Kingdom of Heaven/Crusaders (2005)

It's hard to believe Ridley Scott's handsome epic won't become the cinematic touchstone of the Crusades for years to come. Kingdom of Heaven is greater than the sum of its parts, delivering a vital, mostly engrossing tale following Balian (Orlando Bloom), a lonely French blacksmith who discovers he's a noble heir and takes his father's (Liam Neeson) place in the center of the universe circa 1184: Jerusalem. Here, grand battles and backdoor politics are key as Scott and first-time screenwriter William Monahan fashion an excellent storyline to tackle the centuries-long conflict. Two forward-thinking kings, Baldwin (Edward Norton in an uncredited yet substantial role) and Saladin (Ghassan Massoud), hold an uneasy truce between Christians (who hold the city) and Muslims while factions champ at the bit for blood. There are good and evildoers on both sides, with the Knights Templar taking the brunt of the blame; Balian plans to find his soul while protecting Baldwin and the people. The look of the film, as nearly everything is from Scott, is impressive: his CGI-infused battle scenes rival the LOTR series and, with cinematographer John Mathieson, create postcard beauty with snowy French forests and the vast desert (filmed in Morocco and Spain). An excellent supporting cast, including Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, and David Thewlis, also help make the head and heart of the film work. Many critics pointed out that Bloom doesn't have the gravitas of Russell Crowe in the lead (then again, who does?), but it's the underdeveloped character and not the actor that hurts the film and impacts its power. Balian isn't given much more to do than be sullen and give an occasional big speech, alongside his perplexing abilities for warfare tactics and his wandering moral compass (whose sole purpose seems to be to put a love scene in the movie). Note: all the major characters except Neeson's are based on fact, but many are heavily fictionalized. --Doug Thomas Amazon.com

A great action movie about the fall of Jerusalem

The movie delivers the story of Balian of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom) the Frankish Crusader who ends up leading the defense of Jerusalem right before its fall to the Saracens under Saladin. The climatic battle sequence, the defense of Jerusalem, is one of many gruesome and exciting battle scenes throughout the movie. Kingdom of Heaven reminds me of other great epics like Braveheart, Gladiator, and Troy. If for nothing else, the battle sequences will make the movie for any action fan.

Spoilers below, but we all know who won, and still enjoy the movie.

Almost all of the main characters were real people. Balian did lead defense of Jerusalem. The King of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV, was a leper and did attempt to disinherit Guy of Lusignan. Reynald of Chatillon slaughtered Muslims to get rich and died by Saladin's own hand. However, many events have been changed to suit the drama of the movie. For instance, Balian actually fought at the Horns of Hattin, the battle that the Crusaders lose, and was captured. He was paroled by Saladin to tend to his ailing wife, the widow of the previous King of Jerusalem, Amaury I. So Balian was probably much older than he is portrayed in the movie and was not banging Sibylla, the King's sister. As long as you don't take the movie as historically accurate and enjoy it as historical fiction it's a great movie. The acting in the movie is well done especially by the supporting cast.

If the movie makes you interested in the subject, a good book to read is The Dream and the Tomb: A History of the Crusades by Robert Payne.
August 13, 2008

Visual Grandeur

This film is well worth seeing for its visual grandeur, accuracy of the battle scenes, and the general success of recreating the haunting quality of the doomed crusader state of Jerusalem, presided over by an unforgettable leper king. Ridley Scott's direction and the actng crew led by Orlando Bloom cannot be faulted. And this 4 DVD set is packed with fascinating material including an in depth look at the way Ridley Scott works. It's worth the price.

That said, the script is a turkey. It convincingly gives a human dimension & context for Salidin & his Arab hordes, a plus. But it fails to even consider, or even attempt to defend, the position of the Christian West and its reasons for getting involved in this part of the world centuries ago. The hardships faced by the Crusaders, simply, demanded great religious faith to make the quest worthwhile; here, they are generally considered rogues, not one of them is noble. Bloom's lead is a man who is simply on the run from the law, without any faith whatsoever. That doesn't cut it. There would have been plenty of places to run other than into the hottest spot on the globe. It leaves an emptiness at the center that is very modern & existential, but is simply not true, plus being too thin gruel to sustain the length of this film.

So why buy it? The visual & technical achievements. Let your eyes soak it up, and then go find a good chronicle of the period (several exist). You will imagine the true history much more accurately after viewing & reviewing this earnest directorial achievment. 3 and 1/2 stars. July 29, 2008

PROBLEMS WITH SIGHT AND SOUND

My husband and I only watched an hour of "Kingdom of Heaven," because we could not see or hear it. Possibly the dvd was defective, because the scenes were so dark, they were hard to see, and the volume was so low, we couldn't hear it.
I'm sure the story is marvelous, but I'll never know for sure. July 27, 2008

WHERE'S RUSSELL CROWE OR EVEN GERARD BUTLER WHEN YOU NEED THEM??

Kingdom of Boredom more like it.

Truly epic looking crusades flick has some eye popping battle scenes and looks gorgeous on Blu-Ray. Pity that it's such a colossal bore. Ridley Scott's a master artisan whose skills are fully on dosplay in this sumptious production- but even he's struggling to haul a good movie out of a terribly wobbly script and fly weight leading man.

There's definately a lot of quality in this elephantine film, including the stellar supporting cast and terrific action scenes, but it doesn't come together with any narrative drive or vigour. And Bloom simply lacks any real screen prescence or charisma to be the hero of this-and he appears much too young to be credible. He'll have you pining for Russell Crowe and (if your a die hard movie buff) Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous unproduced movie about the Crusades that was going to be directed by Paul Vehoeven.

July 26, 2008

Kingdom of Heaven (what was missed in the cut version)

What you will expect is a whole new movie that makes sense (sic)? It should never have been cut in the first place. When Kingdom of Heaven was cut up it was disjointed with the characters leaving many questions and even less answers. It was some time later that one of my Crusader re-enactor friends had to fill me in on the Director's Cut. It was an epiphany for me and my sons to suddenly see this beautiful movie come together in one of the great wide screen spectaculars (as it was meant to be)! The fact that "Gladiator" was such the hit, "Black Hawk Down", and other of Sir Ridley Scott's many great film artistry indicates to me that some malevolent forces were at work to undermine this particular work. I hope I am wrong, but history will attest that Sir Ridley's "Gladiator's" popularity with the film industry had to upset some of the brahmans to the point of putting the kibosh on this later work (Kingdom of Heaven).
I encourage everyone of the Sir Ridley Scott following to get the "Director's Cut" and enjoy this well made and meaningful movie to it's full extent! July 16, 2008

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