Kingdom of Heaven (DVD, 2005, Full Frame; Lenticular)

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 thought the movie was very excellent. The filmmakers were able to capture the drama and the historical events of the Crusader Period in Jerusalem. Yet, the storyline did not take a back seat to the blood and guts like Braveheart.
Saladin's army and their attack of Jerusalem made you feel like you were there.
The villians were bad and the heros were good. No middle gray areas in this film and that might be why I liked it. No graphic sex, no bad language. Kingdom of Heaven is worth the effort to see if you like historical drama or just a good story.

Kingdom of Heaven is an excellent movies because it has a lot of action and drama in it. There is no language at all to take away from the story line. The one thing I did not like is that you really have to pay attention and watch or you will get lost in the film. This is hard to do with a little one running around, but all in all I would recommend this movie to anybody who likes history and medevil type films. I decided to buy it because I wanted to make sure I did not miss ANYTHING.

Kingdom of Heaven is a great movie. It shows a new aspect of the war over the Holy Land, and who can argue with a movie starring Orlando Bloom? I was particularly awe-struck by the King's character. He suffered from leprocy and wore an ornate silver face mask. Somehow, even wearing a mask, the character is pulled off as a highly intelligent and emotionally valid character in the film.

This movie is right up there with ~Lord of the Rings~..& Liam Neison is 'DA BOMB!! So many acting 'greats' and all in one single movie! You're gonna love it, it joins my group of all time favs!

Very good movie if your into mideval era battle, a little hard to follow if your not paying attention, and there is a few things that Ridley Scott i feel could of done to make the plot a little better, but all in all it was a good movie.

i love this movie it is a reat historical movie and just makes you realize that there may never be peace in the middle east but at least we are tring to do something about it. anyway the action scenes are good and the story is a good one. two thumbs up from me

I bought this movie because I will watch it over and over again. I love the action and inspiration it gives, It teaches a lesson about issues that have not been resolved even to today. It shows that there has and still is not much difference in the intolerance by two of the worlds major religions. The speech given just before the attack on Jerusalem was a masterpiece that I could listen to over and over again.

love this movie. it is so tearful and really touches you.
if you have a day with nothing to do atch this movie
julia @ ebay richardm6211

good gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Job got it fast thankyou a;lksdjf;lasjdf;lasjdf;lsadjf;lkjsadfl;kjsadl;kfjsadlk;jfl;kasdjfl;saj ;lasj;lf jds;lf jasld;f jas;lj fl;asdjf l;asdjf las;jf dl;asdj fl;asdkj fl;asdj fl;asjf l;asdj fl;asjf l;sda

This is a great movie if you like history, and kings, castles and good vs bad. I thought it was very good.

I bought this movie because it was the best buy I had seen for it. It was in great condition, right out of the package. I like this movie because the story line, the characters, and the extras they put in it. It can be a chick flick, or a guy movie. Perfect for every one in your family.

I WOULD HIGH RECOMMEND THIS INSPIRATIONAL MOVIE TO ANYONE, WHO APPRECAITE FREEDOM. I GOT TO ADMIT THE TALE OF THIS STORY WAS INCREDIBLE. IT GIVE ME A DEEP THOUGHT ON HOW AND WHAT WE DO IN LIFE CAN CHANGE IN AN INSTANT. LIFE HAS ITS FUN YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN DAY TO DAY. THERE ARE SO MANY TWIST AND TURNS. I AM GREATFUL WHAT I HAVE. WE ARE PUT ON EARTH FOR SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. WE GOT TO USE EVERY DAY, MINUTES AND SECONDS TO THE MAX.

God help us all. Not only has Hollywood unleashed yet another thud-and-blunder movie, this one has a "religious" message. The video clip of Rodney King asking plaintively, "Can't we all just get along?" is infinitely more inspiring than this sword-and-sandal abomination. Directors should have to pay the hundreds of thousands of CGI soldiers created for these messes. Then they'd stop making them.

I liked this film. But, with Ridley Scott, it should have been much, much better.

I could not follow the story with some of the characters. Can people explain the Balian & Sibylla story.

DVD should have been much better as well.
No deleted scenes & I had trouble accessing some items.

Orlando was good, reason I bought the DVD.

Orlando Bloom does an excellent job as does Eva Green in this historic look at the crusades. It puts religion and man's faith into perspective. I really enjoyed the movie and have watched it several times.

This film is very good, although it's a bit long. It has a great story to tell.
The actors are magnificant.

They didn't send me the movie!! They sent me the special features disks!! I emailed the seller twice and still no response. I want my money back!

item was recieved in very good condition ,on time and is exactly as promised. and i am satified with my purchase. thank you

It came quick, it came new, and it came working. The only thing probably was, was that I wouldn't mind having the wide screen version instead... but its all good. This order was still top notched.

Based on a true story this movie is about the Crusades I would recomend this movie to anyone and everyone that likes to watch moives. This is also an awesome action movie. I always like movies that are based on true storys.

This is a good/excellent movie that occurs in the 12th century involving the Crusades from Europe [France] to Jerusalem. The movie has historical implications with exciting battle scenes -- mainly between the Crusaders and Muslims.

The attacks by the Muslims on the city of Jerusalem is awesome; quite different from what I expected. Excerpts from the film personnel, in my 2-disk set, related how massive this movie was.

In conclusion, this is more of an 'action' movie and is recommended if the viewer likes battles, siege scenes, and impressive graphics. I liked this movie and it met my expectations.

A runner-up to movies like TROY and THE 300, as far as epic battles go, typical confrontation. Orlando Bloom was weak in this movie, a not so good pick by Director/Producer RIDLEY SCOTT. Jeremy Irons & Liam Neeson supporting actors GOOD. An somewhat of a boost for EVA GREEN's career though.

Somewhat not usual but interesting something fiction of ancient. It does have with closed caption. Pretty good.