<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $110 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $215.3 million </Td> </Tr> <P> The Patriot is a 2000 American epic historical fiction war film directed by Roland Emmerich, written by Robert Rodat, and starring Mel Gibson, Chris Cooper, Heath Ledger, and Jason Isaacs . The film mainly takes place in rural Berkeley County, South Carolina, and depicts the story of an American Colonist, nominally loyal to the British Crown; in both South Carolina and North America; who, is swept into the American Revolutionary War when his family is threatened . Benjamin Martin is a composite figure the scriptwriter claims is based on four factual figures from the American Revolutionary War: Andrew Pickens, Francis Marion, Daniel Morgan, and Thomas Sumter . </P> <P> The film takes place during the events of the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War but attracted controversy over its fictional portrayal of historical British figures and atrocities . Professor Mark Glancy, teacher of film history at Queen Mary, University of London has said: "It's horrendously inaccurate and attributes crimes committed by the Nazis in the 1940s to the British in the 1770s ." While it is clear that the actions of then - Colonel Banastre Tarleton were certainly despicable, they were nowhere near the atrocities in the film, especially with the infamous "Burning church" scene, of which there is no historical or written record . Australian film critic David Edwards asserts that "this fictional story is set around actual events, but it is not a history of what America was, or even an image of what it has become--it's a dream of what it should be...The Patriot is a grand epic full of action and emotion...But it's also surprisingly insightful in its evaluation of the American ideal--if not the reality ." While, as critic Roger Ebert states, "None of it has much to do with the historical reality of the Revolutionary War". </P>

Who was mel gibson's character in the patriot based on