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Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) DVD Review
Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) DVD Credits:
Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Directed by:
Ridley Scott
Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Written by:
William Monahan
Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Cast:
Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Marton Csokas, Liam Neeson, Edward Norton
Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) DVD Release Date:
22nd May 2006
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Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) Synopsis:

"Kingdom of Heaven" is an epic adventure about a common man who finds himself thrust into a decades-long war. A stranger in a strange land, he serves a doomed king, falls in love with an exotic and forbidden queen, and rises to knighthood. Ultimately, he must protect the people of Jerusalem from overwhelming forces – while striving to keep a fragile peace. From Ridley Scott, the master of the modern epic.

Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) DVD Review:

Kingdom of Heaven received great critical success, but unfortunately the audiences didn’t give it the warm welcome that Gladiator received. Considering it is the consumer and not the critics that buy tickets and DVDs, you would think that this film would be seen as somewhat of a failure, and moved on from quickly. Instead, just a few months after the regular DVD release, Kingdom of Heaven is being released on DVD in a four-disc director’s cut of the film. There is an extended version of the film which is 194 minutes long. Although I am impressed by the confidence that it takes to release a much longer version of a film that audiences already found somewhat slow, I am mostly disappointed. Where is the director’s cut for Braveheart, the film that brought epics back in the first place? Kingdom of Heaven was just released and audiences can wait a few years before they need a director’s cut, but I have been waiting years for a better DVD of Braveheart.

There is no doubt that this extended cut of the film is much longer, and in turn much slower, but there are great rewards for this. Many of the first things cut from films have to do with the character development, because cutting action would be detrimental to ticket sales. While the theatrical version took its time with the story, it was never given the chance to take its time with the characters. This may have been one reason why audiences were not impressed. The theatrical version never gave us anything to relate to. The director’s cut moves at a much slower pace even beginning with a comment from Ridley Scott that sounds almost like an apology for the slow moments, but I felt much more attached to the material as I watched this longer version. This version feels much more like Lawrence of Arabia while the theatrical version was both slow and rushed at the same time.

The package alone is worth the asking price, but the real treat comes from the traditional use of the score at the beginning of each half. It pulls the mood of the film perfectly as well as break up the lengthy story a little bit. It is a fantastic score and along with the cinematography it is the best thing about the film. While many other elements of the film are good, these two are easily the most accessible. Sight and sound must be great when dealing with an epic story such as this and this package looks and sounds better than I remember it is the theater.

The first two discs in this four disc set contain the director’s cut of the film, which runs over three hours long. These two discs also have a number of film related special features. There is the obvious commentary track with Ridley Scott, Orlando Bloom and writer William Monahan. There is also a commentary track with an executive producer, the visual effects supervisor and the first assistant director as well as the only solitary commentary track which is given by the editor. The unique special feature is the Enginer’s Guide. In many drafts of the screenplay, Balian was known as an ‘Enginer’, and this reference track provides technical and production information on the film as it plays.


The third and fourth discs are neatly hidden beneath the discs that contain the film, and they are filled with special features of all kinds. The main feature on these discs is a six-part feature length documentary detailing the film’s historical origins, script development, pre-production, filming in Spain and Morocco, editing, music and the theatrical release. This is just the beginning of the special features. There are also thirty minutes of additional and extended scenes, each with commentary as an option as well. The featurettes are overwhelming, dealing with historical accuracy, costumes, the battles and the director’s cut of the film. There is footage from cast rehearsals as well as featurettes about the visual effects, sound and the screenplay. There is even plenty of footage from all of the post-production and the premieres in London, New York and Tokyo. The poster art and the trailers are just small perks in this incredible package.

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Kingdom Of Heaven (2005) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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