than usual movie of a time not often presented in movies. But I do recall such a movie going back maybe to the fifties but on an Indians and cavalry scale. As regards shoes, there is a standard reference painting found on the subject of Scots warriors where one is shown with bare feet but sort of like argyle a womsn’s leg warmers on his lower legs. The greasy oily weaselish foppish villain was excellent. A standard and recent book reference on that general period quotes an Englishman as saying hat the rock cairns in which the Scots lived “would compare not unfavorably with some of the better dog kennels of English noblemen.” (speaking indirectly of clothing, where in heck did the thread on the new army uniform go? That’s how I found this site and I can’t dig it up - unless I got it mixed up with another one) ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/29 "2012-01-23T22:51:28Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > IIRC, blood immediately starts welling from our hero’s hand when he grabs the blade. Hah, I said it’s been a long time since I watched it… Still if you’re tough enough and your life was on the line I imagine you could still grab a sharpened blade. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/30 "2012-01-23T22:54:02Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > IIRC, blood immediately starts welling from our hero’s hand when he grabs the blade. Also, all of the wounds Archie inflicts are slashing wounds. He never stabs with his sword during the duel. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/31 "2012-01-23T23:00:04Z")
Damn my memory of the scene wasn’t great at all… ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/32 "2012-01-24T00:49:23Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > IIRC, blood immediately starts welling from our hero’s hand when he grabs the blade. I’ve always found it funny that it’s called _ **welling** _ when you’re bleeding. But yeah, seizing the blade was a desperate act and generally forbidden in competition but as the duke said, “There are more than champions here. I think these men hate the other.” ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/33 "2012-01-24T02:21:51Z")
Ah, here comes the bold Highlander. _ **No arse in his breeks** _ but too proud to tug his forelock. I know what arse and breeks mean but not the significance of the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/34 "2012-01-24T02:54:26Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Ah, here comes the bold Highlander. _ **No arse in his breeks** _ but too proud to tug his forelock. > > I know what arse and breeks mean but not the significance of the phrase. I took it to mean: “Here’s a jumped-up, piss-poor, piece of trash putting on airs.” ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/35 "2012-01-24T03:22:15Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > I took it to mean: “Here’s a jumped-up, piss-poor, piece of trash putting on airs.” I gathered that from the context but I still don’t have a handle on the etymology of ‘no arse in his breeks.’ ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/36 "2012-01-24T03:24:31Z")
Either he’s so poor that he’s so skinny he has no arse, or the seat of his pants is so threadbare as to be non-existent. I lean towards the former. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/37 "2012-01-24T04:13:11Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Either he’s so poor that he’s so skinny he has no arse, or the seat of his pants is so threadbare as to be non-existent. I lean towards the former. I can see why you might, but I think it’s almost certainly the latter. I’ve seen countless similar references to the state of a poor person’s clothes (very often specifically the seat of their trousers) but never a comment on the size of their buttocks. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/38 "2012-01-24T04:32:21Z")
Ahhh, Robert Roy McGregor. One of my favorites. I thought Jessica Lange’s performance for the scene after the rape where she says something like “If I can bear it to be done, you can bear it to keep silent” to Rob Roy’s brother was Oscar-worthy. I was very taken by the intensity of that scene. Excellent excellent movie and a couple notches above Braveheart in the actors performances. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/39 "2012-01-24T06:21:49Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Better than _Braveheart_? Hardly!! Just because Mel Gibson turned into a buffoon later in life doesn’t diminish the awesomeness of his greatest movie. \*Braveheart \*was the best successor yet to Orson Welles’ _Chimes At Midnight_. That’s the first time I’ve heard the Welles masterpiece spoken in the same sentence as Gibson’s film. I certainly hope it’s the last. **Roy** is indeed quite a bit better in just about every sense (except in the dismembering/disemboweling department) ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377/40 "2012-01-24T07:39:21Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > That’s the first time I’ve heard the Welles masterpiece spoken in the same sentence as Gibson’s film. I certainly hope it’s the last. **Roy** is indeed quite a bit better in just about every sense (except in the dismembering/disemboweling department) Now, to be fair, there is (was) a [statue of Mel Gibson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braveheart#Wallace_Monument) honoring his victory over the Enlgish at Stirling. :smack: That’s how important Mel Gibson is to Scotland. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-rob-roy-1995-after-a-long-time/610377.md?page=3)