5/5 Kingdom of Heaven
  by Gary Carson (Rolla, Missouri)
I've got mixed feelings about Ridley Scott's Medieval epic Kingdom of Heaven. On the one hand, it's a great movie and I've probably watched it half a dozen times so far. On the other hand, it seems like just another Hollywood propaganda film loaded with the same old "progressive" drivel we've been hearing for decades now. In this case, the message is pretty simple: organized religion is bad; multiculturalism is good. Luckily, the movie's good enough to make it worth watching despite the propaganda.

Briefly, Kingdom of Heaven tells the story of Balian, a blacksmith in France who joins his crusader father in the Holy Land, seeking forgiveness for murdering a priest and redemption for his wife who committed suicide. Knighted by his dying father, Balian enters the service of Baldwin, the leper king of Jerusalem, and ends up defending the city from a siege by the Muslims under Saladin after Baldwin dies and the Templars start a war under the new king, the evil Guy of Lusignan.

The movie presents Catholics as greedy, scheming, hypocritical, cowardly and strategically inept war-mongers who justify their atrocities as the "will of God." Muslim leaders like Saladin, on the other hand, along with pure knights like Balian, are shown as noble, enlightened types struggling to sustain a multicultural "Kingdom of Heaven" in Jerusalem where everybody lives side by side in joyful harmony regardless of race, creed, religion, blah, blah, blah. As usual, the forces of enlightenment and tolerance are surrounded by the forces of darkness--the evil Templars in particular. The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon get a very bad rap in this flick.

Now, I'm no fan of the Catholic Church and I don't know enough about the Crusades (yet) to say if any of this is historically accurate, but I really doubt if Twelfth Century Jerusalem was ruled by politically-correct liberals and it's hard to believe that Saladin was all that interested in living in peace and harmony with the Christian invaders. The not-so-hidden message in Kingdom of Heaven is basically just your standard "progressive liberalism" and New World Order multiculturalism dressed up in Medieval armor. In this sense, the movie seems completely ahistorical, a good example of Hollywood projecting its values onto the past.

Having said all that, however, I've got to admit that I really like this flick. Ridley Scott's a good director and there are moments in Kingdom of Heaven which achieve a real suspension of disbelief. Balian's suicidal cavalry charge in front of Raynald's castle; the coronation of Guy of Lusignan; the opening scenes in France; the funeral of King Baldwin, the leper: All of these scenes have a Medieval feel about them which makes Kingdom of Heaven one of the better historical movies I've seen. Ridley Scott (as usual) gets carried away with CGI effects--the armies are bigger, the siege machines more powerful than they could ever have been in real life--but the battle scenes are well done for the most part, very violent and grisly at times. You can preach Tolerance all you like, but people come for the battles. Movie violence is the Twenty-First Century equivalent of the gladiatorial games and Kingdom of Heaven delivers lots of blood and action.

The movie didn't do as well as it should have when it first came out, mostly, I think, because people saw it as "pro-Muslim" or at least pushing a message of tolerance towards Muslims which ran counter to the official anti-Muslim propaganda pouring out of Washington and the mainstream media at the time. To make things worse, the theatrical release apparently cut a lot of material which developed the background and made the themes more clear. To be fair to Ridley Scott, the studios forced him to cut the original movie from 194 minutes down to two hours, so over an hour of footage is missing in the original release, which is the only version I've seen so far. In any case, it's worth checking out. Just be aware that many of the values expressed in Kingdom of Heaven have more to do with Twentieth Century Hollywood than Medieval Jerusalem.

[...]

5/5 Fantastic historical movie
  by Henry C. Wolford
I can watch this movie over and over again. It is wonderfully made, historically interesting, and insightful about a formulative era of the World's religions.

4/5 Kingdom of Heaven looks heavenly colorful on Blu-Ray
  by Francisco Pizarro (Puerto Rico)
I was very dissapointed the Kingdom of Heaven was overlooked at the box office. Following the success of both Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, Ridley's Scott's tale of war and religion seemed like a sure thing when it hit theaters but it flopped, which is too bad because this is a very good film.

Kingdom of Heaven is Ridley's Scott's way of telling us that things haven't changed as much they sometimes seem. A thousand years ago we used to slaughter each other -in the name of God of all things- and a millenium later we still do. Of course, the film delves deeper into the issue by depicting the inner-struggle we all go through when it comes to this subject in the form of the main character, Balian, played by Orlando Bloom; (The Lord of the Rings) a man trying to find answers about himself, who by a twist of fate is thrown right in the middle of the religious and political battle in which he had nothing to do with. Balian goes from a grieving blacksmith in France to a Baron and knight trying to protect an ideal that might have never really existed.

Kingdom of Heaven arrives on Blu-Ray in the form of a Director's Cut with added content that did not make it to theaters. Apparently, the film was substantially trimmed to keep the running time friendly. Those who have seen this film know that the film is plenty long to begin with. This edition is not a series of "missing" or deleted scenes theat were put back but the restoration of major storylines that add a lot of weight to the overall film. If anything, the Directors Cut helps us to understand the circumstances that throw Balian into the events of the film. I don't want to give away anything to those who haven't watched the added content. Let's just say that the story and relationship between Balian and his father Godfrey is much more involved than it appears on the theatrical release. As a fan of the film I enjoyed the added content but must warn: We are talking about a substantial addition that considerably to the running time. Invariably the pacing becomes much slower, especially at the beggining where Scott takes his time explaining things this time around. It might not be for everyone.

I mention this because of the major flaw of this particular release: The original version of the film is not included here and apart from a theatrical trailer, there are no special features either. This is unacceptable. One of the major advantages of Blu-Ray technology is the added space. Why not have both versions of the film? And if you are going to just put the Director's Cut in there then at least put in some content that explains the logic behind this release in the form of commentaries, documentaries and the like. In that respect this disc is severly lacking.

In the High Definition front, this version of Kingdom of Heaven is a true revelation. When I saw this film in theaters and the (many)subsequent viewings on cable and DVD, I was curious about the color palette used in the film. The entire film seemed to be covered in a bluish hue reminiscent of the opening battle scene in Gladiator. Since it was consistent at the theater, DVD and cable TV I thought it was Scott's original intent. However, watching this film on Blu is like watching it for the first time. The colors simply come alive in HD. Primary colors (which were conspicously absent previously) come alive. Off the top of my head comes to mind the fight Balian has right after the shipwreck, where his oponent's clothing now literaly glows, the yellows popping out in the desert setting. There are other areas like the greens at the beggining of the film which take place in France and Balian's new inherited home. Heck, even the crab one of Godfrey's men puts in front of Balian shows reds I hadn't noticed before. I fail to recall a more perplexing change in color quality from theater to Blu-Ray. But colors are not the only thng that benefit from this HD release. Textures come alive as well. Maybe I simply wasn't paying attention but did you notice that the King of Jerusalem's mask has a gotee? Neither did I but in this release, it is clearly visible. That is the level of detail that has been achieved on this release.

Kingdom of Heaven is a very good film and they have made a wonderful transfer to HD for it. However the lack of special features and the almost criminal omision of the theatrical version keep me from giving it full marks.

5/5 A perfect embellishment to any DVD collection.
  by Darin C. Gacuzana
I have both the theatrical release version and this significantly longer version.
I always wondered why 20th Century Fox did not simply have an intermission like the good ole days and keep Ridley Scott's masterpiece the way he created it. Theatre owners would have sold more concessions. More profit.

Eva Green fans will --absolutely-- want the longer version.

I'm happy to have both.

The story helps us to appreciate what was happening during the "Crusades," and there are ample historical perspectives from comments by historians on the bonus disc(s), which help the viewer to know what parts of the film were dramatic elements having no basis in fact, and which parts were historically accurate as much as is possible. The film helps modern viewers to better understand why things in the Middle East are the way they are now. More importantly, it also provides a model to help envision the possibilities for peace and how that might be administered.

The story has one of the best morals out there. There are many lessons and reminders to be had in watching this film, either version. The best sort of entertainment is this kind.

There are certain aspects of the story impossible to understand by watching only the theatrical release. These aspects have been mentioned as spoilers in other reviews already. Also already stated, the biggest difference between the two versions is in character development. Especially Sybella. In the Director's Cut, the capacity to understand the torment Sybella had to be feeling, on multiple levels at the same time is wholly present, while in the theatrical release- no. The story is completely tragic and yet hopeful at the same time. Resolution never fully materializes, while in our current reality, there is no resolution in the Middle East, either. The end is happy or not. You must choose. Decide. This, is another stroke of genius. The script is top flight.

Viewers are shown how individuals, societies, cultures, governments, religions- often unjustly vilify that which is foreign to them in order to justify their own selfish conquests. The downfall of humanity via untempered and misguided ego-driven wanton lusts in the pursuit of material gain is well illustrated.

The Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut is one of the finest cinematic works that I have ever seen and likely will have ever seen.
Casting is perfect, acting perfect, location- set design, costumes, screen play, the whole of it, has been crafted to complete perfection.

I rarely would say, If you are reading this and don't have it yet, you should stop procrastinating and buy it already. If you have neither version and can only have one, then by all means, get the Director's Cut. Get the version that Ridley Scott intended, not the cookie-cutter butchered edition forced onto the masses by 20th Century Fox executives.

Chivalry is forever alive in The Kingdom of Heaven.


5/5 great movie that few people have seen
  by nonny
admittedly i had absolutely no intrest in seeing this movie in the theaters. it wasn't until i was bored one night and happened to catch it on television that the movie stirred my intrest.

the theaterical version is incomplete. there are many additional details in the director's cut that are quite significant to the plot of the movie that the theatrical version simply either leaves out or glosses over. granted, the moments time wise are very brief, but things such as Sybilla having a son, or Balian's memories of his wife, add depth to the history of the characters and their motivations that you do not necessarily grasp in the theatrical version.

that having been said, if you are someone with any disillusions regarding traditional definitions of christianity and what it means to be christian, then this movie will provide a point of view that you may find intellectually stimulating.

there are so many awesome actors that were part of this film, it is unfortunate that marketers chose to headline the film with only Orlando Bloom (who plays his role appropriately, regardless of what people would say about his breadth of acting ability). Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis - all very well regarded actors who played important roles in the film. Even Alexander Siddig (from deep space 9) played his role so well i didn't recognize him.