Stone of Destiny 2008

     This film is based on a true story about Ian Hamilton and he is a dedicated nationalist.  He reignited Scottish national pride in the 1950’s with his daring raid on the Heart of England.  He brought back the Stone of Scone to Scotland.  Four young Glaswegian students outwitted the British authors in 1950.  They were successful in bring back the Stone of Scone, this is a beloved symbol of Scottish pride.  It was returned to its country of origin.

    This is a simple tale but inspiring.  Four college students brought back the stone, three men and one woman.  They risked arrest by the British police and also the possibility of being expelled from university.  There are some very funny moments in this film despite the seriousness of the event.  The young woman gets very ill and one of the men rents a room at a bed-and-breakfast.  He said she is his sister, she just needed to sleep and she did recover quickly.  The police come by and wondered what is going on?  The key to one of the cars is lost and there was a possibility of having to break into it with a LOT of noise??  Another problem is that they needed two cars because of the weight of the stone.  A part of the stone broke apart after they took it out from under the coronation chair.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)  

96 min, Adventure directed, written by Charles Martin Smith and written by Ian Hamilton with Charlie Cox, Kate Mara, Stephen McCole, Ciaron Kelly, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Peter Mullan, Brenda Fricker, Juliet Cadzow, Alex Donald, John Comerford, Richard Addison, Danielle Stewart, Suzanne Dance, Pauline King.
Note:  Imdb 6.8 out of 10 with 3,549 views, Rotten Tomatoes 53% with 17 critics 58% with 1,786 user ratings, eyeforfilm.co.uk 1 1/2* out of 5* Scott Macdonald, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 329 ratings.  

Special Note:  Filmed in Glasgow University, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Arbroath, Angus, Scotland, UK; Bridgend, Wales, UK; Glenfinnan, Viaduct, Fort William, Highland, Scotland, UK; London, England, UK; Oakshaw street East, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK; Paisley Abbey, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK.

Special Note:  John Josselyn was one of the men who went with Ian Hamilton to the field to recover the stashed stone.  He was the 21st great-grandson of King Edward I.  Robert Carlyle in the role of John McCormick, also starred in Hamish Macbeth 1995.  The final episode of this show dealt with a theft of the Stone of Destiny.  All of the the external night scenes and interior scenes were shot at Paisley Abbey and not Westminster Abbey.  This is a joint UK/Canadian film.  The Stone of Destiny is also the name of a video game for PC, iPhone, iPad.

History:  The real stone is said to be made from marble and this stone is the one that was taken to Westminster Abbey by Edward I in 1296.  The stone is an ancient symbol of Scotland’s monarchy and used for centuries in the inauguration of its kings.  It is seen and felt to be a scared object of Scotland, it is not currently in Scotland but in Westminster Abbey, UK.  The English are keeping the stone to signify power over Scotland.  It is kept below the coronation chair in the Abbey.  According to Scottish legend the stone is a sandstone slab used by Jacob as a pillow when he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven.  It was brought to Scotland though Egypt, Spain and Ireland.