Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Last Watch Date - July 18, 2026
Total Times Watched - Once
Comments
Oh friends, am I sucker for these epic historical war movies OR WHAT? This one was on my list of "to watch" for decades now and I never got around to watching it. Part of that was because I had heard such bad reviews of the theatrical cut and never knew about the director's cut. And then one day I read about it, saw the director's cut was much better received and though.. you know what? I'm going to just watch this bad boy. The director's cut, that is.
This movie has everything you'd really want in a movie like it: great actors, excellently shot landscapes, intense battles, and a bit of fictional spice thrown onto an otherwise historical story. Orlando Bloom is not that much different in this movie than he is as Legloas if I'm really looking at it objectively. He's got a bit of the Aragorn to him too. Eva Green is good as a flawed queen. Brendan Gleeson and Martin Csokas play amazing villains. You're going to absolutely hate them. Jeremy Irons is great in his role, and Edward Norton really plays the humbled, dying king well. I think my favorite actor was Alexander Siddig – you may remember him as Doran Martell in Game of Thrones.
I'm sure this movie has its detractors from the religious sides as it portrays the events leading up to the third crusade. I don't really know how people view that area of the world so keenly at this point in human history, but whatever. What I can tell you about the muslims vs christians in this movie is that their costumes, banners, etc are all excellent. I'm not a historian though, so maybe there are some WRONG things.
If I have to complain about one thing, it's the many slow motion sequences between bits of fights. Whether it was a slow-mo preparation scene, dudes on horses, people milling about.. I could do without it. I think I'm tired of shaky cam in fight scenes too, but this was made 21 years ago and so I accept it as it is.
This movie clocks in just over 3 hours, with the credits rolling right around 3 hours in. That's a long movie. I stopped/started this about 5 times throughout, not because it was boring or difficult to watch, but because it's long and I can't sit still. Just be aware of this if you go into this movie and you are similar.
Recommended?
Yeah. I can't speak for the theatrical cut, but I found the director's cut to be incredibly entertaining, nice to look at, and as fun as a depressing war movie can be.
