Kingdom of Heaven

[VIVAlasVEGASBaby]

*Very minor spoiler*





What'd you guys think? I saw it last night and i thought it was good. The battle scenes were awesome. The only part that i thought was dumb was how Balian somehow miraculously woke up on a beach with all his things lying next to him after his ship went down . I don't know a lot about that time period so i have no clue if it was historically accurate but i thought overall it was an awesome movie.

 

[Prophett]

I fell asleep and didn't know what was going on for half the time. Eh, maybe it's cuz I got there 20 min late...

 

[Lost In Translation]

i just watched the trailers on the webiste and the movie looks good

anyone else seen it and can post a review ?

 

[AlexTheGreat]

It was ok ... could've been better, though.


SPOILER ALERT !







One thing I was kept thinking the whole time was, how could a simple blacksmith know all that the guy knew ? (can't remember his name). For example, mathematics (for the ranged weapons), swordfighting with such skill, combat training, class and decorum ... Also, how could he know how to defend the city better than a war strategist .. ?

Then, there's his hair : no matter where he was, his hair was always clean and well arranged, while he was a mess.

After that, it hit me : where were the camels ? We only saw like 2 during the whole movie.

It seemed the director skipped a few scenes during the editing, cuz the transitions weren't very smooth. But, other than that, it was an enjoyable movie.

 

[Epic]

Spoiler!




AlexTheGreat: Well, you saw how bad things were back then, everyone was pretty much trained in combat. The only reason they all had to become knights in the end was for morale. It wasn't complex mathemathetics, just because it was so long ago doesn't mean the people were stupid. The class and decorum is no different than us knowing today what's proper and what isn't, it's common knowledge. As for the war strategy, what makes a great strategist is the ability to see around corners. Any strategist, whether it's managing a business, chess, or war, can anticipate future events. Some people are natural at this. Everything in the movie is explanable.

 

[Centaurion]

So, whats this movie really about?

Is it just a guy that goes blacksmith > knight > saves jerusalem?

 

[AlexTheGreat]

Originally posted by Epic
Spoiler!




AlexTheGreat: Well, you saw how bad things were back then, everyone was pretty much trained in combat. The only reason they all had to become knights in the end was for morale. It wasn't complex mathemathetics, just because it was so long ago doesn't mean the people were stupid. The class and decorum is no different than us knowing today what's proper and what isn't, it's common knowledge. As for the war strategy, what makes a great strategist is the ability to see around corners. Any strategist, whether it's managing a business, chess, or war, can anticipate future events. Some people are natural at this. Everything in the movie is explanable.

What I meant by class and decorum was his "king" role : he takes it as if he always did it (which will not happen, no matter how gifted you are, naturally). The strategy part : how he knew exactly which walls were going to be attacked, and in which manner (remember he had just come to Jerusalem, and had never seen Saladin's army in action). The mathematics part : he was a blacksmith, where did he learn how to use that compass too and to approximate correctly the distances ?

I forgot a few things : at the end of the movie, when he loses the city, everyone is patting him on the back, cheering. WTF ?? The guy has just surrendered the city for which half of them have died, in which they were born and have lived all their life, in which everything of theirs belonged. Would you really be happy about that, if you were in their place ?
Oh, and there's only about 2 girls in the whole movie (albeit, extremely hot )

 

[AlexTheGreat]

Originally posted by Centaurion
So, whats this movie really about?

Is it just a guy that goes blacksmith > knight > saves jerusalem?

pretty much, except he doesn't save jerusalem

 

[Paranoid]

I thought the movie was very dreary; the battle scenes being the facesaver.

 

[Tidus88]

u noe smeting guys...if he realli had cared for the ppl in the city,he shuld have just listened to the king's proposal to marry his sister...n this war could have been totally avoided as balion will not go kill the muslims n saladin's sis....in the end,he indirectly caused the death of so many ppl n ended up surrendering the city..lol...

 

[VIVAlasVEGASBaby]

Originally posted by AlexTheGreat
The guy has just surrendered the city for which half of them have died, in which they were born and have lived all their life, in which everything of theirs belonged. Would you really be happy about that, if you were in their place ?

well i'd be alive.... so yes

 

[SheepSter]

Good movie, enjoyable. But nowhere near Scott's former work: the Gladiator. The reason being quitte simple. The character building in this movie is bad. I got the idea that Scott raced true the film to get to the action. Their really is no connection build between Balian (Orlando Bloom) and the audience. This is not because of Bloom's acting, I thought he did good. But because of the director not giving him the chance. In Jerusalem when he was knighting the crowd is when it came closest towards a connection. Also when he took up Saladin's army far outnumbred on horse is when I got a sense of connection. Other then that none.

To make a comparison between Maximus and Balian. In the Gladiator all masculine virtues one should strive for were projected through Maximus. The way he acted and talked gave of a sense of a true Alpha Male. Instandly creating a connection. But that connection was build out by him losing his family, getting his name shouted by thousands, living by honour. This is where Kingdom of Heaven fails. Balian also loses his wife (suicide), but I can't say that I cared. And Balian showed his emotion by killing a priest. Conviently right at this time his father comes along. Balian is a true bastard BTW. And before you can take another breath his father is learning him how to fight. And within minutes he's in the promised land. In my opinion this went way to quick and because of that you really can't "feel" Balian.

The real problem lies in the fact that this movie is something like 140 minutes long. The long DVD version will be 233 minutes. And I think it will be far better. But ofcourse a movie of that length isn't what the film company had in mind. So Scott had to cut out a lot (I think good) stuff.

The fighting scenes are of a new standard, it really looks amazing. The original king of Jeruzalem is a very impressive character. And once the movie starts you want to know the end. But on the other hand, I believe Scott tried to make a better Gladiator. I mean the similarities are all over. The real differences are the setting, the fact that Balian is a blacksmith and becomes a baron/knight (low - high) instead of a general who became a gladiator (high - low). The biggest difference is that Kingdom of Heaven could not project honour and valor the way the Gladiator did. Then again maybe the long version will make up for this. (This long version sh*t is a smart marketing trick BTW, I say boycot this b*tch, and force them to play the complete versions in the future)

Funny facts in the movie:

Balians hair: I didn't know they had L'oreall in that time.
Saladin: It is pronounced "Salahadin", I just found it funny how the emphasis really layed on the "ha" part.

Still it's definetely worth spending a friday night watching this movie. It will get no oscars though (maybe for special effects).

 

[floorman81]

I would say this was a good movie. It really reminds us just how long we've been fighting these religious wars. It also brings up the fact that both sides aren't 100% right or wrong.

I do wish it would have been about 20 minutes shorter, after he left Jeruselem I was just begging for the movie to end!

 

[NYC Dude]

I just saw it today, and though it was good I enjoyed Gladiator much more. The best scene was definately when Saladin's trebuchets launch the flaming balls at the city at night though, it almost seemed like it would be enjoyable to watch. That is, until you got burnt into a crispy crusader.

 

[CLOONEY]

Yeah, its funny how he became an awesome fighter with little training!

The speeches were lacking big time also! Guess Orlando cant live upto his Aussie mate Russell!

Other than that, I thought awesome movie! Better than Archilles (who was actually bi-sexual, but the movie didnt show it), who was simply fighting to keep his name in history! Better to see a movie with morals for once, not just power and glory being the means and the ends!