 |
:
Ivo Kristof,
Marek Toth,
Martin Uhrovcik,
more...
:
Ridley Scott,
Ridley Scott
see all cast/crew...
: 
: 20th Century Fox
: Action, Drama, Foreign, Costume Drama/Period Piece, UK, War
: English, Spanish, French
: English, Spanish
see additional details...
|
|
Ridley Scott directed this epic-scale historical drama inspired by the events of the Crusades of the 12th century. Balian (Orlando Bloom) is a humble French blacksmith who is searching for a reason to go on after the death of his wife and children. Balian is approached by Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), a fabled knight who has briefly returned home after serving in the East. Godfrey informs Balian that he is his true father, and urges the blacksmith to join him as he and his forces journey to Jerusalem to help defend the holy city. Balian accepts, and he and Godfrey arrive during the lull between the Second and Third Crusades, in which the city is enjoying a fragile peace. Both Christian and Muslim forces are temporarily in retreat, thanks to the wisdom of the Christian monarch King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), his second-in-command Tiberias (Jeremy Irons), and Muslim potentate Saladin (Ghassan Massoud). Violent agitators on both sides are foolishly eager to end the peace in a bid for greater power, and Saladin bows to pressures from Muslim factions; Godfrey is one of a handful of brave knights who has thrown his allegiance behind Baldwin IV and his community of diversity, and Balian joins him as they use their skills as warriors in a bid to build a lasting peace. Kingdom of Heaven also stars Eva Green as the princess Sibylla, David Thewlis as Hospitaler the priest, and Brendan Gleeson as Reynald. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
|
|
| Warring Religious Nuts
by talltale
October 4, 2005 - 9:26 AM PDT
|
|
|
4 out of 7 members found this review helpful
|
We got through over an hour-and-a-half of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN before more pressing matters (work-related deadlines) made concentration difficult and, due to the lackluster quality of the film, pointless. I am all for Muslims, Jews and Christians getting along better, and so, it would seem, are the moviemakers. Of course, that would mean that each group would have to give up its mindless faith in some unproven "higher power" that conveniently believes exactly what its angry, power-hungry leaders/followers also believe. But I digress.
The problem with "Kingdom of Heaven" is its blatancy: the villains glower all over the place and have completely unnecessary meetings and conversations, during which they plot the most obvious plans. Ditto, to a lesser extent, the good guys. The event-changing turning point comes when our hero refuses to accept an easy assignment in which the bad guys will be "offed" and he'll get the girl. He simply has TOO much conscience for that. Lovely. But no one involved appears to understand that there are more ways than one to skin a cat. (On the other hand, no movie that has its hero kill a sleazy Catholic priest can be all bad.)
The visuals here are often pretty, although crowd-scene "special effects" are growing a bit obvious. Perhaps I shall regret for the rest of my life not watching the final 40-odd minutes of this movie that American audiences passed over and their Europeans counterparts embraced. Somehow, though, I doubt it. (Warning note to other members: I thought "Gladiator" sucked, as well.) |
|
|
More reviews for titles in this product:
|
|
|
|
Your cart
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.