Kingdom of Heaven (DVD, 2006, 4-Disc Set; Director's Cut; Widescreen)

the standard length movie is too chopped down to tell the story properly. this version is well worth viewing!

This, the Director's Cut, of Kingdom of Heaven is the RIGHT cut. The added 50 minutes shows a sub-plot that makes the rest of the movie make better sense. The shorter version should not have been released in theatres! See this, the Director's Cut, you will be glad you did.

I love the ethics, the honor, the integrity espoused in by the characters in this movie on top of the sheer excitement and action. It was satisfying in every way. I did not expect to see what I witnessed in this movie. Things like Christians supporting Muslims and Muslims doing the same in return. Open acknowledgement that Jerusalem is just a scrap of land, that having religion doesn't make you right, and that greed and fanaticism are what gets everyone killed. I found myself stopping the movie and writing down quotes that I found to be high spiritual truths rather than mere phrases. The characters were convincing, the scenery was gorgeous, and Ridley Scott will have me watching every one of his movies from here on out.

I guess I just expected too much before I watched this film. I am a student of medieval history, the crusades, and the Templars and I expected an intelligent film (which Ridley Scott usually produces). What I saw was an anti-war "epic" wanna-be.
The acting was OK. The battle scenes decent. The editing and camera work well done. The problem was the story. Historically, the film was surprisingly accurate, but the characters were not believable in this time period; specifically Orlando Bloom's character.
It was like a 20th (or now 21st) century man thrown in to a world of political, religious and social disorder. The time of the crusades was one of fanaticism based on beliefs that the only way to heaven was by being absolved of sin; the catholic church in their greed to rule the world, set out in a bloody conquest to destroy the Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land and the only way that they could get commoners to participate was to promise that heaven awaited them on the other side.
This was the dark ages (called that because it was before the age of enlightenment), a time when most people couldn't read, and even if they could, didn't have anything to read because everything was in latin, including the bible. People had to believe what the pope told them. If they didn't believe the pope, they had to do what their feudal lords told them to do (because the lords would have them arrested, killed, homeless, wifeless or childless if they didn't).
Essentially, this film tries to prove that men had free will in the dark/middle ages and history proves that this is not possible. Just as we cannot understand what it was like to live during the revolutionary war, the civil war, the hundred years war, or any other war from a previous time period, we cannot understand the massive, sweeping lack of power possessed by the individual during the time of the crusades. Only monarchs and clergy had power at this time and only they had the potential for understanding the political, religious climate of the day.
Even educated people of the time were stupid in the world of international relations because everything back then was based on personal greed, personal gain of the church and the monarchs.

Now, so far as those of you who claim that the movie is christian bashing, let me say this. DO SOME RESEARCH!!! The dark ages was a horrible time for the church, the catholic church especially. The church was controlled by evil men with agendas that did not include glorifying God. Heresy and Simony were rampant in and out of the church.

OK, so you don't care about the accuracy, and you just want a good action movie that takes place in the dark ages. Well then, this movie is for you.
It actually was a good movie with good acting and a good script. The problem that I have is that it just isn't believable with what I know about the time period. Had I not known about the time period, I probably would have rated the film higher.

So, in the end, what you have with this is a film that seems to be trying to make a point; that war is pointless. WELL, WE KNOW THAT. LOOK AT IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.

What I don't understand is why this movie was made. It is entertaining, but at what cost. It does nothing to explain the period, the mistakes of the past. It is propaganda. I know, I expect too much. I will grant you that. Do what you will with this review, but I was let down by this movie. Too bad, really. It could have been a great movie.

I'm a medievalist- someone who has a passion for all things medieval- including but not limited to sword training, manuscript, armor, horsemanship, etc etc

I say all of that to say this- if you're anything like me, you'll LOVE this movie. It has all of the elements of a blockbuster movie; an engaging script, illuminated characters, big name actors, period specific weapons, armor and battle tactics, interspersed with heart pounding EPIC battle scenes with lots of blood and carnage, an excellently scored soundtrack and eye-popping visuals and locales.

In short, this movie deals with the actions of a few Christian knights and soldiers to defend the city of Jerusalem against a Muslim army some 200,000 strong- as you watch the movie build to its inevitable crescendo, I found myself wondering how would I have approached the situation? What could I have done differently? Would I have lived long enough to see the end?

All that aside, I found this to be a well-acted movie and thoroughly enjoyed it; I heartily suggest you get the Director's Cut; I've seen other versions of the movie that don't make a lot of sense because of the editing that was done to the final film. The Director's Cut is setup so that it actually makes sense as you watch the movie, not to mention the extra footage inserted to allow more character development- there's nothing worse than watching a principle character go about doing something that seems to make almost no sense, or have any bearing on the story. Having seen this version, a lot of questions I'd had previously were answered.

If you're an Orlando Bloom fan, that should be enough to warrant watching this movie as I see this as one of his better roles (barring Legolas of course) and anyone who has a thing for knights on horseback should NOT miss this movie.

This is much better than the studio cut theatrical release. The word was it had been cut down, to avoid offending Muslims. I think it was cut down to avoid offending Christians. This version showed Crusaders slaughtering people traveling through the desert, and the Muslim King as a decent, honest, and honorable man who worked with the Christian King before he died. If you thought the original release was slightly disjointed and missing something, please check this version out: I have not watched the extra features, so I cannot comment on those.

ridley scotts vision for the movie, it proves again why directors arn't editors.I enjoyed it but not as mutch as the theatrical release. A must for scott fans!

Mr. Ridley Scott and his team has made a lot of films in their career, for sure that his got a team of "Dedicated Professionals" for his projects...that is nothing new. His approach to History is very genuine, the stem and feeling of his cinema is very real and personal. In my opinion "Kingdom of Heaven" is the GEM of all, difficult task to realize and to craft as a film--very, passionate and enveloping, raw and very spiritual. The Crusades were a time in Christian Military History spots of absulute brilliance, and many patches of sorrow and suffering for our forces, both contestants filled with rage and brutality...to an extreme that it cannot be written I think. Both men and Commanders of opposing forces showing superb human qualities at their capable very worst. That is war nothing else. This film takes you there and brings you back with this crucial understanding--this "Gem of Cinema" will never be surpassed.

Kingdom of Heaven, the original theatrical version, was a decent film that I rather liked. This Director's Cut of the film, though, is vastly superior presenting not only King Baldwin V but also expanding on character development and in so doing providing a vastly superior film. I recommend this film to anybody interest in historical epic films!!

Comprehensive dvd that offers an abundance of extra features that chronicle every aspect of the production of the film.

I absolutley love this movie. The directors cut is SOOOO much more in depth and explains more than the first cut. I can throw this movie in at any time and enjoy it. I'm real into war movies, especially ones that portray crusades and before time were "civil". This is an exceptional flick, though it is rather long, worth watching when you have a 3 hour time frame with nothing to do. I deff. recommend this movie to everyone.

Each person in the world has their own reasons for doing what they do. The main character does things because of necessity and love, not because of greed. He is tempted by riches life offers but he puts away selfish desires to do the right things. History books give many viewpoints as to why things happened the way they did, but this movie presents history so that a person desires to learn more about what happened and why.

Even with its inaccuracies, this movie does give you your fill of the whole feel of the crusades; We'll at least about ideology. The only thing I would love, would be if they had an epic battle, but since I'm a Crusades nut, the defense of Jerusalem was good enough. It is definitely worth a rental.

A great and beautifully done FICTIONAL story using actual people and places from history.
What I don't like though is that it may lead people to believe that it happened this way and that some bad things are maybe not so bad, even though both sides are clearly corrupt and murderous though maybe not 100%.

Great movie, and with the new material story comes together
How movie was put together and what the back story adds another to this great value. Highly recommend

Exactly as ordered. Purchased for my wife. Shipped quickly. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Great product great picture. It is a great movie I suggest it to everyone. It was an extremely interesting movie and explained alot

He is a greats seller and he send the product in time.All email that I send asking abbout the product he answers just in time.

Very Good. In great condition. The extra film is great for the movie. The extras are great also. I would recommend buying the video

This is one of the most incredible movies I have ever seen.There is so much meaning and depth,you simply have to watch it over and over to find all the facets...The 2 disc set is nothing like this 4 disc extended version,this tells the real story and has hours and hours of extra commentary and features.The script is so moving,I find it amazing that it did not do well in America.Everyone here must be blind.All I can say is,"Open your eyes and learn from the past,it IS possible!"Fantastic and awesome all the way thru,buy it today!!

Bought this DVD for my son for Christmas. He was delighted that it was brand new, a director's cut, and widescreen. It arrived in good time for Christmas

I liked the originally released movie or CD and heard this one was better. After having viewed this version I am very impressed about how much more complete the movie is. It clears up a alot of items that were cut out of the edited version. A must buy for anyone who enjoys this time period.