Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut)

Few films truly benefit from an extended, unrated or director's cut as much as Ridley Scott's 2005 historical epic, Kingdom of Heaven. The original version ran at just over two hours long and the response was generally mixed with the film failing to gather any significant award nominations. I remember enjoying it all those years ago whenever I saw it but it was hardly going to set the world on fire with Orlando Bloom's generic leading man performance and an unsatisfying, almost disjointed, story. Thankfully, Scott was able to release his 194 minute director's cut several years later and with that came a very different film. 

Set in 1184 and based around historical events, Bloom's Balian of Ibelin joins his father in travelling to the Holy Land where he helps the King of Jerusalem with defending the city before the Battle of Hattin when Saladin's forces came to reclaim the land. There is a lot more to this story, or at least with director's cur that significantly expands on Eva Green's Sibylla of Jerusalem and many other storylines that makes for a very engaging epic right before 300 would see Hollywood spend a few too many years putting the genre through a much more overly stylised lens that lacked on substance.

No one quite succeeds at historical epics today the same Scott has managed throughout his career and this film has not only a great story but stunning visuals that benefit from sets over CGI, a rich supporting cast and Scott's direction that manages to bring a film on this scale together. The only possible weak link amongst it all is Bloom, who enjoyed a successful run with Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and Troy up until this point, but I feel he falls victim more to an uneven script that calls for a blank canvas of a protagonist to help lead the audience into this story. He is also handed some truly iffy lines that any of his talented supporting cast, which includes Green, Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson and Edward Norton, would struggle with. 

Nonetheless, the three hour story never faltered for me and this will be a delight to fans of the genre. John Mathieson's cinematography is also gorgeous and captures the atmosphere of the time period, which is also bolstered through the use of practical sets and locations. A few years later and with a different director, this would be a cheap CGI flick but with Scott and his crew, you can feel the care and attention that went into this story. This ultimately makes the average theatrical cut simply superfluous and one best avoided in favour of Scott's true vision with this film. 

The director's cut has its flaws as most films on this ambitious scale do and it might not be quite as easy to digest or as likeable as Gladiator but Kingdom of Heaven is a very entertaining epic that should only be seen in this version. I'm glad to see Scott continuing to keep this genre alive today with The Last Duel and hopefully Hollywood doesn't give up on this genre as there are many more interesting stories to tell.