Kingdom of Heaven

[Banshee16]

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.

Well, I wouldn't worry too much....that 44% isn't indicative of the average score, first of all....which is 5.8 on 10. More importantly, most of these are pre-release reviews, and from minor, minor media, many of whom I don't trust in any case. The major ones I tend to agree with seem to be scoring it higher. And if you're just looking for sample size, last I checked, IMDB has something like 600 votes, and is scoring 7.8 on 10.

The fact that in several of the reviews, such as the one by the Hollywood Reporter, there are blatant falsehoods that indicate an incomplete/incorrect understanding of history, and that that misunderstanding led to their poor score, seems to discredit those reviews in the first place.

I really like (sarcasm) one reviewer who called the main character, Balian of Ibelin, a flat, fictional character. From the reading I've been doing, aside from the fact that they made him a blacksmith in the movie, he did exist. There are genealogical records that refer to him, historical references, everything.

In any case, I guess we'll see over the next few days how it turns out.

Banshee

 

[David Howery]

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.
Banshee

??? organizing the defences of Jerusalem against the Moslems?! In the 3rd Crusade, the Moslems held Jerusalem.. that was the whole point of the 3rd Crusade. Richard marched on it twice, but decided both times that he couldn't take and hold Jerusalem, and never did conquer it. Richard did capture several other cities, but not Jerusalem...

 

[Banshee16]

??? organizing the defences of Jerusalem against the Moslems?! In the 3rd Crusade, the Moslems held Jerusalem.. that was the whole point of the 3rd Crusade. Richard marched on it twice, but decided both times that he couldn't take and hold Jerusalem, and never did conquer it. Richard did capture several other cities, but not Jerusalem...

The movie doesn't take place during the 3rd Crusade. It takes place between the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd Crusades.

I would say more, but it would give away the plot of the movie. But I've been doing some reading, and there is historical basis behind the majority of the plot of the movie. Balian of Ibelin did exist, and many of the things that happen in the movie did occur. Details here and there have apparently been tweaked to make a better movie, but the general story is correct.

Assume that the love story, Balian's being a blacksmith, and a few other elements might be completely fictional, but that much of the rest did occur.

I'm a bit upset that I went and did that reading, because now I've got a fairly clear idea of what's going to happen in the movie, but I'm glad that the plot of the movie is not all just made up.

Banshee

 

[Krug]

On Metacritic it's at 66%.

 

[Fast Learner]

Ebert loved it.

RottenTomatoes has it at42% today.

Stunning, really. I thought it was quite good. A fair bit better than Crash, which has 80%. Hard to fathom. Maybe its too much of a religious issue. The Christians aren't portrayed very positively.

Or maybe my taste is just skewed.

 

[Banshee16]

Ebert loved it.

RottenTomatoes has it at42% today.

Stunning, really. I thought it was quite good. A fair bit better than Crash, which has 80%. Hard to fathom. Maybe its too much of a religious issue. The Christians aren't portrayed very positively.

Or maybe my taste is just skewed.

I trust critics about as far as I can throw them in most cases....case in point, "Sideways" won all this critical acclaim, but when I actually watched it the other week, I was rather less than impressed. It was supposed to be a comedy?

IMDB has a good aggregate score of regular movie fans...there it's amassed over 1300 votes, with an average of 7.3 on 10. Even Rotten Tomatoes is a bit deceptive. The overall score is 42%, but the Creme de la creme score, which is the one that matters is something like 60%.

I'm glad to hear you liked it. I'm looking forward to it, but probably won't have a chance to catch it until next week. Hopefully these reviews don't destroys its hopes of good box office for the weekend.

Banshee

 

[jasamcarl]

I'm actually going to see it with my brother next week, though I fully expect it to suck. The Times hated it and they tend to be who I look to for a very 'orthdox' sense of good taste.

It's always fun to muscle through an overblown epic and then tear it apart in conversation for days afterward.

 

[Hopping Vampire]

not a bad movie at all, esp. considering i hate Orlando Bloom with a passion. It was well written, though not mauch character development.

 

[Taelorn76]

I just got home from seeing this film. I thought the action was great, very similar to Gladiator, to be expected though. I thought the story was good, the ending was a little ehh for me, but still good. I thought the acting was good as well. I gave it an 8. The movie entertained me for 2+ hrs so I was happy.

 

[Captain Tagon]

I really enjoyed. Probably would of liked it even more if not for the goings on in the seat next to me, but it is all good. Gave it an 8.