Kingdom of Heaven

[amethal]

Just seen the film, really enjoyed it. Gave it an 8. Good fun, sword and shield medieval adventure.

It seemed historically accurate to me - I'm not an expert, and I don't know what kind of siege equipment the Saracens had, but I don't imagine they were threatening Jerusalem with only log rams and home-made ladders, so catapults and siege towers is fine with me.

I liked the message of religious tolerance, and I am not bothered that the muslims were shown to be more tolerant than the christians, in this one situation. There are plenty of sympathetic characters on both sides.

The only thing I didn't like was the fight scene early on. I don't want to give spoilers, but I'd like to think that given the standard of medieval medicine people would think long and hard before starting a large fight against battle hardened opponents.

The film is well worth seeing, especially on the big screen.

 

[BronzeDragon]

I was a little confused as to why they didn't mention the ransom the Christians had to pay to leave.....maybe for fear of making the character of Saladin less sympathetic? Not sure....

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For precisely the same reason why they did not mention that Balian actually went to Hittin (Hattin) and fled in order not to be slaughtered.

Same reason why they changed one of the main characters, Raymond of Antioch, into Tiberias (played by Irons), which was actually the name of a city by the shores of the lake of the same name. Raymond (Tiberias) made an alliance with Salah al-Din, then was forced to repent and again make war on the Muslims.

Same reason why they changed Sybila into King Baldwin IV's sister instead of wife, and made her an unwilling partner to Guy de Lusignan, instead of having her fall in love with Guy even before the death of her husband.

Same reason why they make Salah al-Din come to Balian to propose terms, instead of precisely the other way around. Same reason why they make Balian argue for the survival of all inhabitants of Jerusalem right from the start, instead of properly requesting safe-conduct for himself first.

Same reason why they show Balian working on a farm, instead of properly staying away from any kind of manual labor...

 

[Banshee16]

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For precisely the same reason why they did not mention that Balian actually went to Hittin (Hattin) and fled in order not to be slaughtered.

Same reason why they changed one of the main characters, Raymond of Antioch, into Tiberias (played by Irons), which was actually the name of a city by the shores of the lake of the same name. Raymond (Tiberias) made an alliance with Salah al-Din, then was forced to repent and again make war on the Muslims.

Same reason why they changed Sybila into King Baldwin IV's sister instead of wife, and made her an unwilling partner to Guy de Lusignan, instead of having her fall in love with Guy even before the death of her husband.

Same reason why they make Salah al-Din come to Balian to propose terms, instead of precisely the other way around. Same reason why they make Balian argue for the survival of all inhabitants of Jerusalem right from the start, instead of properly requesting safe-conduct for himself first.

Same reason why they show Balian working on a farm, instead of properly staying away from any kind of manual labor...

So my point rests....for dramatic purposes, and to make the character more sympathetic, etc.

Banshee

 

[Laurel]

After seeing this I was kind of disappointed. I had been looking forward to it, but instead had to satisfy myself that at least Orlando Bloom ran around the entire time looking nice.

Oh and Bashir

Otherwise though I really just couldn't wait for it to end. There wasn't enough of anything to make it good.