Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut

[Worf2DS9]

I know there have been a number of threads on this movie the last few years, but I finally got the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven last week and I gotta say it's a remarkably superior film.

I enjoyed the theatrical cut, but I'd heard so many good things about the D.C., about how much coherent it was in story and character (especially Sibylla), and that it was almost a different movie as a result. Agreed on all counts!

Over the course of this past week I watched all of the spectacular behind-the-scenes extras, and to see how much went into the movie really gives you an added appreciation for the film and the filmmakers. It inspired me to watch the movie again last night, this time with the first commentary, and again it was a fascinating experience. (My only nit was that the 3 participants weren't together, but the editing worked well for the most part).

Interesting that Ridley Scott mentioned on the commentary that if Fox gave him the green light to return to this era for a follow-up, he'd do it without hesitation. Clearly that hasn't happened (yet?), but it just shows again how much Scott loved making KoH and "time-travelling" back to that era.

 

[BigFoot]

The DC of KoH is actually my favourite movie ever (I do prefer the Lord of the Rings trilogy as a whole). Glad you enjoyed the film.

 

[Aragorn]

The movie didn't make a splash at the box office and Fox butchered his cut. I can't imagine Scott willingly coming back unless his intent is to make a two-hour movie.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I really didn't like Kingdom of Heaven when I saw it in theaters, but I was blown away by the director's cut and it's now one of my favorite Scott films (along with Blade Runner, Gladiator, and American Gangster).

 

[Caliburn24]

I still haven't seen the directors cut of KoH yet, but I did like the original cut in theaters, despite it killing off all my favorite characters early in the movie. Unfortunately the battle of Hattin in the movie is mostly off-screen and that was the decisive battle of that campaign. The siege of Jerusalem was just mopping up what was left. Of course this is coming from the director of Gladiator, so I guess historical accuracy is not in the cards

Hopefully Scott's Robin Hood will be at least as good or better than KoH.

 

[Cky]

I thought Ed Norton was fantastic in this role, mainly because we couldn't see his face, and he seemed to create a whole different voice pattern and persona, I had to convince my then-girlfriend that this WAS Ed Norton.

 

[TheBrew]

I've had this on DVD for a year now... I need to watch it at some point.

 

[CorporalClegg]

It is indeed a fantastic piece of film-making.

Studios really need to learn when to keep out of things. Scott, isn't exactly a neophyte. They could've trusted him a little.

 

[FPAlpha]

I've rarely seen a movie where the Directors Cut completely saved the entire thing.. the theater version is so infinitely bad compared to the Directors Cut that one should just burn the cinema version.

 

[S. Gomez]

I saw the original cut on DVD, thought it was okay. Then I bought the Director's Cut on DVD when I saw it on sale, and I've never regretted it since. Haven't watched it in a while, though. I don't think it's Scott's best, but it's very good.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Unfortunately the battle of Hattin in the movie is mostly off-screen and that was the decisive battle of that campaign. The siege of Jerusalem was just mopping up what was left. Of course this is coming from the director of Gladiator, so I guess historical accuracy is not in the cards.

Scott doesn't present anything that would contradict that. Balian's whole goal in the siege was to force Saladin to office reasonable surrender terms (which was, in and of itself, not exactly accurate; under the widely-accepted customs of the day, cities that surrendered without a fight were normally treated well, and Saladin offered generous terms before the fight started). The movie never suggests they might actually be able to permanently hold the city after the loss at Hattin.

The Director's Cut is a much better movie than the original (Sibylla is a totally different character with the subplot about Baldwin V restored), but I still have problems with it. Namely, Scott presents us with a holy war fought on both sides primarily by a bunch of secular humanists. The actual story would have been a lot more dramatic and interesting to see on screen.

Still love Norton as Baldwin IV. Great performance, great costume design.

 

[Reverend]

The Director's Cut is a much better movie than the original (Sibylla is a totally different character with the subplot about Baldwin V restored), but I still have problems with it. Namely, Scott presents us with a holy war fought on both sides primarily by a bunch of secular humanists. The actual story would have been a lot more dramatic and interesting to see on screen.

I don't know, I thought it was interesting to see two leaders (Saladin & Baldwin) who were essentially like minded but under pressure from the powerful religious zealots on their respective sides.
I don't know how historically accurate that part was, but I found it to be a rather compelling situation.

 

[Skywalker]

I thought the theatrical version was okay, but the Director's Cut is so far above it in quality it's unbelievable. It's probably one of my favorite movies now.

I think part of the reason why the movie bombed, aside from the butchering of Scott's cut, was because Fox tried to market it like an epic historical action-adventure like Gladiator, when really it was a lot more introspective and thoughtful. Releasing it in the summer wasn't a great idea, either.

I also thought Orlando Bloom was surprisingly good in the movie. He's gotten a lot of flack for his Balian not being as exciting or as charismatic as Russell Crowe's Maximus, but the two characters are entirely different. Balian was a quietly intelligent man who was deeply troubled by his wife's suicide, as well as the terrible sins he committed himself, and was struggling to find his place in the world. Maximus was a passionate career soldier who was seeking vengeance against the man who murdered his friend/mentor and destroyed his family.

I mean, Crowe is certainly a stronger actor than Bloom, but I don't think the criticism that Bloom's character "wasn't enough like Maximus" is fair. They were playing two very different men in two very different eras, and I enjoyed both performances.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I loved the original cut as is - must see the DC at some point...

 

[SiorX]

The theatrical cut of KoH makes way more sense if you assume that at the start of the film Liam Neeson's character used some kind of hocus pocus to transfer his own personality into Orlando Bloom's body just before his (ostensible) death.

 

[Shakaar]

If you get the chance, watch the Director's Cut on blu-ray. It looks and sounds absolutely amazing! It's one of the first blu-rays I bought.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I also thought Orlando Bloom was surprisingly good in the movie.

For that matter, so was Sid. It shows he came along way from "RAY--OH ... VAN-TE-KAH!"

I found Balian and Imad's relatioship to be surprisingly well done and one of the better aspects of the film.

 

[Tomato]

Another fan of the DC here. Just utterly beautiful and the stories made a lot more sense too.

 

[BigFoot]

If you get the chance, watch the Director's Cut on blu-ray. It looks and sounds absolutely amazing! It's one of the first blu-rays I bought.

Oh totally agreed, the film looks and sounds magnificent on BD.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I also thought Orlando Bloom was surprisingly good in the movie.

For that matter, so was Sid. It shows he came along way from "RAY--OH ... VAN-TE-KAH!"

I found Balian and Imad's relatioship to be surprisingly well done and one of the better aspects of the film.

I have to confess, Alexander Siddig's presence in the film was the number one reason why I went to see the film in theaters...and was the only thing I really enjoyed about the theatrical cut (well, him and Ed Norton).