Orlando Bloom

Eva Green

Jeremy Irons

David Thewlis

Ghassan Massoud

Liam Neeson

Brendan Gleeson

Marton Csokas

Alexander Siddig

Michael Sheen

Khaled El Nabawy

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Kevin McKidd

Velibor Topic

Jon Finch

Ulrich Thomsen

Jouko Ahola

Shane Attwooll

Peter Cant

Nathalie Cox

Emilio Doorgasingh

Samira Draa

Ériq Ebouaney

Giannina Facio

Iain Glen

Philip Glenister

Martin Hancock

Lotfi Yahya Jedidi

Nasser Memarzia

Steven Robertson

Matthew Rutherford

Karim Saleh

Michael Shaeffer

Bronson Webb

Angus Wright

Edward Norton

Ridley Scott

William Monahan

Harry Gregson-Williams

John Mathieson

Dody Dorn

Arthur Max

Jina Jay

Antoinette Boulat

Debra Zane

Sonja Klaus

Janty Yates

Lisa Ellzey

Branko Lustig

Terry Needham

Robert Cowper

Ivo Hušnjak

John King

Adil Abdelwahab

Peter Burgis

Andie Derrick

Peter Gleaves

Karim Abouobayd

Mark Albela

Bruce Devan

José Luis Escolar

Teresa Kelly

Henning Molfenter

Denise O'Dell

Thierry Potok

Ty Warren

Hugh Johnson

Alessandro Alberti

Carlos Bodelón

Marco Trentini

Louis Joon

Saida Elidrissi

Francesca Birri

Abdellah Baadil

Alain Brochu

Damir Gabelica

Fatiha Aitbadi

Giancarlo Di Fusco

Lora E. Revitt

Colin Jackman

Iñigo Navarro

Brahim Ait Belkas

Martin Hume

David Appleby

John Marzano

Daniele Massaccesi

Andrea Cripps

Clare Spragge

Marcelle Genovese

Mariam Lee Abounouom

Paul Engelen

Gabi Brown

Stephen Barton

Brian Bero

Robert Capan

Gary Brozenich

Roisin Carty

Diego Campos

Carmen Ruiz de Huidobro

Patrick Esposito

Graeme Purdy

Adam Gascoyne

Topaz Adizes

Daniel Urdiales

Mark Meddings

Abdellah Achir

Gustáv Kyselica

Rachid Abbad

El Mahjoub Najma

Brian Baverstock

Quinn Donoghue

Oleg Botin

Robert Hamilton

Ian Differ

Anna Worley

Simon Chase

Sam Horsefield

Chuck Finch

Shawn Walsh

Fred Brown

Dean Brkic

Emanuele Salvatore

Tannis Vallely

Gonzalo Cañellas

Giorgio Catalano

Patricia Nieto

Kimberley Ann Berdy

Steve Newman

Paul Conway

Gary Dodkin

David Mackie

Drama

Action

Adventure

History

Kingdom of Heaven

Scott Free Productions

Reino del Cielo

Inside Track 3

20th Century Fox

Babelsberg Film

Germany

Spain

United Kingdom

United States of America

Good start and ending, weak middle, but magnificent photography and haunting score  

"Kingdom of Heaven" (2005) isn’t as good as contemporaneous sword & sandal flicks "Troy" (one of my favorites) and "King Arthur" (very good), but it's not bad either.

THE PLOT: After the death of his child and suicide of his wife, Balian (Orlando Bloom) meets his long, lost father (Liam Neeson) who encourages him to go to Jerusalem and start a new life. After a long eventful trip, Balian arrives in Jerusalem and is introduced to Princess Sibylla (Eva Green), the leprous King Baldwin and other VIPs. The political maneuverings of these key personnel is mindboggling (I suggest using the subtitles to keep track of who’s who) but, when all is said and done, Balian must rise to the challenge of defending the city against Saladin (Ghassan Massoud) and his great Muslim army.

Like "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "Kingdom of Heaven" is a film that can be enjoyed just for the visuals and soundtrack. The film was shot in Morocco where a vast replica of ancient Jerusalem was built in the desert with the backgrounds enhanced by CGI effects, and so on.

Story-wise, the beginning and ending are strong while the convoluted soap operatics of Jerusalem aren't very compelling, but Eva Green's awesome eyes help.

I'm no connoisseur of the crusades but I realize the filmmakers put a modern spin on the events and ideology of the characters. So what else is new? In any case, I was impressed that all the main players are based on real-life people and that the gist of the story is accurate.

The Theatrical Cut runs 144 minutes and the Director's Cut about 48 minutes longer. The DC is heralded as one of the best DCs ever, like "Daredevil" (2003).

BOTTOM LINE: "Kingdom of Heaven" is worth it just for the magnificent visuals and soundtrack. The story starts strong and ends strong while the dramatics of the lengthy mid-section are complicated and not very compelling. But story drive and interesting characters were never director Ridley Scott’s strong suit. Nevertheless, Orlando Bloom is likable as the protagonist and Massoud makes for a striking Saladin, who doesn’t appear till the halfway point.

GRADE: C+/B-

One of the most hated movies by Ridley Scott, that shows the difference of what versions and cuts can have on a movie. This movie have a Theatrical version (144 min.) a Director's Cut (189 min.) and Director's Cut Roadshow Version (194 min.) (that I watched years after watching  the theatrical on cinema). 

The movie is loosely based on the story of Balian I of Ibelin (originally a noble of French or Italy, but portraited as his son in this movie and epoch) travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.

A tale of noble actions and ideals on the 2nd Crusade among equally noblesse and troubled people. It is not totally historically accurate (let's say 50%) but is one of the most impressive movies about the crusade with all the desert, sun and bloody scenes than you can imagine (and a fictional end).

Originally a 7.0 raised up to a 7.8 out of 10.0 in this version B+ (not sure if this is the version that Netflix have).