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There you can picture yourself among the likes of Richard
the Lionheart facing off against the Islamic hero Saladin,
the warrior leader who recaptured the holy city of Jerusalem.
Now the tale of that significant event is told in Ridley
Scott's excellent movie Kingdom of Heaven.
It follows the adventures of Bailian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith
who discovers he is the illegitimate son of a baron and, after
a couple of nasty incidents, heads off on crusade to Jerusalem.
Along the way he catches up with Guy of Ibelin (Liam Neeson)
and his party of knights that includes the religious Hospitaler
(David Thewlis).
Shipwrecked on the journey from where they speak Italian
to where they don't, Bailian is forced to duel a Saracen lord
and then makes his way to the holy city. There he meets up
with his father's men and forms an attachment to King Baldwin
of Jerusalem (Edward Norton) and the man in charge of Jerusalem's
defences Tiberias (Jeremy Irons). He also meets the king's
sister Sibylla (Eva Green) with whom he forms a deep friendship.
But soon politics places a shadow over the Holy Land as the
ambitious Knights Templar under Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas)
and his brother Reynald (Brendan Gleeson) do their best to
stir up a war with the Saracens.
Kingdom of Heaven is a multi-level yarn that has grand
spectacle, romance, history and some utterly stunning action
scenes. It is an epic, to be sure, yet still gives time to
personal issues and characterisation.
Orlando Bloom carries the movie well, surprisingly well,
but his back-up set of stars ease his burden. Liam Neeson
is superb as Bailian's father and Thewlis is the same as the
experienced warrior knight. Eva Green is sultry and stunning
as the Queen, while Jeremy Irons' Tiberias is a gravel-voiced
commander who sees decades of good work about to go flying
out the window.
On the baddies side - and it doesn't happen to be the Saracens
- both Marton Csokas and Brendan Gleeson look as if they relish
the roles they have been given. One ambitious and bloodthirsty,
the other just bloodthirsty.
The battle scenes are spectacular and real. Most of what
you see in them was shot on film and not CGI-ed later.
As you would expect from a Ridley Scott movie the photography
is exceptional and I would have to say this is one of the
best looking movies of 2005.
As a DVD, the picture transfer is perfect and there is a
massive package of extras that are riveting, and which look
at production and how accurate the movie was to history. Some
may not like Kingdom of Heaven, but I'll give it almost top
marks.
DVD Extras
Interactive production grid
History vs Hollywood
Ridley Scott Creating Worlds
Production featurette
Wardrobe featurette
Orlando Bloom interview
Conclusion: Movie 90% Extras: 90%
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