FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Kingdom of Heaven (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2005]

Kingdom of Heaven (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2005]
enlarge	Director: Ridley Scott Actors: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£24.99~~ Buy New: £0.99 as of 25/11/2009 00:00 GMT details You Save: £24.00 (96%) New (26) Used (39) Collectible (6) from £0.49 Seller: video-days Rating: 29 reviews Sales Rank: 14509 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 2 Running Time: 144 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4 Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.7 EAN: 5039036022767 ASIN: B000A896L6 Theatrical Release Date: 2005 Release Date: October 3, 2005 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: It's hard to believe Ridley Scott's handsome epic won't become the cinematic touchstone of the Crusades for years to come. iKingdom of Heaven/i is greater than the sum of its parts, delivering a vital, mostly engrossing tale following Balian (Orlando Bloom), a lonely French blacksmith who discovers he's a noble heir and takes his father's (Liam Neeson) place in the center of the universe circa 1184: Jerusalem. Here, grand battles and backdoor politics are key as Scott and first-time screenwriter William Monahan fashion an excellent storyline to tackle the centuries-long conflict. Two forward-thinking kings, Baldwin (Edward Norton in an uncredited yet substantial role) and Saladin (Ghassan Massoud), hold an uneasy truce between Christians (who hold the city) and Muslims while factions champ at the bit for blood. There are good and evildoers on both sides, with the Knights Templar taking the brunt of the blame; Balian plans to find his soul while protecting Baldwin and the people.p The look of the film, as nearly everything is from Scott, is impressive: his CGI-infused battle scenes rival the LOTR series and, with cinematographer John Mathieson, create postcard beauty with snowy French forests and the vast desert (filmed in Morocco and Spain). An excellent supporting cast, including Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, and David Thewlis, also help make the head and heart of the film work. Many critics pointed out that Bloom doesn't have the gravitas of Russell Crowe in the lead (then again, who does?), but it's the underdeveloped character and not the actor that hurts the film and impacts its power. Balian isn't given much more to do than be sullen and give an occasional big speech, alongside his perplexing abilities for warfare tactics and his wandering moral compass (whose sole purpose seems to be to put a love scene in the movie). Note: all the major characters except Neeson's are based on fact, but many are heavily fictionalized. i--Doug Thomas, Amazon.com/i

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next » Brilliant April 16, 2006 T. Rowsell (England) 10 out of 12 found this review helpful Bought this film unsure about it , got home and watched it ... br /WOW much better than i expected , the Battle scenes are amazing and the photography and cinematography are excellent , i liked it better than gladiator as it isn't so depressing . br / br /Can only fault it on 2 things , firstly the film moves at quite a fast pace (most probably to keep you interested) and the 2nd fault is that Orlando bloom's facial expression doesn't change throughout the film . br / br /Overall a brilliant film and well worth watching or buying Not as good as Gladiator but still worth five stars November 17, 2005 T. R. Alexander (East Anglia, UK) 9 out of 11 found this review helpful From the same director as Gladiator, this film was expected to put the historic war film genre back on track after some mediocre attempts, and I must say I think it succeeded. Although many of the things in the film didn#8217;t happen as they did in the film, Ridley Scott has taken the bare bones of the story and historical characters and built an engaging and thoughtful film. Although Scott does seem to reference Gladiator in a couple of scenes Kingdom of Heaven is beautifully brought to the screen, with excellent battle sequences and breathtaking scenery. Although some of the graphics are poor in comparison to other modern films, these instances are few and far between. Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons are brilliant as always and, in my view, Orlando Bloom gives his best performance I have seen from him. I must commend must Ridley Scott for taking on this film and dealing with a very sensitive episode in history, and deals with it in an impartial and sympathetic way. An impressive and complex crusade March 19, 2006 Trevor Willsmer (London, England) 3 out of 3 found this review helpful The theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven turns out to be Ridley Scott#x27;s best film since Blade Runner, largely because for once his visuals are matched with a pretty good script that doesn#x27;t feel like an afterthought. While most critics, aware of the longer director#x27;s cut on the horizon, found it rushed, I had no such problem: true, the film has the quickest shipwreck in screen history and the love story quickly disappears (a shame, because Eva Green gives the film a lightness it otherwise lacks), but for the most part its journey is well told. Nor is it overly politically correct - the Muslims might be more honorable than some of the Crusaders, but that doesn#x27;t make them any less ruthless. Its biggest structural problem is the siege finale, which for all the impressive visuals pales besides Orlando#x27;s last few efforts at the battlements, The Lord of the Rings and Troy, and unfortunately feels rushed and underpowered and ultimately overstylized. We#x27;re never in the thick of it, either emotionally or visually. pFor a film about religious and moral ideals, it#x27;s a curiously untriumphant epic dealing with the failure of reason and compromise. Even its hero#x27;s attempts to live a decent life becomes a part of that failure: when offered the chance to save the city from war and get the girl, his knightly code will not allow him, condemning the people of Jerusalem to war. That, and the fact that it#x27;s a film about a loser may well be part of the reason for the film#x27;s failure to find an audience in America, but it#x27;s also one of the things that makes it so interesting. Even though it#x27;s full of historical errors, it does encompass the ebb and flow of a state of mind in a point in history surprisingly well. pOrlando Bloom is far from disastrous even if he#x27;s not quite good enough. He does the grim and serious stuff well, but he doesn#x27;t offer much else: there#x27;s no light or shade to the performance, just a conscientiousness that isn#x27;t exactly wrong for the character but still leaves you hoping for something more as the third act comes along. If he#x27;s not exactly two-dimensional, he does at least manage one-and-a-half more dimensions than Clive Owen did in King Arthur and never embarrasses himself as much as Colin Farrell did in parts of Alexander. The supporting cast are mostly on good form, although Edward Norton seems to be doing Anthony Zerbe#x27;s leper turn from Papillon as the dying king. pThe film was shot largely with real extras on real sets for all but the largest crowd scenes, which plays real dividends here. Aside from giving you a sense of a world outside the main characters, it also highlights one of the real limitations of CGi extras: their failure to interact with the elements. It doesn#x27;t feel like a computer game but a conflict involving real people, which helps ground the story and give it a sense of weight. John Mathieson#x27;s photography is infinitely superior to his overpraised work on Gladiator even though he does overdo the dreariness of Europe. pHarry Gregson-Williams#x27; score is competent, but it#x27;s telling that much of the film needed to be scored with several cues from Graeme Revell#x27;s Crow, Marco Beltrani#x27;s Blade and, most effectively in the "Rise a knight" sequence, Jerry Goldsmith#x27;s Valhalla prayer from The 13th Warrior - so don#x27;t be surprised if you find yourself suddenly wanting to see one of them straight afterwards! pThe extras package on the 2-disc set is impressive: several documentaries covering both production and the real history as well as a trailer (rather than the multiple trailers and TV spots promised on the packaging). Excellent 2-disc set October 29, 2005 Iceni Peasant (Norfolk, England) 8 out of 10 found this review helpful If you are uncertain which DVD version to buy for this movie, I highly recommend this 2-disc set. The behind-the-scenes features are excellent, showing all aspects of the making of the movie....from the directing perspective, the costume and design, down to the cast and even the arranging of all those cast extras. Really interesting and helpful too if you#x27;re not really sure what the movie was trying to say. A good feature for those not knowing the history of the time is the text subtitles, giving interesting historical facts as the movie plays.pThe movie itself has made a brilliant transfer to DVD and feels just as epic as in the cinema. Although at times the movie can feel a bit choppy on the editing side, it IS an enjoyable semi-historical film. 5 stars! Heavenly. October 8, 2005 10 out of 13 found this review helpful At long last we have what has eluded us since the dawn of film history, the perfect epic.pFrom Alexander Nevsky through Ben-Hur to Gladiator, epics have have thrilled us and left us in awe at the spectacle of huge sets, gigantic action set-pieces and larger than life characters who take us on their journey through fire and water and have us cheering them right up until the glorius end.brThe problem with epics is that they rarely rise above the spectacle that defines them and while we usually leave the cinema with a feeling of exhausted satisfaction it is seldom coupled with a sense of illumination.brHowever, Sir Ridley Scott has delivered a real tour de force in cinematic endeavour.pKingdom Of Heaven boasts the biggest sets one has ever seen, a dedication to detail that utterly envelops the audience and transports them into the middle ages, some of the greatest battle scenes to be experienced on film including the most authentic seige ever reproduced, a thundering yet touching score, a wonderful assortment of fascinating characters and best of all, meaning.pScott obviously wanted to teach us all a philosophical lesson and the film often plays like a socratic lecture(which is probably why some of the more narrow-minded critics have labled the film as "boring") with the nihilist incarnate central protagonist's soul being chipped away by the views of others and by his own life lessons until it is a finely crafted sculpture of realization and truth.brI left this film with the same eureka feeling I had when I viewed The Thin Red Line and The Seventh Seal.pI implore you to buy this DVD,which is packed with great extras including two documentaries chronicling the actual historical events depicted in the film as well as a high production valued and insightful 'making-of', you will not be sorry. Showing reviews 1-5 of 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »

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