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DVD Kingdom of Heaven (Full Screen Edition)
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
Review(s): DVD Kingdom of Heaven (Full Screen Edition)
Kingdom of Heaven: A Journey Back in Time
Spectacular! Marvelous! Bravo! I watched it once-then twice, and I'll be watching it again and again. If you're interested in the Crusades, medieval life, Saladin, battlement, and the history of Jerusalem, you need to buy this DVD. I was greatly impressed with each character. Each one of them brought a special link to the movie to form the perfect chain of characters. Orland Bloom was fabulous as Balian. Well done.
J.Pinkerton
The Templar Knight, Book One
great movie
After a few negative comments (esp. about the acting ability of Orland Bloom) I wondered about this one, but decided to purchase it anyway and I am very pleased that I did. People ought to give the young man a break. Not only is he exceedingly handsome, he isn't that bad of an actor. He does well with the few lines of script that he has been given. His facial expressions tell all and that is what he had to work with. This is a good movie with much to interest those who enjoy history. We can only learn from history and we should pursue it. Ridly Scott really worked to make this as historically accurate as possible and he lets us know (in the great accompanying book) just where he padded a character out to give it more in the movie. There is a lot of violence (but there was then), very little bad language, nothing else too objectionable. I am glad to add this one to my movie collection.
Personal power, not religion, was the basis for this 12th century holy war.
I've had a stuffy nose and head cold all week and I didn't want to watch anything too serious. Some people would reach for a romantic comedy at this time. Not me. To me, there is nothing like a silly swashbuckler with a big theme, huge battle scenes, and a bit of romance. This 2005 film, Kingdom of Heaven, met that goal perfectly. All I had to do was sit back and watch heroes and villains and lots of pomp in a rather contrived story about good and evil. And whether the film is historically accurate or really happened this way makes little difference. After all, the only reason I was watching it was so I could sit back, relax and kill a few hours before going to bed.
The film is set in the 12th century and it's about Muslims and Christians fighting for control of Jerusalem. Orlando Bloom is cast as the young blacksmith in France who is the illegitimate son of a knight, played by Liam Neeson. He teaches his son to fence and to be honorable and then gets murdered. The young man now has his quest in front of him. He will go to Jerusalem and fight for the forces of good. Of course there are challenges along the way - like getting shipwrecked in desert (yes, the desert) and saving the life of an Arab who we all know will show up later in the film. The king of Jerusalem is Christian and is trying to keep peace in the land. However, he is dying of leprosy and soon there will be a fight for his throne. He has a beautiful sister though, played by Eva Green. Alas, though, she is married to a Christian bad guy. And after Orlando Bloom falls in love with her, he refuses to have her divorce the bad guy and marry him because he feels it is wrong. She's a terrible actress but she has beautiful blue eyes and wears great costumes. The one romantic scene surely could pass any censor. Maybe that's because the producers wanted to attract a Muslim audience.
Anyway, the film plays out as I expected. It's very politically correct and tries to show that the fighting was more about personal power than religion. Jeremy Irons is cast as the good king's advisor. He's a good actor as were most of the others. There was good cinematography too. But the battle scenes were very similar to every other battle scene I've ever seen. And the story seemed to lack an electric charge. I did like it though because it kept my interest. But it really is boring. So don't bother.
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