Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]

Location: Home » video » General » Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]

Similar Items:

•	Troy - The Director's Cut [Blu-ray]
•	Black Hawk Down [Blu-ray]
•	King Arthur (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]
•	The Fifth Element (Remastered) [Blu-ray]
•	The Last Samurai [Blu-ray]

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Among the best directors of our time Ridley Scott (Gladiator) contributes generously to this extraordinary Collector s Edition of Kingdom of Heaven. Featuring his Director s Cut of the film and hours of fascinating extras including a six-part tour from conception to completion of filmmaking this definitive set makes what Variety called a genuinely spectacular film even more so!An epic marvel that s as beautifully acted as it is visually awesome Kingdom of Heaven stars Orlando Bloom as Balian a Jerusalem blacksmith who has lost his family and his faith. But when his father (Liam Neeson) shows him his destiny Balian vows to defend his country and in the process falls in love becomes a formidable leader and steps forever into historySystem Requirements:Running Time 191 Mins.Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 024543396109 Manufacturer No: 2239610

Amazon.com
It's hard to believe Ridley Scott's handsome epic won't become the cinematic touchstone of the Crusades for years to come. Kingdom of Heaven 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 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. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews: Read 598 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

wait for it September 16, 2005
233 out of 263 found this review helpful

UPDATE: I originally wrote the following because of the notice that there would be an eventual extended edition of the movie. The update is that Amazon.com now has a listing for said extended edition that comes in at 191 minutes and is to be released on 23 May 2006.

I wrote a review for the theatrical release of this film which I will post below if you are curious what I think. I really wanted to just point out that if you enjoyed this film, you might not want to purchase this version. Back when the movie was first released in theatres, Ridley Scott was interviewed and stated that there was almost an hour taken from the movie. He also said there would be a director's cut that would have that material restored. Its not being released now, presumably, so that the studios can get their double dip. Look at Sin City (the "longer extended cut" comes out in December 3 months from its original release date) or Saw which is coming unrated this month to support the sequel. It happens all the time.

Overall, I think the film is decent and I am curious to see what was cut out. I just don't want people who are interested to waste their hard-earned dollars because the studio wants to double dip. Take what I'm saying as a grain of salt because things can change and I'm no "insider" so I can't say for absolute certainty that they will release the director's cut, but there is an interview out there with Scott about the director's cut. So, my recommendation (take it for what you will)? If you enjoyed the movie but wanted more, wait for the inevitable directors cut :)

For those interested, my original review for the theatrical release is pasted below:

When epic films come out, people usually fall into two categories without even seeing the movie: they are excited to see it or they roll their eyes and yawn. I happen to fall into the first category. Epic historical war films like Gladiator, Troy and now Kingdom of Heaven (just to name a few) are a lot of fun to me. There's nothing like seeing boulders of flames lighting the night sky as they explode into castle towers, etc.

From what I've gathered through the media and through friends of mine who are history buffs, the film is pretty accurate as far as movie epics goes; I am not a history buff so I couldn't tell you. Ridley Scott does a good job of mixing fictional (Orlando Bloom's Balian) and historical (The leper king, played by Edward Norton in an excellently subdued role). Complimenting the battle sequences is a rousing score by Harry Gregson-Williams who has done everything from the video game Metal Gear Solid 2 to Shrek. They also sample a song from the Prayer Cycle by Johnathan Elias which is achingly beautiful. Overall the sound fits the theme and the time period admirably well.

The story is pretty standard epic film stuff. You have the unwitting hero, the possible love interest, the possible love interest's evil husband, all engulfed in the massive Crusades that are tearing apart Jerusalem. One thing I am glad for is that I feel Ridley Scott and screenwriter William Monahan did a more accurate portrayal of the Crusades by showing not only the religious side of events but also the socio-political and economical themes that pushed the war forward.

I think Orlando Bloom has been criticized perhaps too strongly in this movie. Most professional reviews comment that he is too "pretty boy" for the role. It's almost as if critics are trying to pigeon hole him and type cast him into that role. I'm not trying to defend Orlando Bloom, but it never really struck me as the "fish out of water" character casting that professional critics are demanding it is. Sure, he relied on the look of a puppy dog who's lost his best friend a little much, and yeah he has that "pretty boy" look I suppose but come on, if you don't allow someone to do something different, you're just reinforcing his type cast which leads to a vicious cycle.

You might feel that even though the movie is a good 2 hours and 25 minutes that it felt like something was missing. And, that's probably because something was missing, about 80 more minutes. In an interview with Ridley Scott, he mentioned that the theatrical cut is not his cut and that he was planning on releasing a directors cut on DVD that encompasses an amazing 220 minutes. I suppose the production company decided they didn't want to have an almost 4 hour movie in the theatres right now and so decided to chop sometime off, but according to reports with Ridley Scott that's not what he wanted to happen exactly.

Going with the cuts and the story, I think part of what was left out might have been more of Saladin's point of view. It seemed as if the movie wanted to show both sides as there were moments were we saw dissent on the Arab side as well as a hint of some motives. I'm hoping that this was something we'll see more of in the DVD cut because it creates a better picture of just what was going on.

I would like to say that it would be better to catch this on DVD so one could see the movie in its entirety, but fans of this genre know that the best place to see these movies is in the theatre. Just know that when it comes out on DVD it will be more complete. It's a pretty good epic film. There were some nice fighting sequences and the final siege of Jerusalem leading up to the climax was stunning. Personally I enjoyed it much more than Troy and Alexander of last year. It might not live up to Ridley Scott's Gladiator right now, but come DVD it has a chance I think.

5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional! May 9, 2005
153 out of 174 found this review helpful

All right, all right, this epic looks and feels like Ridley Scott's earlier masterpiece, "Gladiator," and it has a peach-fuzzed Legolas as its lead, yet. . .yet. . .KINGDOM OF HEAVEN absolutely entertains and rewards its viewers with complete cinematic bliss.

Director (and Producer) Scott brings forth the story of the medieval Crusades while simultaneously employing many of the filmmaking techniques and gadgetry that made "Gladiator" an Oscar-caliber winner. Here, in KINGDOM, we are treated to the same compelling movie-making craftmanship: sweeping vistas, slow-motion photography (augmented by flying debris of dirt, weaponry, and various body parts), stellar images, haunting music. Scott has succeeded, just as he did with "Gladiator," in telling a story so hypnotically appealing that the viewer is instantly transported to the 12th Century, where day-to-day life was, if one may be so bold, somewhat risky, and fraught with peril unimaginable.

What totally surprised me the most was the performance of Orlando Bloom. As a young French blacksmith who suffers from the recent loss of his wife and child, and then makes a life-changing decision to join his Catholic brethren in Jerasulem--at the present an unstable bastion of religious tolerance--Bloom's character Balian is completely troubled, tortured, compelling, and believable. The actor takes this epic on his youthful shoulders and carries it admirably--even when the story stretches itself to limits as tight as a rubber band on the verge of snapping apart. Bloom is extraordinary; his Legolas legacy is successfully jettisoned.

Yet KINGDOM OF HEAVEN boasts a plethora of incredible acting performances. Liam Neeson is wonderful as Balian's long-lost father, Godfrey; Jeremy Irons remarkable as Jerusalem marshal Tiberias; Eva Green sensuous and delightful as story love interest Sibylla; Ghassan Massoud steady and rational as Muslim antogonist Saladin; Brendan Gleeson despicable as a bigoted Crusader nobleman; Marton Csokas maniacal as the ultimate evil-doer Guy de Lusignan--a potential leader obsessed with re-igniting a Christian-Muslim war. And Edward Norton, as fragile, disease-infested King Baldwin IV, weighs in with perhaps the film's best performance.

Yes, this sword and sandal epic has been down the road of "been there, done that," yet KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is handsome enough to stand proudly on its own dusty merits. The siege of Jerusalem alone is worth the price of admission. Highly recommended.
--D. Mikels

5 out of 5 stars

Too bad it didn't do better at the box office April 11, 2006
92 out of 96 found this review helpful

I really enjoyed the theatrical cut, and now, get ready for all the nice storylines that were deleted. What you'll see on the director's cut (referenced from AICN) SPOILERS AHEAD!!:

- did you realize that the priest at the beginning is actually the half-brother of Balian (Orlando Bloom)? Their relationship is much more complicated and unpleasant in this version, and we learn that Balian is in jail following his wife's death, thanks to his brother's claim that he is possessed by the devil.

- We also learn that Balian was an engineer before he became a blacksmith, that he built war machines when he was part of an army, and he's released from prison because the local lord needs Balian's help. So much more work is put into the establishment of Balian's character that by the time we actually meet him in the film now, we have a sense of who he is.

- The lord that Balian works for? Turns out, he's Neeson's brother, and when Godfrey shows up in the village, he's coming home. There's an entire scene that takes place at the castle where it's clear that his absence made it possible for his brother to take over, something that his brother doesn't want to see change. Since Godfrey has no heir, if he dies, then his new lands also become the property of the brother, something that makes more sense of the battle scenes involving Neeson and his group of soldiers.

- When Neeson goes to talk to Balian the first time, he stops at the door to the smith's shop, looking out at a particular spot. He flashes back to when he was younger, to when he was with Balian's mother, and that one moment says all we need to know about the particular paradise that Godfrey seeks and that he knows he'll never find again. It explains so much about why he would want to come and make amends and reach out to Balian. He's looking for absolution, and he figures he can find it this way, and the film shows us instead of just telling us.

- Baldwin IV is shown refusing the last sacrament from Patriarch Heraclius.

- Another major change is the re-insertion of the character of Baldwin V (who was shown in some of the trailers), here depicted as the son of Sibylla by Guy. He is portrayed as suffering from leprosy, like his uncle. His death is depicted as an act of euthanasia by his mother, using poison.

- Balian also fights a climactic duel with Guy.

- Additionally, Eva Green's role as the Queen has been expanded, and she's not there just for Orland Bloom's sexual interest.

- More insight into absolution, forgiveness, and politics in this time period.

4 out of 5 stars

Close to Heaven May 13, 2005
80 out of 96 found this review helpful

The year is 1184. In a small village in France, the young blacksmith, Balian (Orlando Bloom), is grieving for his dead wife and child. Into his forge walk Baron Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson) and his band of crusader knights, freshly returned from the Holy Land. It is not a chance encounter. Godfrey reveals that he is Balian's father, and offers the young man the opportunity to accompany back him to Jerusalem. At first the smith declines, but as his father turns his big horse toward the east, he invites Balian to catch up with him later. It's easy to find Jerusalem, he assures him: "just go to where the men speak Italian, then continue to where they speak something else." Later that very day, Balian finds himself in serious trouble with the law, and he flees to join his father's band of warriors.

By the time he survives his perilous journey to the holy city, Balian is the new Baron of Ibelin. In Jerusalem, he allies himself with the city's ruler, King Baldwin (Edward Norton). He also meets and falls into an affair with the King's sister, Sibylla (Eva Green), who unfortunately happens to be the wife of a powerful rival knight, Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas). Under Baldwin, Christians and Muslims coexist (mostly) peacefully, and the restless militant Christian forces - led by Guy and Reynald de Chatillon (Brendan Gleeson) - are kept on a tight leash. Always present is the threat from the Muslim warlord Saladin (Ghassan Massoud), who commands a force of 200,000 warriors in nearby Damascus. Saladin has sworn to his followers that he will one day take Jerusalem; but as long as Baldwin keeps the peace, the Saracen general is content to leave him alone. Both Christian and Muslim extremists are spoiling for a showdown, however, and you know it's going to happen. When the inevitable provocation occurs, it falls to Balian to erect a hasty defense of Jerusalem, and take on the vast hordes of Saladin with a ragtag army of citizens and former slaves.

This is a good movie. Given his work with Gladiator and Blackhawk Down, director Ridley Scott demonstrably knows how to make big, sprawling combat epics, and Kingdom of Heaven confirms that in spades. The action is viscerally involving, and Scott does a terrific job of evoking the place and the epoch. When Godfrey's bunch face off with a local posse in the wintry forest of France, it's a cruel affair - primitive weapons, desperate abandon, arrows and assailants emerging suddenly from the trees all around. It feels authentic, and dark-agey. Later, when the vast Christian and Muslim armies meet in the desert, they seem to shimmer up iconically out of the ground in the Byzantine sun, brandishing the talismans of their religions. As he did in Blackhawk Down, Scott captures the great paradox of warfare: the grandeur and horror of the spectacle, the valor and savagery of hand-to-hand clashes.

Kingdom of Heaven is mostly well-served by its performances. Neeson and Jeremy Irons (as Tiberias, the Marshal of Jerusalem's army) are some of the most dependable actors around, and they don't disappoint here. Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud gives great gravitas as Saladin, and Brendan Gleeson, in a really funky dye job, makes a pretty good villain. The most haunting performance is given by Edward Norton who, as the leper King Baldwin, wears a silver mask throughout the film. The cool, longsuffering dignity of Norton's voice as it wafts from the mask is more poignant than any impassioned speech.

So it's a good movie - but it's not a great one. That's because at the center there's a hollow place: Balian.

Orlando Bloom seems like a very intelligent young man. Also soulful, complex, and - if the reports are true - a nice fellow to boot. But the guy's got no fire. How ironic, for a man who plays a blacksmith. Time and again, it's impossible not to compare Bloom's performance with others, and he inevitably suffers by the comparison. As the hero of a Ridley Scott period epic, he takes distant second to lusty, passionate Russell Crowe (Gladiator). When he gives a speech to rouse the people of Jerusalem to fight, he loses out to memories of Kenneth Branagh's St. Crispin's Day speech in Henry V. As in Pirates of the Caribbean, when he was eclipsed by co-star Johnny Depp, Bloom doesn't even hold the stage beside his supporting players. In the incandescence of Neeson, Irons, Ghassan, and Norton, the young star pales to invisibility.

Much has been said about the topicality of this movie - with parallels, of course, to the American invasion of Iraq, and the current high tide of unrest generally in the middle east. If Scott is making a statement, though, it's difficult to discern what it is. Clearly, he is antagonistic to extremists on both sides of the religious conflict in Kingdom of Heaven. But if the message is, "let's all give peace a chance," it's hardly advanced much by a film full of exhilarating bloodletting. Homiletics notwithstanding, I think the main point of the exercise is to make a good film that rakes in a lot of money.

On balance, this is a film worth seeing. Unless, that is, you have a particular aversion to cinematic violence, in which case you might want to give this one a pass. As was true in Blackhawk Down, director Scott racks up a pretty high body count here, and the combat scenes are pretty salty. If that doesn't deter you, though - and especially if you're a fan of history dramas - take the road to the Kingdom of Heaven.

4 out of 5 stars

A new Kingdom of Heaven... February 15, 2006
50 out of 81 found this review helpful

Run Time: 191 Minutes
MPAA Rating (USA): R
Genre: Drama

Bonus Features:

Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut features a new widescreen feature, commentaries and tons of bonus features on 4 discs.

Disc 1:
**DIRECTOR'S CUT Part One
*Introduction by Sir Ridley Scott
**AUDIO COMMENTARIES
Director Ridley Scott and Writer William Monahan
by executive producer Lisa Ellzey, film editor Dody Dorn, visual effects supervisor Wes Sewell and first assistant director Adam Somner
**THE ENGINER'S GUIDE

Disc 2:
**DIRECTOR'S CUT Part Two
**AUDIO COMMENTARIES (Continued)
Director Ridley Scott and Writer William Monahan
by executive producer Lisa Ellzey, film editor Dody Dorn, visual effects supervisor Wes Sewell and first assistant director Adam Somner
**THE ENGINER'S GUIDE (Cont'd)
*Story Notes (Text & Images)

Disc 3:
**THE PATH TO REDEMPTION DOCUMENTARY - Part I
DEVELOPMENT
*Part I: Good Intentions (Featurette)
*"Tripoli" Overview & Gallery (Text & Images)
*First Draft Screenplay by William Monahan (Text)
*Story Notes (Text & Images)
*Location Scout Gallery (Images)
**PRE-PRODUCTION
*Part II: Faith and Courage (Featurette)
*Screen Tests (Video and Commentary)
*Cast Rehearsals (Video)
*Costume & Weapon Design Featurette (Video)
*Production Design / Conceptual Art / Costume Galleries (Text & Images)
**PRODUCTION: SPAIN
*Part III: The Pilgrimage Begins (Featurette)
*Creative Accuracy: The Scholars Speak (Video)
*Storyboard Comparisons (Multi-Angle Video & Images)
*Photo Galleries (Text & Images)

Disc 4:
**THE PATH TO REDEMPTION (Continued)
**PRODUCTION: MOROCCO
*Part IV: Into The Promised Land (Featurette)
*Unholy War: Mounting The Siege (Video)
*Storyboard Comparisons (Multi-Angle Video & Images)
*Photo Galleries (Text & Images)
**POST-PRODUCTION
*Part V: The Burning Bush (Featurette)
*Deleted & Alternate Scenes (Video & Commentary)
*Sound Design Suite (Video & Audio)
*Visual Effects Breakdowns (Video & Commentary)
**RELEASE
*Part VI: Sins and Absolution (Featurette)
*Trailers & TV Spots (Video & Commentary)
*ShoWest Presentation (Video)
*Press Junket Walkthrough (Video)
*Japanese & London Premieres (Video)
*Poster Explorations: Domestic & International (Images)
*The Director's Cut & DVD Campaign (Video & Images)

Powered by Associate-O-Matic

T-shirts, Posters

Pentagram T-shirts, bags, etc...

Gothic Posters