Review of Kingdom of Heaven (2005) by Mickticken — 21 Jan 2021

It's easy to look at the 63 score and be angered that such a great film was mediocre to critics. I'm obviously referring to the theatrical cut which ran 45 min shorter than the intended cut Scott eventually made.

The cut for theaters is a weird attempt to capture the success of Lord Of the Rings, but also try to make a profound message. In casting Orlando Bloom as a sexy and heroic knight like Aragorn, the marketers thought they could get away a shallow cut of a film with enough of that LOTR goodness.

the difference between LOTR and kingdom's theater cut is that Rings is a 9 /12 hour long gargantuan film series with plenty of time to develop characters and world. Kingdom did not have the time or skill as it seemed to pull that off half as well as LOTR.

Thankfully the DVD boom of the 00's allowed director Sir Ridley Scott to recreate the masterpiece from his early studio cut. now the characters are deep, interesting and well nuanced, but still accessible to wider audiences.

Balian of Ibelin is a great hero to root for and his journey is satisfying to sit through. But the biggest beneficiary is the atmosphere which is so much grander and robust compared to the theater version.

The world of the crusades is bustling and energizing, and it doesn't seem that terrible by modern standards. This is important because there is a battle later on that makes your commitment to Jerusalem so much more emotionally and dramatically investing.

The only stumble across both cuts is the action. The themes of the story are intense and mature, and active thought is required to understand the complexities. Which makes the gallons of blood sprayed on people's faces all the more distracting.

Combined the cartoonishly over-the-top violence with a rapid cutting style and the action enters the realm of incomprehensibility. And it's a damn shame too, because this is one of the greatest historical epics out there.

Completely worth a watch for the atmosphere alone, Kingdom Of Heaven is a triumph of artistry over cynical studio decisions. I fully believe the word of mouth for this film would of meant a great box office success for Scott.

It's not the length that allowed LOTR: ROTK to gross over a billion dollars, its was the artistry.