Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Action,Adventure,Drama,History,War UK / English "Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless, and do no wrong " Divx 1 : 33 Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people. Steven Robertson Angelic Priest Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Village Sheriff Kevin McKidd English Sergeant Bronson Webb Apprentice Orlando Bloom Balian de Ibelin Philip Glenister Squire Liam Neeson Godfrey de Ibelin David Thewlis Hospitaler Jouko Ahola Odo Eriq Ebouaney Firuz Nathalie Cox Balian's Wife Michael Sheen Priest Martin Hancock Gravedigger Marton Csokas Guy de Lusignan Alexander Siddig Nasir Velibor Topic Almaric Michael Shaeffer Young Sergeant Eva Green Sibylla Brendan Gleeson Reynald Nasser Memarzia Muslim Grandee Jeremy Irons Tiberias Jon Finch Jerusalem Edward Norton King Baldwin Lotfi Yahya Jedidi Old Ibelin Housekeeper (as Lofti Yahya Jedidi) Samira Draa Sibylla's Maid Ulrich Thomsen Templar Master Matthew Rutherford Rider Michael Fitzgerald Humphrey Ghassan Massoud Saladin Khaled Nabawy Mullah Karim Saleh Saracen Messenger Shane Attwooll Reynald's Templar Knight Giannina Facio Saladin's Sister Emilio Doorgasingh Saracen Engineer Peter Cant Peasant Boy Angus Wright Richard's Knight Iain Glen Richard Coeur de Lion Tim Barlow Old Guard (director's cut) Paul Brightwell Son of Roger de Cormier (director's cut) Peter Copley Old Pilgram (director's cut) Alex O'Dogherty /td> Bill Paterson Bishop (director's cut) Robert Pugh Godfrey's Elder Brother (director's cut) Christian Boeving Soldier (uncredited)

Director:	Ridley Scott
Producer:	Ridley Scott
Writer:	William Monahan

excellent, fair to islam, sweeping, narrative could have used tightening...

I really enjoyed this movie. The way the movie started in Europe and how dark it was there... and the journey to Jerusalem... just wonderful stuff up to that point.

Liam Neeson, as usual, is just SO GOOD, you wish he had more screen time.

- Orlando Bloom, actually surprisingly, was able to carry the movie as a lead. I was surprised he had the heft to do it, but I agree with the critic who said that the beard helped. He was a man, not a boy.

- Battle scenes... incredible. I was really surprised that they could wow me, since we've been numbed by the quality of battle scenes in so many previous movies, but they did a great job.

- Portrayal of the Muslims. EXTREMELY fair. In being "even-handed" to Christians and Muslims there, if anything, they emphasized the Christian fanatics (in the form of the Templars in particular, to simplify things) as being the "badguys" more than anyone else... (which is historically accurate to some degree, in my understanding). I was surprised and pleased that they tried to be accurate, and didn't try to emphasize some "BAD MUSLIMS" to make it "even".

- Movie is very secular in it's moralizing.

And it portrays Christianity particularly religious men, VERY badly (the Priest who steals the cross from Bloom's wife's corpse... the Bishop in Jerusalem who's ready to convert to Islam at the first sign of defeat... and who also wants to abandon the civilians... the knights templar...) I thought this got a tad gratuitous. There were really NO GOOD Christian FIGURES IN THE MOVIE. The only good purported Christians were basically acting Agnostic (Bloom, Neeson, etc.) The actual religious Christians were made out to be hypocrites.

Meanwhile Saladhudin was a man of honor.. but also somewhat moderate.

- Movie could definitely have a little more narrative focus and maybe have a little more of an emotional circle for Orlando Bloom character. The emotional arc is ALREADY complete fairly early in the movie (Bloom becomes a man of conscience)... and it's kind of boring since the character doesn't really move after that.

But the movie tackled a HUGE topic and tackled it fairly well. I just wish there was a better script to handle the compelling personal journey for Orlando Bloom (from widower, murderer seeking redemption, lost bastard son) that was PROMISED at the beginning.

It seems that as soon as he brings water to his father's old land, he's just about done his journey, and it turns into a simple historical battle movie. (but a darn good one)

Personal

Seen it:	Nej
Nr of disks/tapes:	1
Storage device:	Divx 1