Scottish Independence: The 10 Best Movies About Scotland

Braveheart, 1995. Mel Gibson’s William Wallace leads his countrymen in the First War of Scottish Independence (in the 13th century, before secession wars were waged in ballot boxes). Bloody and rousing, Braveheart is the only “Scottish” movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture — because nothing says Scotland like an American-born Aussie's film shot largely in Ireland. 20th Century Fox

Trainspotting, 1996. Sex, drugs and raucous Ewan McGregor are just a few of the treats in Danny Boyle’s film of the novel by Edinburgsian Irvine Welch (and scripted by Glaswegian John Hodge). McGregor is Mark Renton, a heroin addict, self-described “bad person” and irresistible scamp making mischief with his mates in this rocket-fueled romp — A Hard Day’s Night for the wasted ’90s.Miramax

Dr. No, 1962. Ian Fleming visualized James Bond as an English gentleman with an Oxbridge education, but Edinburgh-born Sean Connery, who never went to university, forged the world’s first and lasting impression of 007: a sexy spy with a rogue's brogue. The Scotsman starred in five more "official" Bond films — From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever — and returned to the character in 1983 with an unofficial remake of Thunderball called Never Say Never Again.United Artists/Getty Images

Skyfall, 2012. He’s a Scotsman after all! Fifty years after Dr. No, and with Englishman Daniel Craig now playing 007, the James Bond series went to Scotland for a climactic sequence set in the spy’s ancestral home, Skyfall. The visit is hell on M (Judi Dench), but our hero survives to die another day.Francois Duhamel—United Artists

Highlander, 1986. “There can be only one.” Shuttling between the 16th-century Scotland and 20th-century New York City, this cult fantasy imagines a meeting of warrior “immortals.” To defeat the evil Kurgan (Ohio’s Clancy Brown), the heroic Scotsman Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert, an American raised in French-speaking Geneva) must imbibe the wisdom of his mentor Juan Sànchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (played by — Sean Connery!) Directed by music-video king Russell Mulcahy, with songs by Queen.20th Century Fox

Local Hero, 1983. Oil reserves, an issue in the Scottish election, are at stake in this charming political comedy about American power and Scots tenacity. A U.S. plutocrat (Burt Lancaster) has sent his assistant Mac (Peter Riegert) to buy an entire village for the site of an oil refinery. You can guess who wins, in the only film on this list to be written and directed by a Scotsman: Glasgow’s Bill Forsyth. Warner Bros

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, 1970. In Billy Wilder’s melancholy comedy, Holmes (Robert Stevens) and Dr. Watson (Colin Blakely) travel to Scotland for a glimpse of the Loch Ness Monster. Spoiler Alert: Nessie is really a small prototype submarine, devised by Sherlock’s brother Mycroft (Christopher Lee) and carrying an all-midget crew.United Artists/Getty Images

The Wicker Man, 1973. Paganism and human sacrifice flourish on the isolated Hebridean island of Summerisle, where the local lord (Christopher Lee) has May Day plans for a visiting detective (Edward Woodward). Scripted by Anthony Shaffer and directed by Robin Hardy, the movie inspired both the Iron Maiden song and the Wickerman music festival, held each July in Dundrennan.British Lion Films

Under the Skin, 2013. To harvest human meat for its home planet, an alien being lands in Scotland and takes the form of Scarlett Johansson. That’s quite a form, but in Jonathan Glazer’s nearly mute adaptation of Michael Faber’s novel, the highlands never looked so bleak, or Johansson so glum. Still, it’s nice to know Scotsmen are tasty. A24 Films

Brave, 2012.Pixar/Disney

Great Scot! The Top 10 Movies About Scotland

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