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

5 wins & 14 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 | 12th century | jerusalem | templar | knights templar | 

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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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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and epic warfare

Details

Country:

UK Germany Spain Morocco USA

Language:

English Arabic Latin Italian

Release Date:

6 May 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Crusades

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$130,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,008,192 (Germany), 6 May 2005

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,635,996, 8 May 2005, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$47,398,413

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$211,652,051

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Scott Free Productions, BK

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Dolby Digital 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) DTS (DTS HD Master Audio 5.1) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1) D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 (D-Cinema prints) (5.1 Surround Sound) (5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most exterior filming took place in Ouarzazate, Morocco, where Ridley Scott had also filmed Gladiator (2000) and Black Hawk Down (2001). A massive replica of Jerusalem was constructed in the desert. The set contained 28,000 square meters (301,389 square feet) of wall, and used 6,000 tons of plaster. The front of the set was 1,200 feet (365.76 meters) long, and the walls were 56 feet (17 meters) tall.

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Goofs

The trebuchets are shown with metal axles for the throwing arm (this is most visible as the camera moves past a trebuchet before Balian's knighting speech in Jerusalem). The technology of the time did not permit the creation of such large pieces of metal. Throughout medieval times a trebuchet axle would have been made from a thick timber.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

The opening 20th Century Fox logo has a ocher-yellow tint added to it.

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Alternate Versions

The Director's Cut on Blu-ray Disc (released November 14, 2006) runs 190 minutes as the overture and intermission have been excluded. The Ultimate Edition Blu-ray released in 2014 includes both the 190-minute and 194-minute versions, the latter as the "Director's Cut Roadshow Version".

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Connections

Referenced in In Bruges (2008)

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Soundtracks

Nunc Gaudeant Materna
Performed by Women's Voices of Sequentia
(directors cut only)

User Reviews

Some history...

Kingdom of Heaven is an entertaining and spectacular film, to say the least. However, being an enthusiast of the history of the crusader states, I would like to mention some historical facts and accuracies that generated the film.

For a start, all the main characters of the film are historical figures, from Balian to the unfortunate Baldwin IV (oftenly referred as "Baldwin the Leper"). However, the only connection of Balian and Sybilla was that he indeed helped her defend Jerusalem and negotiated its subsequent surrender to Saladin. However, he was not only a political opponent of her husband (Guy de Lusignan), but also of HERS.

You see, Sibylla actually loved Guy enough as to fight to make him a king, even if the barons of the kingdom were against him. She actually tricked them: She agree to divorced him before her coronation, with the only term to choose herself her new husband. When the barons accepted, she just chose to remarry Guy and established him in the throne of Jerusalem. Balian was married with her stepmother, mother of her half sister Isabella (completely ignored in the film). He conspired with Maria to have another noble, Conrad of Montferrat, marry Isabella, giving Conrad a stronger claim to the kingdom.

Sibylla actually succeeded her son from a previous marriage (Baldwin V), not her brother, as the film suggests. He was a child-king that succeeded his leper uncle but lived only for one year. Indeed Guy was captured in the Battle of Hattin. When Saladin was besieging the Holy City (and Sybilla personally led the defense) and she was permitted to escape to Tripoli with her daughters. However she died of an epidemic 3 years later in Tyre, the only city in the kingdom that did not fall. Her daughters also died of the same epidemic, and Guy (by now released) lost the kingdom of Jerusalem and was compensated with the Lordship of Cyprus by Richard the Lionheart.

Balian died 3 years later. He NEVER retired from the politics of the kingdom as the film suggests.