Kingdom of Heaven

[Krug]

Seen it and didn't work for me.

Spoiler

Bloom didn't quite pull off the leading man role well. Felt hard to emphatise or be convinced that he could lead a group of men against hordes of Muslim warriors.

Maybe it goes a bit overboard with the 'It was Christians who started it all' angle. But I won't get into too much of that... the battles were pretty entertaining, with Saladin's warriors possessing siege engines of considerable power. Hmm.. must check up on this.

I guess things had to be sugar-coated, and history be damned!.

6/10 for me.

The Hollywood Reporter likes it though.

 

[Banshee16]

Seen it and didn't work for me.

Spoiler

Bloom didn't quite pull off the leading man role well. Felt hard to emphatise or be convinced that he could lead a group of men against hordes of Muslim warriors.

Maybe it goes a bit overboard with the 'It was Christians who started it all' angle. But I won't get into too much of that... the battles were pretty entertaining, with Saladin's warriors possessing siege engines of considerable power. Hmm.. must check up on this.

I guess things had to be sugar-coated, and history be damned!.

6/10 for me.

The Hollywood Reporter likes it though.

I guess that's the crux of the matter. I can appreciate if the movie is cool..it might not be 100% historically accurate. My main concern is what I see in things like that article you just posted, where the writer evidently didn't have a firm grasp of history.....I guess the danger to changing the history in the movie is that somebody could leave there with an incorrect understanding of what actually happened, who started what, etc. etc. etc. But, I think anybody would have to be foolish to expect truth out of Hollywood in any case.....I've seen very few "historical" films that were very historically accurate. Especially, unfortunately, those made by Hollywood as opposed to independent or foreign film companies.

I'm looking forward to seeing the film.....just hope it's not *too* distorted that it makes it hard to watch. But the whole idea of a gritty movie with good costumes, special effects, interesting story, etc., and good or decent acting, about the medieval ages....I'm all for that

Banshee

 

[warlord]

As long as Orlando doesn't go all Robin Hood on people I think the movie looks great.

 

[Banshee16]

As long as Orlando doesn't go all Robin Hood on people I think the movie looks great.

That's a pretty good term

Yes, I hope he's no archer in this movie.

I don't think that he's as bad as some popular opinion would have it....no worse than several other "pretty boy" Hollywood actors were early in their careers. I'm no fanboy though.

Just, please, no bows. Walloping with swords, running people over in cavalry charges? That would be acceptable

Banshee

 

[Fast Learner]

Saw it tonight, and gave it an 8.

Entertaining throughout, with good storytelling. I don't know much about the crusades and so there were no history issues for me (other than the medieval blacksmith who could

Spoiler

read, learned massive fighting skills very quickly, knew how to use survey equipment, knew how to defend a walled city against seige,

and many other amazing things that seemed unlikely.

I thought Bloom was just fine. Not strong, but it wasn't a strong role, in a weird way.

Too much hand-held camera for my taste, made the fights too chaotic. Yeah, I know, I'm sure they were chaotic in real life, but you don't heat up the theater every time they show a desert scene, do you? I want to see what's going on.

As allegory for today, it wasn't too shabby.

 

[David Howery]

I'm not crazy about the idea that the movie has gone all PC and paints the moslems as good guys and nothing but, and the Crusaders as bad guys and nothing but. There were good and bad guys on both sides... I'd rather they just told the story, and present all of them as people, not saints or devils.

And I'd still like to see a movie on the 1st Crusade...

 

[Banshee16]

I'm not crazy about the idea that the movie has gone all PC and paints the moslems as good guys and nothing but, and the Crusaders as bad guys and nothing but. There were good and bad guys on both sides... I'd rather they just told the story, and present all of them as people, not saints or devils.

And I'd still like to see a movie on the 1st Crusade...

Well, watch for reviews, to see if that's how it was portrayed in the movie. I *think* that it will be somewhat balanced. Unless the plotline of the movie is different from what I heard about last night on the Learning Channel, the story does involve Balian organizing the defense of Jerusalem against the Moslems, as opposed to against Crusaders, which is what some reviews and previews have indicated.

As to him being a blacksmith etc. I guess that's one of those historical things where they don't know that he was, but they also don't know that he wasn't. So, they made some assumptions, in the attempt to tell a better story.

I'm pleased to see some of the reviews and scores that have been coming out so far. Sounds like it'll be interesting..

Banshee

 

[The_lurkeR]

It's not doing so well at RottenTomatoes, running at 44% at the moment.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kingdom_of_heaven/

I was thinking about seeing this over the weekend, but it sounds like it's more like a rental. I've grown to trust RT since it's an aggregate of many reviewers, so the bias tends to get sorted out, and you're left with a pretty good indicator of the quality of the movie.

 

[Fast Learner]

I'm not crazy about the idea that the movie has gone all PC and paints the moslems as good guys and nothing but, and the Crusaders as bad guys and nothing but. There were good and bad guys on both sides... I'd rather they just told the story, and present all of them as people, not saints or devils.

Fortunately the idea you're not crazy about isn't the story of this film. There are good Crusaders, and a bit of bad Saracens.

 

[Fast Learner]

I've grown to trust RT since it's an aggregate of many reviewers, so the bias tends to get sorted out, and you're left with a pretty good indicator of the quality of the movie.

Yes, but the number tends to not be useful until the Friday the film opens -- if you look at this one, there are very few "cream of the crop" reviews included in the number, and the "cream of the crop" average is 71% (fresh). I tend to wait until Friday before using the number as any kind of guide, when more reviews are included.