Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writer:

William Monahan

Stars:

Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson

4 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Hancock	...	Gravedigger
Michael Sheen	...	Priest
Nathalie Cox	...	Balian's Wife
Eriq Ebouaney	...	Firuz
Jouko Ahola	...	Odo
David Thewlis	...	Hospitaler
Liam Neeson	...	Godfrey de Ibelin
Philip Glenister	...	Squire
Orlando Bloom	...	Balian de Ibelin
Bronson Webb	...	Apprentice
Kevin McKidd	...	English Sergeant
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Village Sheriff
Steven Robertson	...	Angelic Priest
Marton Csokas	...	Guy de Lusignan
Alexander Siddig	...	Imad

Storyline

It is the time of the Crusades during the Middle Ages - the world shaping 200-year collision between Europe and the East. A blacksmith named Balian has lost his family and nearly his faith. The religious wars raging in the far-off Holy Land seem remote to him, yet he is pulled into that immense drama. Amid the pageantry and 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. Destiny comes seeking Balian in the form of a great knight, Godfrey of Ibelin, a Crusader briefly home to France from fighting in the East. Revealing himself as Balian's father, Godfrey shows him the true meaning of knighthood and takes him on a journey across continents to the fabled Holy City. In Jerusalem at that moment--between the Second and Third Crusades--a fragile peace prevails, through the efforts of its enlightened Christian king, Baldwin IV, aided by his advisor Tiberias, and the military ...

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Plot Keywords:

crusader | knight | jerusalem | 12th century | medieval times | 

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Taglines:

Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless, and do no wrong

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Country:

USA UK Spain Germany Morocco

Language:

English Arabic Latin Italian

Release Date:

5 May 2005 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Le Royaume des cieux

Filming Locations:

Atlas Corporation Studios, Ouarzazate, Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$130,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$945,994 (Japan) (13 May 2005)

Gross:

$47,396,698 (USA) (26 August 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Scott Free Productions, BK

Technical Specs

Runtime:

144 min 190 min (director's cut) 194 min (director's cut roadshow)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are approximately 800 visual effects shots in the theatrical cut of the film. There are roughly 1500 visual effects shots in the Director's Cut.

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Goofs

After the siege "all" were not "safely escorted to the sea". Rather, a ransom was paid, which allowed somewhat less than half of the actual refugees to go free. Those too poor to pay a ransom were taken into slavery.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gravedigger: Crusaders.
Squire: Clear the road, if you will.

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Connections

Referenced in Kingdom of Heaven: Cast Rehearsals (2006)

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Soundtracks

EPITAFIO
Written and Performed by Luis Delgado
Courtesy of Nubenegra

User Reviews

excellent, fair to islam, sweeping, narrative could have used tightening...

I really enjoyed this movie. The way the movie started in Europe and how dark it was there... and the journey to Jerusalem... just wonderful stuff up to that point.

Liam Neeson, as usual, is just SO GOOD, you wish he had more screen time.

• Orlando Bloom, actually surprisingly, was able to carry the movie as

a lead. I was surprised he had the heft to do it, but I agree with the critic who said that the beard helped. He was a man, not a boy.

• Battle scenes... incredible. I was really surprised that they could

wow me, since we've been numbed by the quality of battle scenes in so many previous movies, but they did a great job.

• Portrayal of the Muslims. EXTREMELY fair. In being "even-handed" to

Christians and Muslims there, if anything, they emphasized the Christian fanatics (in the form of the Templars in particular, to simplify things) as being the "badguys" more than anyone else... (which is historically accurate to some degree, in my understanding). I was surprised and pleased that they tried to be accurate, and didn't try to emphasize some "BAD MUSLIMS" to make it "even".

• Movie is very secular in it's moralizing.

And it portrays Christianity particularly religious men, VERY badly (the Priest who steals the cross from Bloom's wife's corpse... the Bishop in Jerusalem who's ready to convert to Islam at the first sign of defeat... and who also wants to abandon the civilians... the knights templar...) I thought this got a tad gratuitous. There were really NO GOOD Christian FIGURES IN THE MOVIE. The only good purported Christians were basically acting Agnostic (Bloom, Neeson, etc.) The actual religious Christians were made out to be hypocrites.

Meanwhile Saladhudin was a man of honor.. but also somewhat moderate.

• Movie could definitely have a little more narrative focus and maybe

have a little more of an emotional circle for Orlando Bloom character. The emotional arc is ALREADY complete fairly early in the movie (Bloom becomes a man of conscience)... and it's kind of boring since the character doesn't really move after that.

But the movie tackled a HUGE topic and tackled it fairly well. I just wish there was a better script to handle the compelling personal journey for Orlando Bloom (from widower, murderer seeking redemption, lost bastard son) that was PROMISED at the beginning.

It seems that as soon as he brings water to his father's old land, he's just about done his journey, and it turns into a simple historical battle movie. (but a darn good one)