| Director | Michael Caton-Jones |
|---|---|
| Budget | $28 million |
| Box office | $58.7 million |
The film is set in Scotland, 1713, with a fictionalised Robert Roy MacGregor, of Clan MacGregor, as its main protagonist. Although providing the Lowland gentry with protection against cattle rustling, he barely manages to feed his people. Hoping to alleviate their hunger and his poverty, MacGregor borrows £1,000 from James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, to establish himself as a cattle raiser and trader.
Wanting to leave England to flee legal troubles, his mysterious anglicized aristocratic relative Archibald Cunningham is sent to stay with Montrose. Cunningham is a fop and a supremely skilled swordsman, so Montrose makes money off Cunningham by making wagers on sword contests that Cunningham's haughty manner and effeminate bearing bring upon himself. Cunningham is also a violent sociopath and upon learning about MacGregor's money deal from Montrose's factor Killearn, he murders MacGregor's friend, Alan McDonald, to steal the money. MacGregor requests time from Montrose to find McDonald and the money. Montrose offers to waive the debt if MacGregor will testify falsely that Montrose's rival John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll is a Jacobite. MacGregor refuses and Montrose vows to imprison him in the tolbooth until the debt is repaid. Knowing that he must leave Mary and their children for his and their safety, Mary and MacGregor find a little time to have a passionate partaking together alone in the hills above their home. After MacGregor flees, Montrose seizes MacGregor's land to cover the debt, declaring him an outlaw and ordering Cunningham to bring him in "broken, but not dead". Redcoats slaughter MacGregor's cattle, burn his croft, and Cunningham rapes his wife Mary. Mary understands that Cunningham intends to flush her husband out of hiding and makes his brother, Alasdair, who arrives too late to save her, swear to conceal knowledge of the rape.
MacGregor refuses to permit his clan to wage war on Montrose, and instead decrees to harm Montrose financially. Betty, a maidservant at Montrose's estate, has become pregnant with Cunningham's child. When Killearn tells Montrose, Betty is dismissed from service and rejected by Cunningham. Betty seeks refuge with the MacGregors, revealing that she overheard Killearn and Cunningham plot to steal the money. To build a case against Cunningham, MacGregor abducts Killearn and imprisons him upon Factor's Island in Loch Katrine. Mary promises Killearn that he will be spared if he testifies against Cunningham, but Killearn taunts her with her rape. Realizing that Mary is pregnant, he threatens to tell MacGregor that Cunningham may be the father if she does not release him, leading Mary and Alasdair to kill him.
Montrose tells Cunningham that he suspects who really stole the money but does not care. Cunningham and the redcoats burn the Clan's crofts. MacGregor refuses to take the bait, but Alasdair attempts to snipe Cunningham and hits a redcoat. The redcoats shoot both Alasdair and another Clan member, Coll. Alasdair finally tells MacGregor about Mary's rape. Taken prisoner, MacGregor accuses Cunningham of murder, robbery and rape. Cunningham confirms the charges, and gleefully beats and tortures MacGregor. The following morning, Montrose orders MacGregor hanged from a nearby bridge. MacGregor loops the rope binding his hands around Cunningham's throat and then jumps off the bridge; he escapes when the rope is cut to save Cunningham.
Mary gains an audience with the Duke of Argyll and exposes Montrose's plan to frame him. Moved by MacGregor's integrity, the Duke grants the family asylum on his estate at Glen Shira. MacGregor arrives, at first upset by Mary's unwillingness to inform him of her rape or her pregnancy but later willing to raise the child as his own which they both understand it could well be. The Duke arranges a duel between MacGregor and Cunningham, wagering Montrose that if MacGregor lives, his debt will be forgiven and that if he dies, the Duke will pay his debt. Montrose agrees and Cunningham and MacGregor vow that no quarter will be asked or given. Armed with a light and swift small sword-like rapier, Cunningham repeatedly wounds MacGregor, who appears to quickly exhaust himself swinging a heavy broadsword. MacGregor seems defeated, but when Cunningham showboats to deliver a theatrical killing blow, MacGregor seizes his enemy's sword-point. As Cunningham struggles to free his blade, one stroke from MacGregor's broadsword fatally splits Cunningham's torso. Now free of debts and with his honor intact, he returns home to his wife and children.