Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writer (WGA):

William Monahan (written by)

Release Date:

6 May 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | History

Tagline:

Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless, and do no wrong

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Knight | Jerusalem | King | Sword | Crusades

Awards:

3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Martin Hancock	...	Gravedigger
Michael Sheen	...	Priest
Nathalie Cox	...	Balian's Wife
Eriq Ebouaney	...	Firuz
Jouko Ahola	...	Odo
David Thewlis	...	Hospitaler
Liam Neeson	...	Godfrey de Ibelin
Philip Glenister	...	Squire
Orlando Bloom	...	Balian de Ibelin
Bronson Webb	...	Apprentice
Kevin McKidd	...	English Sergeant
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Village Sheriff
Steven Robertson	...	Angelic Priest
Marton Csokas	...	Guy de Lusignan
Alexander Siddig	...	Imad

Also Known As:

El reino de los cielos (Spain)
Königreich der Himmel (Germany)
The Crusades (USA) (working title)
Cruzada (Argentina) (Panama) (Peru) (Venezuela) [es]
Царство небесное (Russia) [ru]
Cennetin kralligi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Cruzada (Brazil) [pt]
Königreich der Himmel (Austria) [de]
Kingdom of Heaven (France) [fr]
Kingdom of heaven - Taivas maan päällä (Finland) [fi]
Království nebeské (Czech Republic) [cs]
Královstvo nebeské (Slovakia) [sk]
Le crociate (Italy) [it]
Le royaume des cieux (Canada: French title) [fr]
Nebesko kraljevstvo (Serbia) [sr]
Taevane kuningriik (Estonia) [et]
Taivas maan päällä (Finland) [fi]
To vasileio ton ouranon (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and epic warfare.

Runtime:

144 min | 190 min (director's cut) (Blu-Ray Disc) | 192 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK | Spain | USA | Germany

Language:

English | Arabic | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Canada:14A | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:16 | Malaysia:U | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (director's cut) | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15A | Italy:T | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Indonesia:Dewasa

Filming Locations:

Atlas Corporation Studios, Ouarzazate, Morocco

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

When Sibylla shows Balian the rings she wears and explains where she got each of them, she points to one particular ring and says that this one came from France and that she's never been there. In reality, Eva Green was born and raised in Paris.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Balien catches up with his father on their way to Jerulsalem and they are attacked by Godfrey's brothers forces. Odo, one of Godfrey's men is struck by an arrow through the neck, but still keeps fighting. Soon after he is struck by a second arrow in the chest and falls to his knees. As the camera angle reverses, he suddenly has two arrows in the chest instead of one.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Gravedigger: Crusaders.
Squire: Clear the road, if you will.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Path to Redemption (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

LIGHT OF LIFE (IBELIN REPRISE)

Entertaining!

I can start by admitting that i'm a fan of "Gladiator". And why do i mention this? Because there are more similarities between "Gladiator" and this movie besides having the same director.

What struck me first about this movie was the visual style. Ridley Scott is just one of the best directors right now when it comes to this. Every shot feels thought-through, every color balanced. Most of the time though he still manages to avoid the clinical style of many other directors focused on visuals. "Gladiator" felt somewhat artificial to me when i watched it the first time around, and even more so when watching it on DVD. Many of the special effects-shots are simply not that well-made. "Kingdom of Heaven" though takes full opportunity of the advancements made in technology. The movie looks awesome to say the least.

The script is no revolution of coherence or cohesion, yet it works rather well for this type of movie. Because this is more pure entertainment than anything else. In the press material Ridley Scott stated himself that this should be seen more as entertainment than historical facts. Which is absolutely fine by me i might add, at least as long as he states this beforehand. Perhaps the most disturbing things is for instance the way that Orlando Bloom goes from clueless blacksmith to full-fledged sword-wielding knight in 15 minutes movie-time.

And the actors? Orlando Bloom is in my opinion one of the most over-rated actors around today. Here though he's better than i've seen him before. I think the main thing is that he manages to act and look more like an adult this time, while in most previous movies he has felt almost childish. The rest of the cast consist mostly of quite well-known names and they all do a fine job, making this movie quite well-acted although it's not exactly Shakespeare...

All things said and done i found this movie to be very entertaining. It's visually stunning, reasonably well acted with a decent script and some nice characters. What it lacks in coherence and story it makes up for with a strong and quick pace (for the genre) and some truly impressive action scenes. Wolfgang Petersson and Oliver Stone should watch this before they even think of making another historic epic. Because Ridley Scott has learned the important lesson so well put in "Gladiator": the people want to be entertained! I rate this 7/10.