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Kingdom Of Heaven - Definitive Edition [DVD] [2005]

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Artist: Orlando Bloom
Director: Ridley Scott
Actors: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Edward Norton, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

26 reviews
Sales Rank: 13091

Format: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 4
Running Time: 186 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

EAN: 5039036029964
ASIN: B000M2E5CA

Theatrical Release Date: 2005
Release Date: March 5, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk Review
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. The look of the film, as nearly everything is from Scott, is impressive: his CGI-infused battle scenes rival the iLOTR/i 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/i

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 1-5 of 26

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Superb 4 Disc Set August 14, 2007
E. A. Redfearn (Middlesbrough)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful

Ridley Scott certainly knows how to make them. After his great success with Gladiator, he has come up trumps with this 185 minute version which fleshes out the story about a simple blacksmith who makes a name for himself as the Defender of Jerusalem. br / br /The original 140 minute version was good, but with an added storyline in this version based around a small boy who becomes King of Jerusalem after the death of his Uncle, the Leper King, King Baldwin, it adds much more detail to the film itself. After all, The Kingdom of Heaven is based around, not a war between two armies, but a military conflict between two faiths. It is also a great human story involving many characters who did actually exist during the late 12thC (the siege of Jerusalem between Balian (portrayed by Orlando Bloom in the film) and Saladin took place during late September, early October 1187). The original Balian was not a blacksmith as depicted in the story, but that doesnt matter because it is the human side of this conflict which is so interesting. Eva Green, a French actress is wonderful in the part as the princess, sister to King Baldwin, and mother to the young King who succeeds to the throne only to find his reign cut short for reasons which I wont reveal here since it might spoil it for viewers who may not have seen this version. br / br /Also in the cast is Liam Neeson, Martin Csokas, Jeremy Irons, and David Thewlis. br / br /Considered not entirely successful during its initial release, this version makes up for that. I am sure it will be considered in the years ahead as one of the finest 'Epics' ever made. br / br /The film is spread over 2 DVDs, and begins with an overture before the first part of the film and the second part on Disc Two. This enhances that 'Epic' feel of the film which movie buffs like myself who was brought up with the films of Ben-Hur, Gone With The Wind and The Ten Commandments. The print is extremely good, supplemented with a superb soundtrack which sounds great on a Digital Audio 5:1 system. The other discs are crammed with extras, The Making Off ..., interviews with many of the cast, locations, well just about everything a movie buff could wish for. A fantastic buy.

5 out of 5 stars

Kingdom of Heaven a Modern Epic July 24, 2007
T. Jarvis
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

Ridley Scotts Kingdon of Heaven is a masterpiece one of the best films to come out this decade from the man who brought us Gladiator. br /The film is the story of Balian,a blacksmith who loses his family and loses his faith his father shows him his destiny,Balian defends his country in the process. br /This is the whole version of the movie with Overture,Intermission, and Ent're act spread over 2 discs with 40 minutes more footage then previous dvd and cinema release. br /Dont get the other directors cut edition this is the same and is cheaper an is nice and compact.

5 out of 5 stars

A Masterpiece! May 7, 2007
Michael Roberts (Exeter, UK)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

Another breathtaking epic by Ridley Scott. Kingdom of Heaven tells the story of Balian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith from a small village who journeys to Jerusalem with his estranged father (Liam Neeson) to rid himself of the many evils he has committed. However shortly after arriving his father dies and he is left to fend for himself, left only with his fathers good name. Amid the intrigues of medieval Jerusalem he falls in love, grows into a leader, and ultimately uses all his courage and skill to defend the city against staggering odds. While Kingdom of Heaven may not be as mainstream as Gladiator (also directed by Ridley Scott) it is a more complete film with a deep and enjoyable plot and an excellent cast. The Directors Cut is superior in every way to the version released in the cinema and adds an extra plot line to the film, in the form of Sibylla's (Eva Green) son, who briefly becomes King of Jerusalem. br / br /Oh... and its as cheap as peanuts! So I am told....

5 out of 5 stars

technically, a better film then 'gladiator' February 22, 2008
steppes (outer mongolia)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

its hard sometimes to fathom why studios insist on butchering a film for maximum profit, therefore not giving it the accolade it deserves to many audiences. the theatrical cut, although epic, was indeed a letdown, orlando bloom apart, who just didnt give the role of balian the gravitas a better actor could have. watching the original, you were left in no doubt that there was a longer cut somewhere. happily it has arrived in this 'directors cut' with an additional 45 minutes which place balian alongside many characters as apposed to the originals focal point to give this cut added significance. in the hands of a lesser director, the muslims would have no doubt been painted as the black and white evildoers our sad times paint them as. the majesty of the greater islam is presented here under the legendary saladin. both christianity and islam are rightly presented as great religions turned on each other leaders after power and glory. this is the film that should have been. this is the film that should have had critics and audiences praising ridley scott for taking on an emotive subject like the crusades and turning in one of his finest films (gladiator included). this is the film which should have topped the charts of the year. sadly, that was not to be. most audiences will familiarise themselves with the inferior theatrical cut and not give it the praise this 'directors cut' rightly deserves at a modern masterpiece. worth watching again for ghassan massouds majestic turn as saladin along with ed nortons turn as king leopold. a must buy in any language.

5 out of 5 stars

A noble crusade... July 25, 2008
Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The 194-minute director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven gives the film more room to breathe, but it won't make converts of the unbelievers. Instead, it's a more leisurely paced version of the film for the faithful who liked the theatrical cut and want to revisit its world and characters in a little more detail. Closer in style and tone to sixties roadshows than Scott's Gladiator, and all the better for it, in many ways it's the richest and most ambitious of the recent batch of epics. It's more of a journey in the extended version, and a bloodier one (the added violence will please the gore hounds), although there are a few moments that tip over into self-indulgence and could have been tightened or omitted entirely. br / br /The extended opening allows more character detail, but at the expense of more of Michael Sheen's caricatured greedy priest, now revealed as Balian's brother. Orlando Bloom's limitations are also given a little more room than they had in the theatrical cut, but he certainly never stoops to the lows of Gerard "I'm wonderful, me" Butler in Beowulf, Colin Farrell's Alexander or Clive Owen's truly catastrophic non-performance in King Arthur that left that film with a void at its center. Edward Norton's performance as the Leper King suffers a little from using different takes than the theatrical version, and at least one of his expanded scenes is simply longer without really being any better than its equivalent in the shorter version. The real winner in the extra footage stakes is Eva Green, who I think I'm falling in love with and whose part is considerably expanded and much more complex, allowing her a mass of contradictory motives (few of them noble), impulses and emotions that were smoothed away in the theatrical version. The subplot involving her son also helps add more of an emotional charge to Baldwin's death, with the shot of his leprous face no longer gratuitous but essential. In fact, in this version of the film, there are even a couple of genuinely touching sequences. br / br /While the added complexity in this cut is more in the characters than in the plot, some of the problems of the theatrical version have been addressed. The shipwreck is just as rushed in this cut as in the theatrical version, but the pacing problems in the astonishingly spectacular siege finale are much improved by the addition of a fairly minimal amount of footage. It no longer seems quite so hurried and there's more of a sense of the human cost after the battle at the Christopher Gate that was lacking in the shorter version by the simple expedient of including characters we briefly get to know among the dead. There IS one massive miscalculation after the siege where a redundant swordfight has been added: not only is it completely ineffective, dwarfed by the sheer scale and weight of what has come before, but it's also unnecessary, winding up a plot point no-one cares about any more and simply underlining the events of the previous scene. br / br /It also now comes with added Bill Paterson, which is rarely a bad thing, especially since his brief scene as a compassionate Bishop establishes the incompatibility of fanatical adherence to religious law with the actions of a loving savior that is one of the film's major themes. Although most of the Christian clerics here are transparent hypocrites, they are also counterbalanced by David Thewlis' Knight Hospitaler just as the `good' Muslims are counterbalanced by fanatics as both Saladin and Baldwin have to walk a tightrope with their own people to prevent war. br / br /Thanks to a strong script this is easily Scott's best film since Blade Runner. Unlike Gladiator it doesn't feel like it was written on the hoof, and he has enough confidence in the material not to overdo the stylistics at the expense of the storytelling: here the visuals serve the picture, which isn't always the case in his past work. Even John Mathieson, probably the worst cinematographer to ever win an Oscar, finally delivers the goods. CGI is used sparingly and very effectively when it is (none of the poor FX problems that plagued parts of Gladiator here, thankfully). Instead, much of the spectacle is shot for real - not only is it usually cheaper, but it's certainly a lot more impressive to look at. br / br /The transfer quality is not as good as on the theatrical version, but it's more than acceptable. The extra features on the 4-disc set are impressive, including a deeply depressed screenwriter mulling over its US failure. Of the additional deleted scenes included as extras, there's nothing that needed to go back into the picture: most are ideas that didn't really work while a couple are just plain silly. The DVD also includes an interesting collection of trailers and TV spots that try to sell it as everything from The Passion of the Christ II in an outrageous piece of false advertising involving adding a "Don't worry, God is with me" line of dialog not in the film (particularly ironic considering its Humanist viewpoint and the crisis of faith of its hero), a family movie, an epic adventure, a country and western rock video and a kick-ass heavy metal teen bloodbath: anything to avoid mentioning Muslims or, God forbid, history. Can't think why this didn't take off at the US box-office... br / br /

Showing reviews 1-5 of 26

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