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Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut

Sheep

Sheep

Golden Member
I watched this movie over the weekend and was surprised to find that it was actually a really good film! Who knew nancy boy Orlando Bloom (aka. Legolas or Jack Sparrow's sidekick) could carry a movie?! Some good character work (which was apparently chopped to pieces in the theatrical cut), Ridley Scott doing Lord of the Rings-style battles with enough carnage to satisfy even the most jaded film fan, Ed Norton in an uncredited, pivotal role (no spoilers there)...what more do you need?

After reading about what was cut from the theatrical release, I have no clue how this movie would make a lick of sense without these elements, but some suit at the movie studio did. (Fool.) In any case, my blind buy of this was well worth the $20. Forget Brokeback (haven't seen Crash yet)--the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven was the best movie of 2005 for me.
 
Originally posted by: Excelsior
My main gripe with KOH was that Legolas was supposed to be a badass...I just couldn't see him in that role.
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Exactly, I didn't like nancy boy orlando bloom actually playing a nancy boy.

I thought it was a pretty good movie though.
 
Originally posted by: Excelsior
My main gripe with KOH was that Legolas was supposed to be a badass...I just couldn't see him in that role.
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That was pretty much my attitude going into the movie--I didn't think Orlando Bloom would work as a lead in a film like this, let alone succeed.

I was disappointed when Balian didn't pick up a bow once though...LOL
 
hmm ... 2005

Batman Begins
Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds
Sin City
All from 2005, no way I'd pick Kingdom of heaven to even be in the top 3.

It was a decent movie, but it was far from the best.
 
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
hmm ... 2005

Batman Begins
Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds
Sin City
All from 2005, no way I'd pick Kingdom of heaven to even be in the top 3.

It was a decent movie, but it was far from the best.
Click to expand...

War of the Worlds is only decent if you chop out the middle 30 minutes or so. Batman Begins rules though.
 
Rent the Director's Cut. Most people who loathed the theatrical version seem to be heaping tons of praise on the DC, which is apparently an entirely different movie when you add in all the stuff they cut out for time.
 
Originally posted by: Sheep
Originally posted by: Excelsior
My main gripe with KOH was that Legolas was supposed to be a badass...I just couldn't see him in that role.
Click to expand...


That was pretty much my attitude going into the movie--I didn't think Orlando Bloom would work as a lead in a film like this, let alone succeed.

I was disappointed when Balian didn't pick up a bow once though...LOL
Click to expand...

I actually watched it though..I am not making that statement without any reason.

Ill agree that it was at least a decent movie though. For anyone interested in "historical" fiction and medieval warfare...they should enjoy it.
 
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
hmm ... 2005

Batman Begins
Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds
Sin City
All from 2005, no way I'd pick Kingdom of heaven to even be in the top 3.

It was a decent movie, but it was far from the best.
Click to expand...

War of the Worlds is only decent if you chop out the middle 30 minutes or so. Batman Begins rules though.
Click to expand...

Well, forget about war of the worlds, revenge of the sith was drek. My guess is that kingdom of heaven is better. I might rent it so I can give a definitive answer. It would have to be written by an 8 year old in crayon to be worse than the writing of sith.
 
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
hmm ... 2005

Batman Begins
Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds
Sin City
All from 2005, no way I'd pick Kingdom of heaven to even be in the top 3.

It was a decent movie, but it was far from the best.
Click to expand...

Only Batman Begins was good. The rest of those films were blah, at best. Sin City was just plain silly.
 
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
hmm ... 2005

Batman Begins
Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds
Sin City
All from 2005, no way I'd pick Kingdom of heaven to even be in the top 3.

It was a decent movie, but it was far from the best.
Click to expand...

Revenge of the Sith isn't in the top fvcking 10, much less the top 5.

 
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
hmm ... 2005

Batman Begins
Revenge of the Sith
War of the Worlds
Sin City
All from 2005, no way I'd pick Kingdom of heaven to even be in the top 3.

It was a decent movie, but it was far from the best.
Click to expand...

War of the Worlds is only decent if you chop out the middle 30 minutes or so. Batman Begins rules though.
Click to expand...

And revenge of the sith? Lets face it, while it may have been the best turd in the bunch...taken on its own its medicore movie at best. I'll let you have sin city though...I just didn't really get that movie myself.

I thought kingdom of heaven was solid. The action was interspersed with character development, and orlando bloom did ok with the lead despite my doubts. My main complaint about that movie was there was no sufficient backstory for his character at the beginning of the movie...he just was good with a sword for some reason.

I didn't watch KOH in the theaters because it looked like yet another cash in the on the 'ancient epic' that hollywood had done to death at the time. And the marketing for the movie made it look boring! After the movie hit video they went the complete opposite direction and misrepresented it as an action movie in the new trailers. They had everything short of "we will rock you" playing the background.
 
I thought the movie was ok when I first saw it.. But then I saw the Director's Cut, and was really impressed.

Ridley Scott was apparently pretty pissed about the hack job the studio gave the movie once he finished filming it, and said the Director's Cut is the real version of the movie. I tend to agree. The movie feels much more fleshed out, and is a vast improvement.
 
I saw it in the theater and was very disappointed with it, but I'll have to check out the directors cut and see if there is any redeeming value in it.
 
Originally posted by: PingSpike
My main complaint about that movie was there was no sufficient backstory for his character at the beginning of the movie...he just was good with a sword for some reason.
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No complaints about his backstory from me, as his motivations made sense. However, even in the DC they don't explain how Balian became so adept in battle aside from the implied gaining of experience over time.

 
Originally posted by: jEnus
Is the director's cut out already????
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Yup...it came out end of May, if I recall. 4 DVD set with a TON of extras.

I think I have to rent the theatrical version just to see why people hated it so much. 🙂
 
(haven't seen Crash yet)--the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven was the best movie of 2005 for me.
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I think you just gave yourself away. Folks can make arguments about the modern day significance of the Crusades symbolism, but all in all KoH was pure big-budget entertainment. If that's your criteria for determining the best movie of 2005, then there's your argument.

But you mentioned Crash, which is a COMPLETELY different film that is aimed directly at confronting our culture of interracial distrust, and does so in very tasteful yet gut-wrenching scenarios. As far as cultural significance or import, this one is in a totally different league.

But if you're a film student or buff and you care about methods, (or if you're a post modernist with a taste for Frank Miller) then something like Sin City would have to be at or near the top. It is the pinacle of film pastiche, quoting from everything in the book.

I'm not saying that these movies were the best, I'm just saying that you were comparing apples and oranges and could stand to refine your criteria. Furthermore I think that handing out awards for art is nearly as purposeless as trying to install Oblivion on an Apple IIe. Certainly more harmful.
 
A film student would surely put Cache as the best film of last year? It wasn't my #1 from last year but certainly the film most relevant to film as an art form.
 
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