Kingdom of Heaven

Name: Kingdom of Heaven
Genre: Action, Adventure, History
Released: May 6, 2005
Duration: 144 min
Rating: 63
Cast: Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom

2005

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 354 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 354 Ratings

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Kingdom Of Heaven

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: May 6, 2005 | R

Starring: Liam Neeson, Orlando Bloom

Summary: 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 forbidden queen, and rises to the knighthood. Ultimately, he must protect the people of Jerusalem from overwhelming forces while striving to keep a fragile peace. (20thAn 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 forbidden queen, and rises to the knighthood. Ultimately, he must protect the people of Jerusalem from overwhelming forces while striving to keep a fragile peace. (20th Century Fox)

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Director: Ridley Scott

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, History

Rating: R

Runtime: 144 min

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Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington

A gargantuan epic, a historical adventure-drama of overwhelming visual grandeur. Read full review

Kirk Honeycutt

Fulfills the requirements of grand-scale moviemaking while serving as a timely reminder that in the conflict between Christianity and Islam it was the Christians who picked the first fight. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Kingdom of Heaven may have problems, but it delivers. Read full review

Rene Rodriguez

But if the film disappoints on an intellectual level, at least it doesn't skimp on pageantry. This is, without question, one of the most beautifully crafted, visually thrilling war pictures ever made -- a painterly spectacle that leaves you looking for Caravaggio's name in the end credits. Read full review

Empire Ian Nathan

A frustratingly thin epic. You're left wanting more exposition, more character development, the tidying up of loose ends. Read full review

David Sterritt

Bottom line: Kingdom of Heaven is the most exciting action-adventure yarn so far this year. Just don't expect anything deeper. Read full review

Desson Thomson

To introduce an archetype like this to western audiences -- as the world weathers culturally and religiously demonizing times -- may have been worth this whole flawed movie. Too bad the story didn't just start with him. Read full review

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User Reviews

zombiehampster

Oct 28, 2010

I originally saw the Kingdom of Heaven theatrical release first, and my opinion of it was mixed, much like how I feel about Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. The film seemed poorly edited and was missing something. Then came the Directors Cut and it all made sense. Americans were robbed of anI originally saw the Kingdom of Heaven theatrical release first, and my opinion of it was mixed, much like how I feel about Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. The film seemed poorly edited and was missing something. Then came the Directors Cut and it all made sense. Americans were robbed of an excellent story once again due to low expectations on what the general public would like. Whether or not his is true is another story all together. What I feel is true is that the directors cut elevates the movie to something more than another action story. It adds so much more to the dynamics of the characters, fleshing them out in much greater depth and detail, and providing more of a connection from one character to the next. The stories protagonist, Balian (played by Orlando Bloom) is a mixture of several different personalities from the period, but his view of the world at the time could be considered very tolerant/progressive. Bloom carries his role well, playing him as a reluctant "hero" who is more practical, preferring to rely on his mind as well as his fighting prowess. He tends to fall in line more on how the ideal knight, sans the arrogance, would act if he actually defended his oaths. He gets a lot of flack for this role for some reason, but I feel he fit very well. The rest of the cast is very well thought out, with Eva Green skillfully playing the role of Sibylla as a strong, intelligent woman who understands all too well what must be done to maintain power. Her character is probably one of the most tragic ones in the story, although the list of those is pretty long. Jeremy Irons portrays the grizzled and cynical veteran Tiberias, who does some chewing of the scenery, but not in the bad way as far as I'm concerned. His character is probably one of my favorites, as his expressions and manner of his delivery is perfect for his role. There are very few characters that I did not appreciate in this one, but needless to say it would take up a lot more text. Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, Marton Csokas all do excellent jobs in their roles as Balians father, King Baldwin IV, and the comic book villain that is Guy de Lusignan. The three that stood out the most for me were Ghassan Massoud as a very honorable and respectful Salah'ad-din, Brendan Gleeson as the vicious but entertaining Raynald de Chatillon, and finally David Thewlis as the Zen-like Hospitaller. Ridley Scott is one of my favorite directors of all time, and this movie definitely displays why. This movie is awash in his trademark visual aesthetics (gorgeous color palettes, the ever present snow flakes fluttering about, etc), excellent writing, and some of the best music I have ever heard in a movie. Any movie. All in all he weaves together a very complex, but not entirely historically accurate, story between the second and third Crusades. As much as the trailers would have you believe it, this is no action movie. The pacing is good but sometimes on the slower side, and if you live for constant scenes of blood and violence, then you will be disappointed. Kingdom of Heaven is a glimpse back in time through the eyes of Scott and Monahan and they did an amazing job.… Expand

7 of 9 users found this helpful72

joe

Oct 19, 2005

Good movie.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MadDad

Nov 12, 2011

Epic, again a Ridley Scott masterpiece with lots of depth and a message of knighthood, something clearly lost and not in the flavor nowadays. I strongly advise watching this movie and again critics must have been sleeping....they are wrong.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

[Anonymous]

Oct 14, 2005

Starts off somewhat clunky, but once the main point gets moving, it's well on its way to greatness. There's just enough action, but the movie transcends that genre: it becomes an epic about fighting for what's REALLY right. Surprisingly, the movie's also even handed, not Starts off somewhat clunky, but once the main point gets moving, it's well on its way to greatness. There's just enough action, but the movie transcends that genre: it becomes an epic about fighting for what's REALLY right. Surprisingly, the movie's also even handed, not putting a bad face on either religion, just on the ones that abuse them. Wish there was one more battle scene in the middle, to even the pacing out a bit, and that camesra work and choreography in some fo the action were more engaging, but otherwise, a good unique movie about the issues of today.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

FilipeNeto

Feb 24, 2018

This film is based on real historical characters and addresses, fictionally, the loss of Jerusalem to Muslims in 1187, after the defeat of the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin, against the forces of Saladin. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film has a screenplay by William Monahan and the castThis film is based on real historical characters and addresses, fictionally, the loss of Jerusalem to Muslims in 1187, after the defeat of the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin, against the forces of Saladin. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film has a screenplay by William Monahan and the cast is headed by Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons.

The film deals with the crusades from a new point of view. In other movies we see Christian expeditions. In this film, we see a precise moment in history, where Jerusalem, captured in 1099, is lost again. Many of the characters is based, slightly, in real historical characters, as part of the script as well. Although I'm not an expert, it seems a film that seeks to portray things with some historical accuracy. Thus, costumes and scenery seem to have been designed with some care, in order to meet these standards. The script is interesting. Of course, the story is romanticized and not entirely correspond to the facts, but its quite entertaining and holds the audience until the end. The action scenes are excellent, particularly the battles and the final siege, where the fertile imagination of Hollywood left its mark in the original way the siege engines are being put out of action by the besieged. The scenarios are good, representing well what may have been Jerusalem during that historic period.

The actors fulfilled their role on a regular basis. Orlando Bloom is equal to himself and Eva Green made some effort to look more oriental, surprising at the end by purposely overshadowing her character in maternal grief. One of the most emotive and memorable characters is King Baldwin IV, played by Edward Norton (who never shows his face in the film). He's the author of some of the most deep, philosophical and meaningful quotes. The soundtrack, written by Harry Gregson- Williams, is very good and merges harmonically sounds of medieval and Muslim inspiration with the traditional film music.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

simonjanos

Mar 16, 2021

Jesus sooo bad!!! But the end of the movie is quite good just a little ... Spoiler: Without training, the blacksmith will be a professional swordsman and then a fearless warrior. It would have been at least a few years of training ... In the end, instead of a completely unambiguous solution,Jesus sooo bad!!! But the end of the movie is quite good just a little ... Spoiler: Without training, the blacksmith will be a professional swordsman and then a fearless warrior. It would have been at least a few years of training ... In the end, instead of a completely unambiguous solution, in the name of some imagined purity (holiness), he successfully - indirectly - successfully sends all the knights to their deaths. But no problem, then the commoners will become knights as he became and they will definitely become great warriors without training XXXDDD… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

ryancarroll88

Aug 27, 2010

Ridley Scott tries to rehash the same grandiose style that did him well in 'Gladiator' for the pitiful 'Kingdom of Heaven' but the terrible script/screenplay leaves no room for the viewer to have any interest in either the surplus battle scenes, the undeveloped characters, or the nonexistentRidley Scott tries to rehash the same grandiose style that did him well in 'Gladiator' for the pitiful 'Kingdom of Heaven' but the terrible script/screenplay leaves no room for the viewer to have any interest in either the surplus battle scenes, the undeveloped characters, or the nonexistent plot. And as far as acting goes, Orlando Bloom is to Russell Crowe as Shia LaBeouf is to Harrison Ford.… Expand

1 of 6 users found this helpful15

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60	#60 Most Discussed Movie of 2005
19	#19 Most Shared Movie of 2005