Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Title: Kingdom of Heaven
Cast: Orlando Bloom, Alexander Siddig, Liam Neeson
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Running Time: 3hrs. 10 min
Genre: History | Action | Adventure

The movie shows the time of the crusades during the middle ages somewhere around 1145 AD onwards between the Second and Third Crusades when Jerusalem was ruled by a Christian King and Salahuddin Ayubi with his massive army was right around the border in Syria waiting for an opportunity to attack and reclaim the holy city . 

The movie shows at that time in the medieval France a blacksmith named Balian (Orlando Bloom) who lost his family and nearly his faith and was told by his long lost father Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), a Crusader briefly home to France from fighting in the East, to join the crusades and travel to Jerusalem's Holy Place to ask for forgiveness for himself and his dead wife. In Jerusalem Balian falls in love with princess Sibylla (Eva Green). The leper king of Jerusalem (Edward Norton, behind a silver mask) and his wise counselor Tiberias (Jeremy Irons) yearn for peace and work hard to negotiate with the Muslims their grandfathers so bloodily drove out of Jerusalem some 80 years earlier. The knights Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) and Reynald (red-bearded Brendan Gleeson) plan for war and the pleasures of killing. After the death of King of Jerusalem Guy asks Reynald to give him a war which he successfully achieves by killing Salahuddin's sister. There starts a series of battles that end with Balian defending Jerusalem and then surrendering it to Salahuddin on condition of safe passage to Christian lands for his people.

That was the story for you, now some comments on the technical aspects of the movie. From the visual and technical standpoint, "Kingdom of Heaven" is masterful. The recreation of medieval France and the city of Jerusalem were brilliant technical achievements. The French landscape was beautifully created and in the recreation of Jerusalem, the film artists truly drew us into the twelfth-century walled city with sacred roots in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Much credit should go to cinematographer, costume designer and all of the film's art directors.

The character of Saladin was portrayed as an individual of great moral rectitude and a very powerful general beautifully played by Ghassan Massoud. The war fight scene were probably not as good as Troy but nevertheless they were good especially the scene when Balian's charging army is surrounded by the incoming Muslim brigade led by Alexander Siddig as Imad.

A great movie to watch if you want to visualize this epic historic battle of Jerusalem.

Note of Caution: Go for the non violent version of the DVD if you don't like blood splashing with every stroke of sword

This movie is recommended for people who are in to historic medieval movies, definitely for Salahuddin Ayubi lovers, Orlando Bloom lovers, Muslim history lovers and last Ridley Scott lovers.

Not recommended for children under the age of 15.

M.A.D Rating : 8.5