I am a great fan of period piece films, or of the so called sword and sandal epic.  I am also a great fan of Ridley Scott.  Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down- all are counted among my favorite films of all time.  So I was looking forward with great anticipation to the release of Kingdom of Heaven.  Unfortunately, I was not able to go and see the film during its run in theaters, though I did want to- real life kept me away.  When the film was released on DVD, the wife bought it, and we sat down to check out Sir Scott’s latest masterpiece.

Well… the wife enjoyed it more than I did, but anything that has Orlando Bloom running about swinging a sword will be OK in her book.  I was, sad to say, a bit disappointed with the movie.  It seemed to ramble along, disjointed, not giving me much to hold onto.  It seemed to me to have been billed as a great romantic action film, and while there was a little romance and a little action, there was not enough to make the thing work.  In the end, I decided that, while the look of the film was excellent, the story really was lacking, and so it would not rank among my favorites.

When I received the 4 disc Director’s Cut of the film for this review, I was not looking forward to re-watching an over three hour long version of a film that I had found boring in much shorter form (the theatrical release came in at about two hours and twenty five minutes- the director’s cut is about three hours and 15 minutes long) but I was curious to see what changes had been made to the film.  By the end of it, I can say that my opinion of Kingdom of Heaven had changed completely- the theatrical version was certainly not what Scott, and writer William Monahan had envisioned for the film, and what they were forced to cut out to bring the running time down to something within reason made the difference between an ok film, and a great film.

Great film?  Am I talking about the same Kingdom of Heaven, you ask?  Indeed I am.  This director’s cut version of the film is- dare I say it- epic.  It brought to mind another great holy land masterpiece, Ben-Hur.  And before you smash your monitor in outrage that I would mention the two films together, consider this- would Ben-Hur had been the same film if an hour of it had been cut out to satisfy arbitrary limits imposed by studio executives?  No, it would not.  Nor is the theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven worthy to be compared to the director’s cut of the same film.  The director’s cut is, for all intents and purposes, a completely different film.

To recap for those who have not seen any version of the film, Kingdom of Heaven is the story of a young man called Balian (Orlando Bloom), the blacksmith of a small French village, who has recently lost his wife and unborn child, and with them, his faith in God.  An unexpected turn of events leads Balian into the Crusades, and he becomes the Defender of Jerusalem against the forces of the great Muslim General, Saladin.  In the end, Balian is forced to surrender Jerusalem, and Balian and his new love, the former Queen of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, return to Balian’s humble village.

Well, that is the story of the theatrical version, at least.  While the theatrical version focuses primarily on the main character of Balian, the director’s cut strives to really tell a much grander story about a period of time and cycle of events that has had a lasting impact to this very day- the European Crusades to conquer the Holy Lands.  There are a great many people who believe those events are being relived in current times, and Kingdom of Heaven strives to look at these current events through the filter of the past, and ask the question, are we really so different?  A political examination of this film would require an article unto itself, and is not what I am here to write about, except to say that the producers of the film expressed their desires that this film be viewed by as many people as possible and be a catalyst to understanding between them.  I will leave it to others to decide if such a thing is actually possible, but it is, nonetheless, a worthwhile goal.

The director’s cut release of Kingdom of Heaven scores high when judged in the context of what it set out to do.  The film is presented as the true epic it was envisioned as by the creators- it begins with an overture, is interrupted by an intermission, and the second half of the film is preceded with an entr’acte- a fancy word meaning the overture that precedes the second half of the feature.  Next, the story of the film is made much more cohesive by the restoration of many scenes that were cut from the theatrical release, including an entire subplot involving Sibylla and her son, who is to take the throne after her brother dies.  These additions to the overall story of the film bring the events and characters into a much sharper focus than in the theatrical version, and this version is much more watchable and proceeds at a much more comfortable pace than the original, which is impressive considering it is nearly an hour longer.  We learn more about why the people on the screen are doing what they are doing, and this information is critical to understanding and enjoyment of the film.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the visual aspects of the movie, and this is something that is true of both version of the film- it is stunning to look at.  There is some of the most beautiful camera work I have ever seen in a movie, and in an effort to make it as authentic as possible, Sir Scott elected to keep the CG work to a minimum.  That means that much of what you see on the screen was actually built, rather than rendered.  CG was used to enhance the settings- extending the Jerusalem walls, making a few hundred soldiers look like a few thousand- but the core of the thing, what you see most, is the real deal.  I am hard pressed to name a movie I have seen that is more visually stunning than Kingdom of Heaven, and it is worth watching at least once for this reason alone.

In addition to the longer and more complete cut of the film, the 4 disc set includes many hours of extra features, including what has got to be a first for a DVD release of a movie- an examination of the possible reasons why the movie failed at the box office.  It is no secret that the film’s domestic haul was a let down- around $47 million on a budget of about $110 million- although in worldwide release the film made nearly double its budget.  So in the end, Fox certainly made money, but the film was still considered a disappointment because of its lackluster U.S. reception.  I think that people may have been tiring of seeing Orlando Bloom swing swords around, and the fact that the film opened just a few days before Star Wars Episode III couldn’t have helped.  Also, as previously mentioned, the theatrical version just wasn’t very good.  But, would the film have fared better had this far superior version been released?  Probably not, and here is why- the American movie going audience is a bunch of restless, dim witted, shallow minded morons.  You really can’t blame the studio execs for wanting the film to be cut shorter and shorter- they know full well that American moviegoers have no patience for a long movie that makes them think.  A long movie like Titanic is fine, because there is a great deal of style and very little substance- that is, there is precious little going on beyond what you were actually seeing happen on the screen.  Kingdom of Heaven, on the other hand, is a film that requires the viewer to become mentally involved in the story to a certain extent, and we certainly can’t have any of that nonsense.  It’s not just a problem with movies- I have seen many excellent TV series’ die quick deaths in the last few years, and the one thing they all had in common was “intelligence”.  Meanwhile The Simpsons keeps rollin’ right along.  As Sir Scott says in one of the interviews in this set, there is the belief that if the film comes across as too intelligent, people won’t go see it.  Beyond belief, I think it is a fact.  I weep for the future of televised entertainment…

Back to the subject- the special features.  There is virtually nothing left out in regards to the making of this film.  From location scouting to screen tests, and even a detailed instruction on how audio is put together.  This set is practically a mini film school in itself, and it certainly gets into the way that Sir Scott does his thing.  It’s all very interesting stuff, well worth a look for folks who like to get behind the scenes.

So, with all of this, what is the final verdict on the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven?  As I stated, it is an epic feature that is as close to a masterpiece of the genera as you are going to see.  The re-cut version of the film makes it worthy of a second look for those who were not impressed with the original version, and for those who did like that version, this one is a must buy.  For those who have not seen either, skip the first version and check this out.  Why eat hot dogs when you can have steak?

-Ed-