Review of Kingdom of Heaven (2005) by Liam G — 17 Nov 2014

Kingdom of Heaven (2005).

This is another great Ridley Scott movie and one of my favorites. What is it about how Ridley Scott does the dark ages? He just puts you there so nicely. I love that about him. What I don't like is that every few years he comes out with a new Director's Cut of his movies. It's gotten to the point that Scott will film four hours worth of movie, just so he can re-release it with new stuff edited in.

When I upgraded to the BluRay version of this movie, the 144 minute version went to 194 butt-numbing minutes. Personally, the theatrical version was just fine and the added parts didn't really do much for the movie. They were nice but did we really need it? I don't think so. If you've got the DVD version, especially the one with the extras disc, don't feel like you're missing out by not having this version.

A village blacksmith, Balian (Orlando Bloom) is confronted with his estranged Father, Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson) and is asked to come to the Crusades with him. Filled with the loss of his Wife's suicide and wanting to make a new life for himself, he follows along.

He learns to become a knight and hold onto his moral center despite all of the radicals around him. He also meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman, the princess Sibylla (Eva Green).

Although this is not historically accurate, it does show us how things may have been perceived during the Crusades from both the Christian and Muslim perspectives of King Baldwin (Edward Norton) and Saladin (Ghassan Massoud), and it is quite a swashbuckler in the bargain.

Plus it deals with the honor of a knight to do right, even if it isn't the easiest way out.