A Reel 20: KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

“We are, all of us, what we do.”

 

This month marks the 20^th anniversary of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 

 

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN was the 15^th film from famed director Ridley Scott, who had helmed the modern-classics ALIEN (1979), BLADE RUNNER (1982), and the Oscar-winning GLADIATOR (2000). KINGDOM would be a fictionalized take on the events leading to the Third Crusade, focusing on the battle to defend Jerusalem. 

 

Scott would shoot on-location in Morocco, where he had previously filmed GLADIATOR, and BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001). Orlando Bloom, who was enjoying tremendous success in the early 2000’s, appearing in high-profile franchises such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, would land the lead role of Balian; a blacksmith turned knight. Scott would surround Bloom with an ensemble cast: Liam Neeson, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Marton Csokas, Michael Sheen, and Edward Norton. 

 

On release, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN would be met with mixed-to-bad reviews, and would be a box office bomb. However, in December of 2005 Scott would release a director’s cut, which was highly praised and considered to be one of Scott’s best works. 

 

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Re-cuts have been the topic of much discussion in film over the last decade. Divisive director Zack Snyder has spent the last three movies of his career re-cutting until they got better reviews. Elsewhere, studios crank out editions of films labeled as Directors Cuts or Extended Cuts, which simply have deleted scenes put back in; which is often a showcase for why those scenes were cut in the first place. 

 

For KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, Scott showed how to do it right. His Director’s Cut, which added deeper insight and better character, has often been hailed as one of the best alternate versions of a film ever made. Overall, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is nothing short of epic. Similar to GLADIATOR, it is a film that calls back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when films were shot with thousands of extras for battle scenes in exotic locations, and the story is balanced with character and massive scale. Ridley Scott has an impressive catalog of classics, and his own vision of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is one that hovers near the top. 

 

“What man is a man who does not make the world better.”