Kingdom Of Heaven

Kingdom Of Heaven movie review: starring Orlando Bloom

Kingdom Of Heaven

Every film that Ridley Scott makes is a lavish visual treat and Kingdom Of Heaven, following Black Hawk Down & before that, Gladiator, is no exception. It's simply exquisite, a genuine historical epic with:

stunning cinematography
a cast of thousands
great sets &
sensational arabic-tinged music by Harry Gregson-Williams

And yet Kingdom Of Heaven was a box-office fizzer in the USA, even with Mr. Eye-Candy himself, Orlando Bloom (Balian) as the star and memorable performances from:

Liam Neeson (Godfrey of Libelin, Balian's father)
David Thewles (Hospitalier) &
Ghassan Massoud (Saladin)

Why?

Well, there are a number of probable reasons:

Orlando Bloom is no Russell Crowe and doesn't cut it as a charismatic leader of desperate men
Balian's whole blacksmith-to-warrior-statesman-in-3-easy-steps transition is a little hard to believe &
his romance with Sybilla (Eve Green) seems a little imposed upon the script

Kingdom Of Heaven Trailer

The movie centers around the battle for Jerusalem, known as The Kingdom Of Heaven to Moslems, Christians & Jews. However, other than stating it, there seems little to connect the movie goer with the intensity of commitment to the city that members of the different faiths might have felt.

Consequently, Jerusalem just looks, like a dirty, crowded city...stuck in the middle of nowhere, rather than the most important trading post between the East and the West where Knowledge in Science, Medicine, Spices & Metaphysics could be found, unlike anywhere else on Earth.

Further, both the Christians and the Arabs seem to have such ambivalence for the city, it seem as if they all think Jerusalem isn't really worth fighting for. Now that becomes a problem in the movie because Modern Ambivalent Man or not, we need to care...and in The Kingdom Of Heaven we don't.

The story centers around Balian, a blacksmith, the bastard-son of Godfrey, a nobleman from Jerusalem, who is also a trusted frind of the king there, Baldwin lV (Edward Norton). Out of the blue, Godfrey comes to find Balian and invites him to join him in the Holy Land. Balian declines, still mourning the recent death of his wife and knowing nothing of his father. When he discovers that the local priest has defiled his dead wife's corpse he murders the clergyman and flees to the Holy Land with Godfrey, who unfortunately dies soon after his arrival.

Balian takes over the running of his father, Godfrey's estate and soon meets Sybilla, the King's sister and the wife of the despotic Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas), a man who will become king once the present king dies, who everybody is well aware will then immediately instigate war with the Arabs.

Learning of Sybilla's connection with Balian, King Baldwin, knowing he will die soon and in order to avert war, suggests murdering de Lusignan so that Balian can subsequently marry Sybilla, and govern Jerusalem as a just king. When Balian declines, having killed once before, his conscience vote is a monumental decision, one which will probably result in hundreds of thousands of innocent people, on both sides, dying.

When it was released, Kingdom Of Heaven's strongly critical stance on Hawks (on both sides) instigating war in the Middle East (albeit 1000 years ago), didn't sit well with an American public trying to justify its own war in the Middle East.

The deliberately problematic casting of Ghassan Massoud as the lanky and sophisticated Saladin, the leader of the Arabs, who bears a more than passing resemblance to Osama Bin Laden didn't help matters either. Hardest to take of all was the perception that most of the Arabs simply appeared too noble and most of the Christians too vile.

However, given those reactions, I have to say that I still really enjoyed Kingdom Of Heaven. It looks sumptuous, far more impressive than Troy (which looked really good) and on the bonus DVD, the meticulous work behind costumes, the design, the subtle CGI special effects etc. is demonstrated with such pride that when one realises just how much work went into its making, Kingdom Of Heaven becomes even more impressive.

Kingdom Of Heaven DVD

"...This film has it all:

the dirty warriors
the dangers of the road
the vast armies
the blood
the injuries etc.

You are right there with the soldiers in the dirt and through the arrows, and you see the strategy through the eyes of the leaders. You also die trampled under your horse for a split second. As for authenticity, this feature should win an Oscar. It was a treat!..." Amazon reviewer Monica Black

"...The photography is just phenomenal and it's worth viewing this film just for that. Imagine a battle with 200,000 warriors on side of the muslims alone. It's a violent film and very realistic, dirty battle scenes..." Amazon reviewer scherf.com

"...With all that is currently going on in the world today, the repercussions could have been very explosive had Ridley and screenwriter William Monahan not been able to carefully navigate the treacherous political and social waters inherent in this subject. That he has succeeded in mounting and directing a film that is both visually exciting and thoughtfully contemporary only makes his achievement more outstanding..." Amazon reviewer Michael Acuna

Kingdom Of Heaven, The Director's cut DVD

"...This movie was butchered in the theatrical release, but this director's cut is 5 stars. For all the praise Gladiator got, there is much more to Kingdom Of Heaven..." Amazon reviewer J. Greg Matthews

"...The Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut...is a drastic improvement over the theatrical release. This extensive 194-minute version brings the film back to Scott's original vision, maintaining an impressive balance of history, plot, and believable period re-enactments and battle scenes. The best way to describe the improvements on the extended version is the film is now able to breathe a bit more, it's less choppy, and it has stronger character development..." Amazon blurb

Kingdom Of Heaven soundtrack

"...Plain and simple this is a haunting score from start to finish..." Amazon reviewer spider-n-vinegaroons

"...What makes a score great, is the ability of the composer to musically relate to the characters of the movie and become not necessarily a separate element, but a part of the whole. If the score says just as much as the characters, then it is successful and Harry Gregson-Williams' Kingdom of Heaven score is a real character in this epic film..." Amazon reviewer J.K.Moser

For anyone interested in film-making Kingdom Of Heaven is a treat and a half. For die-hard liberals it's great. For me? Well, I understand Ridley Scott and writer William Monahan's intentions and perhaps even share them...but an even better movie would be how he raised $80 million from a bunch of suits to do get away with making it.

Orland Bloom interview on Kingdom of Heaven

The Making Of Kingdom Of Heaven book

"...Kingdom Of Heaven: The Ridley Scott Film And The History Behind The Story is the definitive film documentary of "Kingdom of Heaven", the large-scale historical epic about the Crusades that pitted the forces of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem against the armies of the Saracen general Saladin...This informative guide to the film and its making is enthusiastically recommended for fans of the film, as well as professional, academic, and community library Cinematic Studies reference collections." Midwest Book Review