Physical Media Releases (Braveheart) Braveheart (1995)
Braveheart has been issued on every major home video format since its 1995 theatrical release. The principal U.S. distributor is Paramount Home Entertainment; international rights are held by 20th Century Fox / Disney. The 178-minute theatrical cut is the only cut in circulation; there is no extended or director's cut.
VHS and Laserdisc (1996)
The first home video release was a two-tape VHS set from Paramount Home Video in March 1996, timed to the run-up to the 68th Academy Awards. The split between tapes occurred at the Edinburgh knighting (beat 26), with tape one running through Wallace's appointment as Guardian and tape two opening at the squabbling-nobles scene that followed. The transfer was 4:3 letterbox, with the Panavision anamorphic frame fully preserved (against the era's frequent pan-and-scan default).
A Paramount Laserdisc release followed in May 1996 in widescreen-only format, with the same letterbox transfer. The Laserdisc included the theatrical trailer and a brief electronic press kit interview with Gibson; it was the first home release to attempt any supplementary material.
DVD — Single-Disc Theatrical (1997)
The first DVD release came in August 1997 as a single-disc Paramount edition with the same theatrical cut, an anamorphic 16:9 transfer for the new widescreen displays, and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Supplementary material was minimal: theatrical trailer, an electronic press kit clip, and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
DVD — "Special Collector's Edition" (1999)
Paramount issued a two-disc Special Collector's Edition in October 1999 with substantially expanded supplementary material. The set included a feature-length commentary by Mel Gibson (in Braveheart), the original theatrical trailer, a 30-minute "Alba Gu Brath: The Making of Braveheart" featurette, a Tom Petty music video, and a series of Gibson-narrated production photo galleries. The Gibson commentary remains the only feature-length commentary the film has had on any release; he discusses storyboarding the Stirling sequence, the casting of Patrick McGoohan (in Braveheart), the scoring decisions with James Horner (in Braveheart), and the choice not to attempt period accents.
"The 1999 Special Edition commentary is the only piece of long-form Gibson material on the film. It is essential listening for anyone trying to understand what he was actually trying to do. The historical-accuracy questions get the most attention. The structural questions — why Stirling is on a flat plain, why Falkirk is staged as a single shot — get less, but they are there." — Stephen Pizzello, American Cinematographer (2003, archived)
Blu-ray — Sapphire Series (2009)
Paramount released Braveheart on Blu-ray for the first time in September 2009 in the studio's "Sapphire Series" format, with a new 1080p transfer supervised by John Toll (in Braveheart). The transfer corrected several color-timing issues that had bothered Toll on the 1999 DVD; the Highland palette in the Falkirk sequence in particular was re-graded to match Toll's intended slate-and-peat tones.
The Blu-ray retained the 1999 commentary and added a new making-of documentary, "A Writer's Journey," featuring Randall Wallace (in Braveheart) walking the Edinburgh research-trip route that produced the screenplay (see Production History (Braveheart)). The disc also added a new Gibson interview, recorded in 2008, on the film's reception and the 13-year arc through The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto.
Blu-ray — 20th Anniversary Steelbook (2015)
Paramount issued a 20th Anniversary Steelbook edition in May 2015 with the same 2009 transfer, the existing Gibson commentary, and a new 30-minute retrospective featuring Brendan Gleeson (in Braveheart), Catherine McCormack (in Braveheart), and Angus Macfadyen (in Braveheart) discussing their involvement. The retrospective is the only post-2000 piece of substantial supplementary material featuring multiple cast members; Sophie Marceau (in Braveheart) and Patrick McGoohan (who had died in January 2009) did not participate.
4K UHD (2018, 2024)
Paramount released the film on 4K UHD in May 2018 with a new transfer scanned from the original camera negative at 4K resolution. The HDR grade was supervised by John Toll, who reportedly did a third color-timing pass on the Falkirk and Stirling sequences specifically. The 4K UHD includes Dolby Vision and HDR10 grades, Dolby Atmos audio, and the same 2009 supplementary package.
A 4K UHD steelbook was reissued in 2024 with no new transfer but additional Steve Mirkovich and Steven Rosenblum interviews recorded for the anniversary; the editing-process material is the most substantial new supplementary content since the 2009 Blu-ray.
Soundtrack and isolated score
The James Horner score has been issued separately on multiple formats. The original 1995 soundtrack album from Decca Records contains 18 tracks at approximately 78 minutes; an expanded 2-disc "deluxe edition" was issued by La-La Land Records in 2015 with the full score and additional source cues. The expanded edition is the standard reference for film-music study and includes liner notes by Daniel Schweiger.
"The La-La Land 2015 expanded edition is the score in its complete form. The 1995 album was a selection. The expansion is what Braveheart sounds like as a structural document, not as a hit-singles compilation." — Daniel Schweiger, Film Music Magazine (2015, archived)
Cuts in circulation
There is one cut. The 178-minute theatrical version is the only version that has ever been released on any format. Mel Gibson and Steven Rosenblum have both stated in interviews that no longer cut exists in any form — what was shot was largely what was kept, and the cuts that were made during post-production were of the kind that get tightened back to nothing rather than restored. There is no Stirling-Bridge-with-bridge sequence cut for time; there is no Andrew Moray sequence cut for time; there is no Wallace-in-France sequence cut for time. The 178 minutes is the film.