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

العربية

English

Italiano

Latin

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

Arthur Max

Robert Cowper

Antoinette Boulat

Debra Zane

Lisa Ellzey

John King

William Monahan

Jina Jay

Ridley Scott

Janty Yates

Branko Lustig

Dody Dorn

John Mathieson

Harry Gregson-Williams

Sonja Klaus

Terry Needham

Ivo Hušnjak

Adil Abdelwahab

Peter Gleaves

Peter Burgis

Andie Derrick

Thierry Potok

Bruce Devan

Karim Abouobayd

Henning Molfenter

Teresa Kelly

Denise O'Dell

José Luis Escolar

Mark Albela

Ty Warren

Hugh Johnson

Carlos Bodelón

Louis Joon

Marco Trentini

Alessandro Alberti

Martin Hume

Daniele Massaccesi

Andrea Cripps

Francesca Birri

Lora E. Revitt

Iñigo Navarro

Alain Brochu

David Appleby

Fatiha Aitbadi

Saida Elidrissi

Brahim Ait Belkas

Abdellah Baadil

Damir Gabelica

Giancarlo Di Fusco

John Marzano

Colin Jackman

Mariam Lee Abounouom

Gabi Brown

Adam Gascoyne

Robert Capan

Brian Bero

Judy Barr

Victoria Alonso

Oleg Botin

Chuck Finch

David Stephenson

El Mahjoub Najma

David Mackie

Quinn Donoghue

Marcelle Genovese

Simon Chase

Tannis Vallely

Roisin Carty

Carmen Ruiz de Huidobro

Steve Newman

Marc Streitenfeld

Peter Chiang

Gary Brozenich

Clare Spragge

Paul Engelen

Topaz Adizes

Robert Hamilton

Fred Brown

Graeme Purdy

Mark Meddings

Rachid Abbad

Emanuele Salvatore

Christopher Assells

Neil Corbould

Claudia Dehmel

Sam Horsefield

Shawn Walsh

Kimberley Ann Berdy

Bryan Baverstock

Gonzalo Cañellas

Gary Dodkin

Harry Barnes

Gustáv Kyselica

Anna Worley

Stephen Barton

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).

Kingdom of Heaven (2005) Original Trailer [FHD]

Best Movies

Kingdom of Heaven

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Orlando Bloom

Eva Green

Jeremy Irons

David Thewlis

Ghassan Massoud

Liam Neeson

Brendan Gleeson

Marton Csokas

Alexander Siddig

Michael Sheen

Box office

More Like This

The Northman

Kamen Rider Saber × Ghost

The Dervish and Death

Nerve

Paloma

Raging Bull

Mississippi Burning

World Trade Center