Animal welfare concerns

While the Battle of Stirling Bridge is an amazing sequence, the scene upset some viewers for the perceived brutal treatment of the horses.

However, Gibson insisted the animals were treated well, and even sent footage from the set to an animal rights charity in order to prove the horses were never at risk.

He recalled he told the cast and crew of the flick: "Before every take, I'd go, 'Remember the S word! What's the S word?', And they'd all go, 'Safety!' I said if anybody hurt anyone I'd kill them."

The director ensured the animals could not be harmed by swapping them out for mechanical horses for the spear scenes.