Ridley Scott's next epic: Kingdom of Heaven

[Shane Martin]

Lots of star power here:

http://www.kingdomofheavenmovie.com/

Opens May 6th, 2005 right before Star Wars Ep III.

[George Bellefontaine]

Looks good, Shane.

[Azeke]

I always enjoy Ridley Scott flicks. Hopefully, it will rival Gladiator.

Regards,

Azeke

[will1066]

When it's out, I hope to be entertained because it is what I will be there for.

[David Meek]

Buwahahahahaha! :banana: At first glance it looks like it could be an awesome film. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....

[Gordon Moore]

The trailer looks promising ...but I wonder if the style and seems a little too close to gladiator?...hence, it's been done.

I gather this story is about the crusades.

Too early to tell from a trailer but they definitely took a page from Gladiator.

Big battle, love story, one man's journey, Shakespearean in theme and grandeur, probably 3+ hour epic. Time will tell.

[JonMarsh]

Well, at least it looks like they put a whole lot more effort and thought into it than "Meet the Fockers" or "The Whole Ten Yards"- this has been a dissappointing year in film.

More critical to it's commercial success may be how Scott handles or spins the crusades, not some of the brighter points ethically in European history... and what backlash may come of that, due to the ongoing conflicts in our world.

[David Meek]

More critical to it's commercial success may be how Scott handles or spins the crusades, not some of the brighter points ethically in European history...

Hopefully, he'll take an uh, "realistic" approach to the religious underpinnings and focus on the story of the individuals. Something akin to his approach in Black Hawk Down maybe?

[Nick M]

I saw the trailer today when I saw "The Aviator".

Orlando Bloom is playing too many parts with the same color. Too many characters wielding a bow and sword. Then again, if I was getting paid what he is, I probably would too! :B

I just hope his vision of The Crusades will be on par with Spielbergs view of European WWII in Saving Private Ryan. That is, a ficticious tale of a group passing through a realistically recreated part of history.

Moving speeches given to formations of soldiers are running thin, as are the "one man's quest for love" capitalizing on the success of films like Braveheart.

[David Meek]

Big battle, love story, one man's journey, Shakespearean in theme and grandeur, probably 3+ hour epic.

Oh, I hope so. :B

Also, having Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson in it (at least to me) gives this film an immediate legitimacy and raises it up to close to the top of the list of "ones to see".

[Nick M]

Liam Neeson does make a movie look promising...

[Shane Martin]

Reviews are coming in on this one. Wall Street Journal trashed Bloom apparantly which I almsot expected. I'm not convinced Bloom can do a lead role.

Also it appears that Ebert liked it. He mentioned that they didn't explore the whole crusades thing and basically said everyone was right. No enemy to speak of. Ok then why fight?? Sounds like a Politicallly correct job to me..

Anyway, currently 38 and going down it appears on Rotten Tomatoes. I plan on seeing it but my enthusiasm has dropped alot in the past few days on this one.

[George Bellefontaine]

Bloom just doesn't seem to come over as a heroic figure. He did much better as the cowardly Paris in TROY, though he did show some moxy a little later and essentially brought down Achilles. I didn't like Bloom all that much in Pirates Of The Caribbean either. As Shane says, maybe he can't play a lead ( heroic ? ) role.

[David Meek]

Also it appears that Ebert liked it. He mentioned that they didn't explore the whole crusades thing and basically said everyone was right. No enemy to speak of. Ok then why fight?? Sounds like a Politicallly correct job to me..

Actually, most of the knights in and around Jerusalem at the time including the King were trying to get along with the local population. Simplifying a complex story, IIRC it was the band of Knights Templar (and the Hospitaliers too, maybe?) who kept stirring the pot (against the wishes of the king who was ill or dying) until general hostilities broke out. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. :scratchhead:

[Nick M]

Excellent Flick!

Gave up my $4.75 and was pleased.
Best battle epic since Braveheart (not as good though).
Nothing bad to say. Plan to buy it whatever Tuesday it comes out.

:4: out of :5: :T :T

PS> The siege on Jerusalem is going to be fantastic on DVD! :E

[cinema bob]

saw it yesterday and i must say it's the best epic in quite a while. i personal thought bloom did a great job. the battle sequences were great, not too much of the cinema varite camera shake to get annoying. over all i would also give it a 4 out of 5

[SurrealSurround]

History Channel had a "history vs hollywood" type show on this past week, that highlighted the movie. In the few snippets included, O. Bloom looked....more...hmm mature? than in some of his past roles. I think he has talent, and hope he will not fall into a typecasting rut, and will hone his acting abilities further.

The movie looked quite interesting and apparently is based on historical characters and events. My kinda movie. Will def have to get off the couch for this one.

[Nick M]

It would be interesting to see just how much of this film is fact vs fiction. I know Jerusalem has passed as stomping grounds for christain/muslim/jew/roman/and pagan, but I wonder if any of the characters are based on historical figures.

[David Meek]

According to IMDB, all the characters except Godfrey existed in real life.

[Shane Martin]

Didn't impress me a whole lot. Bloom is no lead actor and the main actress was horrific. This comment has been made by alot of folks.

2 1/2 out of 5 tops. The Dvd has been rumored to include over an hour of footage left out because he had to cut it for time constraints due to the studio. I guess they still think blockbusters don't need to be past a certain time to make money. Just ask LOTR :roll:

[Snap]

Saw the same thing on the history channel about this movie. I am going to wait for it to come out on DVD. A buddy of mine saw it and said it was definatly NO Braveheart of Gladiator.

For some reason I just can not bring myself to go the "CHEAP" theaters in my area. For Crying out loud they have Radio Shack Optima Speakers in the theater! They just sound BAD. Not to mention NO Stadium seating.

I am not even going to go see star wars in the theater. I hope I can hold out long enough! :x