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Kingdom of Heaven (film)

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Kingdom of Heaven
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRidley Scott
Written byWilliam Monahan
Produced byRidley Scott
Starring
CinematographyJohn Mathieson
Edited byDody Dorn
Music byHarry Gregson-Williams
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • 2 May 2005 (2005-05-02) (London premiere)
  • 5 May 2005 (2005-05-05) (Germany)
  • 6 May 2005 (2005-05-06) (United States, United Kingdom)
Running time
144 minutes[3]
190 minutes (Director's cut)
Countries
  • United Kingdom[1]
  • Germany
  • United States
Languages
  • English
  • Arabic
  • Italian
  • Latin
Budget$130 million[4]
Box office$211.7 million[4]

Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic historical drama film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Marton Csokas, Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, Ghassan Massoud, Michael Sheen, Velibor Topic and Alexander Siddig.

The story is set during the Crusades of the 12th century. A French village blacksmith goes to aid the Kingdom of Jerusalem in its defence against the Ayyubid Muslim sultan Saladin, who is battling to reclaim the city from the Christians leading to the Battle of Hattin. The film script is a heavily fictionalised portrayal of the life of Balian of Ibelin (ca. 1143–93).

Filming took place in Ouarzazate, Morocco, where Scott had previously filmed Gladiator and Black Hawk Down, and in Spain, at the Loarre Castle (Huesca), Segovia, Ávila, Palma del Río and Casa de Pilatos in Sevilla.[5] The film received mixed reviews upon theatrical release. In December 2005, Scott released a director's cut of the film, the true version of what he wanted, which has been met with wider critical acclaim.[6][7]

Plot

In 1184 France, Balian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith, is haunted by his wife's recent suicide. A group of Crusaders arrives in his village; one of them introduces himself as Balian's father, Baron Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson). Godfrey asks Balian to return with him to the Holy Land, but Balian declines and the Crusaders leave. The town priest, Balian's half-brother (Michael Sheen), reveals that he ordered Balian's wife beheaded before burial. In a fit of rage, Balian kills his brother and flees the village.

Balian joins his father, hoping to gain forgiveness and redemption for himself and his wife in Jerusalem. After he reaches Godfrey, soldiers sent by the bishop arrive to arrest and assassinate Balian. Godfrey refuses to surrender Balian, and in the ensuing attack, Godfrey is struck by an arrow that breaks off in his body, wounding him.

In Messina, Godfrey knights Balian and orders him to serve the King of Jerusalem and protect the helpless, then succumbs to his injuries. During Balian's journey to Jerusalem his ship runs aground in a storm, leaving Balian the only survivor. Balian is confronted by a Muslim cavalier, who attacks him over his horse. Balian reluctantly slays the cavalier but spares the man's apparent servant (Alexander Siddig), asking him to guide him to Jerusalem. Upon arriving, Balian releases him, and the man tells Balian that his deed will gain him fame and respect among the Saracens.

Balian becomes acquainted with Jerusalem's political arena: the leper King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton); Tiberias (Jeremy Irons), the Marshal of Jerusalem; the King's sister, Princess Sibylla (Eva Green); and her husband Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas), who supports the anti-Muslim activities of brutal factions like the Knights Templar. After Baldwin's death, Guy intends to break the fragile truce with the sultan Saladin and make war on the Muslims.

Guy and his ally, the cruel Raynald of Châtillon (Brendan Gleeson), attack a Saracen caravan, and Saladin advances on Raynald's castle Kerak in retaliation. At the request of the king, Balian defends the villagers by charging Saladin's cavalry, despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered. Balian's knights are captured, and he encounters the servant he freed, who he learns is actually Saladin's chancellor Imad ad-Din. Imad ad-Din releases Balian in repayment of the earlier debt. Saladin arrives with his army to besiege Kerak, and Baldwin meets it with his. They negotiate a Muslim retreat, and Baldwin swears to punish Raynald, though the exertion of these events weakens him. In his camp, Saladin assures his impatient generals that he will claim Jerusalem, but only when he is confident of victory.

Baldwin asks Balian to marry Sibylla and take control of the army, knowing they have affection for each other, but Balian refuses the offer because it will require Guy's execution. After Baldwin dies, Sibylla succeeds her brother, and Guy becomes king. Guy releases Raynald, asking him to give him a war, which Raynald does by murdering Saladin's sister. Sending the heads of Saladin's emissaries back to him, Guy declares war on the Saracens. Guy sends three Templar assassins, disguised as Teutonic knights, to kill Balian, the most strident voice against war, though Balian survives the attempt.

Guy and the Templars march Jerusalem's army to war, despite Balian's advice to remain near water. Saladin's army annihilates the Crusaders in the ensuing desert battle, executes Raynald, and marches on Jerusalem. Tiberias and his men leave for Cyprus, believing Jerusalem lost, but Balian remains to protect the people in the city. Balian knights the men of the city and hopes to hold out long enough for the Saracens to offer terms. After a siege that lasts three days, a frustrated Saladin parleys with Balian. When Balian reaffirms that he'll let the city burn before surrendering, Saladin agrees to allow the Christians to leave safely in exchange for Jerusalem—though he ponders if it would be better if there were nothing left to fight over.

Balian is confronted by the disgraced Guy one final time, but defeats and spares him. In the marching column of citizens, Balian finds Sibylla, who has renounced her claim as Queen. After returning to France, English knights en route to retake Jerusalem ride through the town to enlist Balian, now the famed defender of Jerusalem. Balian tells the crusader that he is merely a blacksmith again, and they depart. Balian is joined by Sibylla, and they pass by the grave of Balian's wife as they ride toward a new life together. An epilogue notes that "nearly a thousand years later, peace in the Holy Land still remains elusive."

Cast

Many of the characters in the film are fictionalised versions of historical figures:

Historical accuracy

Bloom's character, Balian of Ibelin, was a close ally of Raymond III of Tripoli, the film's Tiberias, and a member of that faction which sought a place within the patchwork of the Near East and opposed the aggressive policy of Raynald of Châtillon, the Templars, and "fanatics newly from Europe", who refused to come to terms of peace with the Muslims.[8] Balian was a mature gentleman, just a year or two younger than Raymond, and one of the most important nobles in the kingdom, not a French blacksmith. His father, Barisan (the French "Balian"), founded the Ibelin family in the east, and probably came from Italy. Balian and Sibylla were indeed united in the defence of Jerusalem; however, no romantic relationship existed between the two. Balian married Sibylla's stepmother Maria Comnena, Dowager Queen of Jerusalem and Lady of Nablus. Nablus, rather than Ibelin, was Balian's fief at the time of Jerusalem's fall.

The Old French Continuation of William of Tyre (the so-called Chronicle of Ernoul) claimed that Sibylla had been infatuated with Balian's older brother Baldwin of Ibelin, a widower over twice her age, but this is doubtful; instead, it seems that Raymond of Tripoli attempted a coup to marry her off to him to strengthen the position of his faction. This legend seems to have been behind the film's creation of a romance between Sibylla and a member of the Ibelin family.[9]

William of Tyre discovers Baldwin IV's leprosy; his accounts form the historical basis for much of the film.

King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who reigned from 1174 to 1185, was a leper, and his sister Sibylla did marry Guy of Lusignan, though on her own initiative. Baldwin IV had a falling out with Guy, and so Guy did not succeed Baldwin IV immediately. Baldwin crowned Sibylla's son from her previous marriage to William of Montferrat, five-year-old Baldwin V, co-king in 1183.[10] The little boy reigned as sole king for one year, dying in 1186 at nine years of age. After her son's death, Sibylla and Guy (to whom she was devoted) garrisoned the city, and she claimed the throne. The coronation scene in the movie was, in real life, more of a shock: Sibylla had been forced to promise to divorce Guy before becoming queen, with the assurance that she would be permitted to pick her own consort. After being crowned by Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem (who is unnamed until late in the movie), she chose to crown Guy as her consort. Raymond of Tripoli was not present, but was in Nablus attempting a coup, with Balian of Ibelin, to raise Sibylla's half-sister (Balian's stepdaughter), Princess Isabella of Jerusalem, to the throne. Isabella's husband, Humphrey IV of Toron, refused to precipitate a civil war and swore allegiance to Guy.[11]

Raymond of Tripoli was a cousin of Amalric I of Jerusalem, one of the Kingdom's most powerful nobles, and sometime regent. He had a claim to the throne himself, but, being childless, instead tried to advance his allies in the Ibelin family. He was often in conflict with Guy and Raynald of Châtillon, who had risen to their positions by marrying wealthy heiresses and through the king's favour. The film's portrayal of Raynald of Châtillon as insane is not supported by contemporary sources, though the same sources do portray Raynald as a reckless, aggressive freebooting warlord who frequently violated truces between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Sultanate of Egypt. The film's picture of Guy encouraging Raynald of Châtillon to attack Muslim pilgrimage convoys on their way to Mecca to provoke a war with Saladin is false. Guy was a weak, indecisive king who wanted to avoid a war with Saladin and who was simply unable to control the reckless Raynald. Saladin's abortive march on Kerak followed Raynald's raid on the Red Sea, which shocked the Muslim world by its proximity to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Guy and Raynald also harassed Muslim caravans and herders, and the claim that Raynald captured Saladin's sister is based on the account given in the Old French Continuation of William of Tyre. This claim, unsupported by any other account, is generally believed to be false. In actuality, after Raynald's attack on one caravan, Saladin made sure that the next one, in which his sister was travelling, was properly guarded: the lady came to no harm.[9] The depiction in the film of the Battle of Hattin, where the Crusader force wandered around the desert for three days without water before being ambushed is consistent with the known facts. The scene in the film where Saladin hands Guy a cup of iced water (which in the Muslim world was a sign that the victor intended to spare the life of his prisoner), and then notes that he did not hand Raynald the cup (indicating that Raynald was to be executed) is supported by the Persian historian Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani who was present with Saladin after the Battle of Hattin.

Balian was present at the Battle of Hattin, but escaped and fled to Tyre and then Jerusalem, to retrieve his wife and children. The defenders of the city, including the military orders and the Patriarch Heraclius, named him the leader of the city's defence. On the ninth day of the siege of Jerusalem, Saladin's forces breached the wall, but the defenders held out until the tenth day, when Balian surrendered the city to Saladin. The Christians of the city were made to ransom themselves, and Balian was unable to raise the funds to ransom all the city's poor; thousands marched out into safety and thousands into slavery.[12]

Balian and Sibylla remained in the Holy Land during the events of the Third Crusade. Sibylla was a victim of an epidemic during the Siege of Acre. Balian's relations with Richard I of England were far from amicable, because he supported the claim to kingship of Conrad of Montferrat against Richard's vassal Guy. He and his wife Maria arranged her daughter Isabella's forcible divorce from Humphrey of Toron so she could marry Conrad. Ambroise, who wrote a poetic account of the crusade, called Balian "more false than a goblin" and said he "should be hunted with dogs".[13]

An episode of The History Channel's series History vs. Hollywood analysed the historical accuracy of the film. This program and a Movie Real (a series by A&E Network) episode about Kingdom of Heaven were both included on the DVD release.

Production

Cinematography

The visual style of Kingdom of Heaven emphasises set design and impressive cinematography in almost every scene. It is notable for its "visually stunning cinematography and haunting music".[14] Cinematographer John Mathieson created many large, sweeping landscapes,[15] where the cinematography, supporting performances, and battle sequences are meticulously mounted.[16] The cinematography and scenes of set-pieces have been described as "ballets of light and color" (as in films by Akira Kurosawa).[17] Director Ridley Scott's visual acumen was described as the main draw of Kingdom of Heaven with the stellar, stunning cinematography and "jaw-dropping combat sequences" based on the production design of Arthur Max.[18][19]

Visual effects

British visual effects firm The Moving Picture Company completed 440 effects shots for the film.[20] A reel of their work can be seen here. Additionally, Double Negative also contributed to complete the CGI work on the film.[21]

Music

Main article: Kingdom of Heaven (soundtrack)

The music differs in style and content from the soundtrack of Scott's earlier 2000 film Gladiator[22] and many other subsequent films depicting historical events.[23] A combination of medieval, middle-eastern, contemporary classical, and popular influences,[22][23] the soundtrack is largely the result of British film-score composer Harry Gregson-Williams. Jerry Goldsmith's "Valhalla" theme from The 13th Warrior and "Vide Cor Meum" (originally used by Scott in the Hannibal movie and composed by Patrick Cassidy and Hans Zimmer), sung by Danielle de Niese and Bruno Lazzaretti, were used as replacements for original music by Gregson-Williams.

Reception

Critical response

Upon its release, it was met with a mixed reception, with many critics being divided on the film. Critics such as Roger Ebert, found the film's message to be deeper than Scott's Gladiator.[19]

The cast was widely praised. Jack Moore described Edward Norton's performance as the leper-king Baldwin as "phenomenal", and "so far removed from anything that he has ever done that we see the true complexities of his talent".[24] The Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud was also praised for his portrayal of Saladin, described in The New York Times as "cool as a tall glass of water".[25] Also commended were Eva Green, who plays Princess Sibylla "with a measure of cool that defies her surroundings",[15] and Jeremy Irons.[26]

Lead actor Bloom's performance generally elicited a lukewarm reception from American critics, with the Boston Globe stating Bloom was "not actively bad as Balian of Ibelin", but nevertheless "seems like a man holding the fort for a genuine star who never arrives".[27] One critic conceded that Balian was more of a "brave and principled thinker-warrior"[15] rather than a strong commander, and Balian used brains rather than brawn to gain advantage in battle.[28]

Bloom had gained 20 pounds for the part,[15] and the Extended Director's Cut (detailed below) of Kingdom of Heaven reveals even more complex facets of Bloom's role, involving connections with unknown relatives. Despite the criticism, Bloom won two awards for his performance.

Online, general criticism has been also divided, but leaning towards the positive. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 39% based on reviews from 185 critics.[29] Review aggregator Metacritic gives the film a 63/100 rating, indicating "generally favorable reviews" according to the website's weighted average system.[30] As of early 2006, the Yahoo! Movies rating for Kingdom of Heaven was a "B" from the critics (based on 15 Reviews). This rating equates to "good" according to Yahoo! Movie's rating system.[citation needed]

Academic criticism has focused on the supposed peaceful relationship between Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem and other cities depicted. Crusader historians such as Jonathan Riley-Smith, quoted by The Daily Telegraph, called the film "dangerous to Arab relations", calling the movie "Osama bin Laden's version of history" and would "fuel the Islamic fundamentalists". Riley-Smith further commented against the historical accuracy stating that "the fanaticism of most of the Christians in the film and their hatred of Islam is what the Islamists want to believe. At a time of inter-faith tension, nonsense like this will only reinforce existing myths", arguing that the film relied on the romanticized view of the Crusades propagated by Sir Walter Scott in his book The Talisman, published in 1825 and now discredited by academics, "which depicts the Muslims as sophisticated and civilised, and the Crusaders are all brutes and barbarians. It has nothing to do with reality."[31][32][33][34] Fellow Crusade historian Jonathan Phillips also spoke against the film. Paul Halsall defended Ridley Scott, claiming that "historians can't criticize filmmakers for having to make the decisions they have to make... [Scott is] not writing a history textbook".[28]

Thomas F. Madden, Director of Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, criticised the film's presentation of the Crusades:

Given events in the modern world it is lamentable that there is so large a gulf between what professional historians know about the Crusades and what the general population believes. This movie only widens that gulf. The shame of it is that dozens of distinguished historians across the globe would have been only too happy to help Scott and Monahan get it right.[35]

Scott himself defended this depiction of the Muslim-Christian relationship in footage on the DVD version of the movie's extra features. Scott sees this portrayal as being a contemporary look at the history. He argued that peace and brutality are concepts relative to one's own experience, and since contemporary society is so far removed from the brutal times in which the movie takes place, he told the story in a way that he felt was true to the source material, yet was more accessible to a modern audience. In other words, the "peace" that existed was exaggerated to fit modern ideas of what such a peace would be. At the time, it was merely a lull in Muslim-Christian violence compared to the standards of the period. The recurring use of "Assalamu Alaikum", the traditional Arabic greeting meaning "Peace be with you", is spoken both in Arabic and English several times.

The "Director's Cut" of the film is a four-disc set, two of which are dedicated to a feature-length documentary called "The Path to Redemption". This feature contains an additional featurette on historical accuracy called "Creative Accuracy: The Scholars Speak", where a number of academics support the film's contemporary relevance and historical accuracy. Among these historians is Dr. Nancy Caciola, who said that despite the various inaccuracies and fictionalised/dramatised details she considered the film a "responsible depiction of the period."[36]

Screenwriter William Monahan, who is a long-term enthusiast of the period, has said "If it isn't in, it doesn't mean we didn't know it... What you use, in drama, is what plays. Shakespeare did the same."[37]

Caciola agreed with the fictionalisation of characters on the grounds that "crafting a character who is someone the audience can identify with" is necessary in a film. She said that "I, as a professional, have spent much time with medieval people, so to speak, in the texts that I read; and quite honestly there are very few of them that if I met in the flesh I feel that I would be very fond of." This appears to echo the sentiments of Scott himself.

The historical content and the religious and political messages present have received praise and condemnation, sentiments and perceptions. John Harlow of the Times Online wrote that Christianity is portrayed in an unfavorable light and the value of Christian belief is diminished, especially in the portrayal of Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem.[38] When journalist Robert Fisk watched the film in a Beirut cinema, he reported that the Muslim audience rose to their feet and applauded wildly during a scene in the film in which Saladin respectfully places a fallen cross back on top of a table after it had fallen during the three-day siege of the city.[39]

Academic criticism

In the time since the film's release, scholars have offered analysis and criticisms through a lens situating Kingdom of Heaven within the context of contemporary international events and religious conflict, including: broad post-9/11 politics, neocolonialism, Orientalism, the Western perspective of the film, and the detrimental handling of differences between Christianity and Islam.[40]

Box office

The film was a box office disappointment in the US and Canada, earning $47 million against a budget of around $130 million, but did better in Europe and the rest of the world, with the worldwide box office earnings totalling at $211,643,158.[41] It was also a big success in Arabic-speaking countries, especially Egypt. Scott insinuated that the US failure of the film was the result of bad advertising, which presented the film as an adventure with a love story rather than as an examination of religious conflict.[citation needed][42] It's also been noted that the film was altered from its original version to be shorter and follow a simpler plot line. This "less sophisticated" version is what hit theatres, although Scott and some of his crew felt it was watered down, explaining that by editing, "You've gone in there and taken little bits from everything".[43]

Like some other Scott films, Kingdom of Heaven found success on DVD in the US, and the release of the Director's Cut has reinvigorated interest in the film. Nearly all reviews of the 2006 Director's Cut have been positive, including a four-star review in the British magazine Total Film and a perfect ten out of ten from IGN DVD.[44][45][46]

Accolades

Awards

European Film Awards:

  • Audience Award – Best Actor – Orlando Bloom

Satellite Awards:

  • Outstanding Original Score – Harry Gregson-Williams

VES Awards:

  • Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture – Wes Sewell, Victoria Alonso, Tom Wood, and Gary Brozenich
Nominations

Satellite Awards:

  • Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama – Edward Norton
  • Outstanding Art Direction & Production Design – Arthur Max
  • Outstanding Costume Design – Janty Yates
  • Outstanding Visual Effects – Tom Wood

Teen Choice Awards:

  • Choice Movie: Action/Adventure
  • Choice Movie Actor: Action/Adventure/Thriller – Orlando Bloom
  • Choice Movie Liplock – Eva Green and Orlando Bloom
  • Choice Movie Love Scene – Eva Green and Orlando Bloom (Balian and Sibylla kiss)

Extended director's cut

Unhappy with the theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven (which Scott blamed on paying too much attention to the opinions of preview audiences in addition to relenting when Fox wanted 45 minutes shaved off), he supervised a director's cut of the film, the true version of what he wanted, which was released on 23 December 2005 at the Laemmle Fairfax Theatre in Los Angeles.[47] The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven has been met with critical acclaim. Empire magazine called the redited film an "epic", adding, "The added 45 minutes in the director’s cut are like pieces missing from a beautiful but incomplete puzzle."[6] "This is the one that should have gone out," reflected Scott.[6] Some reviewers have suggested it is the most substantial director's cut of all time[7] and a title to equal any of Scott's other works, offering a much greater insight into the motivations of individual characters.[48]

The DVD of the extended director's cut was released on 23 May 2006. It comprises a four-disc box set with a runtime of 194 minutes, and is shown as a road show presentation with an overture and intermission.[47] The first Blu-ray release omitted the roadshow elements, running for 189 minutes, but they were restored for the 2014 Ultimate Edition release.[49]

Scott gave an interview to STV on the occasion of the extended edition's UK release, when he discussed the motives and thinking behind the new version.[50] Asked if he was against previewing in general in 2006, Scott stated: "It depends who's in the driving seat. If you've got a lunatic doing my job, then you need to preview. But a good director should be experienced enough to judge what he thinks is the correct version to go out into the cinema."[51]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Kingdom of Heaven". Film.com.
  2. ^ "Company Information". movies.nytimes.com. Retrieved 30 July 2010.
  3. ^ "KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 20 April 2005. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Kingdom of Heaven". Box Office Mojo.
  5. ^ Cinemareview.com: "Kingdom of Heaven – Production Notes"
  6. ^ a b c "Directors Cuts, the Good, the Bad, and the Unnecessary". Empire. 10 January 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Kingdom of Heaven: 4-Disc Director's Cut DVD Review". Ugo.com. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  8. ^ Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
  9. ^ a b "Making the Crusades Relevant in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN" by Cathy Schultz
  10. ^ Depicted in the director's cut.[citation needed]
  11. ^ Christopher Tyerman, God's War: A New History of the Crusades. Penguin, 2006.
  12. ^ Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press, 1952, pp. 463–467.
  13. ^ Ambroise; Marianne Ailes; Malcolm Barber (2003). The History of the Holy War: Ambroise's Estoire de la Guerre Sainte. Boydell Press. pp. 149–. ISBN 978-1-84383-001-6.
  14. ^ Richard J. Radcliff (29 May 2005). "Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven". BlogCritics.org. visually and sonically beautiful; visually stunning cinematography and haunting music.
  15. ^ a b c d Stephanie Zacharek (6 May 2005). "Kingdom of Heaven – Salon". Salon.com. Cinematographer John Mathieson gives us lots of great, sweeping landscapes.
  16. ^ Carrie Rickey (6 May 2005). "Epic 'Kingdom' has a weak link". Philadelphia Inquirer. cinematography, supporting performances and battle sequences are so meticulously mounted.
  17. ^ Uncut, Review of Kingdom of Heaven, Uncut, 2005-07-01, page 129, web: BuyCom-Uncut: noted "Where Scott scores is in the cinematography and set-pieces, with vast armies surging across sun-baked sand in almost Kurosawa-like ballets of light and color."
  18. ^ Nix. "Kingdom of Heaven (2005)". BeyondHollywood.com. Scott's visual acumen is the main draw of Kingdom of Heaven" and "stunning cinematography and jaw-dropping combat sequences" or "stellar cinematography.
  19. ^ a b Roger Ebert (5 May 2005). "Kingdom of Heaven (review)". SunTimes.com. Ebert noted "What's more interesting is Ridley Scott's visual style, assisted by John Mathieson's cinematography and the production design of Arthur Max. A vast set of ancient Jerusalem was constructed to provide realistic foregrounds and locations, which were then enhanced by CGI backgrounds, additional horses and troops, and so on."
  20. ^ "Kingdom of Heaven VFX breakdown". The Moving Picture Company. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Kingdom of Heaven". www.dneg.com. Double Negative VFX. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  22. ^ a b Filmtracks – Kingdom of Heaven
  23. ^ a b SoundtrackNet – Kingdom of Heaven
  24. ^ Jack Moore, Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut DVD Review
  25. ^ Manolha Dargis, New York Times review of Kingdom of Heaven
  26. ^ James Berardinelli, http://www.reelviews.net/movies/k/kingdom_heaven.html
  27. ^ Ty Burr, "Kingdom of Heaven Movie Review: Historically and heroically challenged 'Kingdom' fails to conquer"
  28. ^ a b "CNN "Kingdom of Heaven" Transcript". CNN.com. 9 May 2005.
  29. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kingdom_of_heaven/
  30. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/kingdom-of-heaven
  31. ^ Charlotte Edwardes (17 January 2004). "Ridley Scott's new Crusades film 'panders to Osama bin Laden'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 May 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  32. ^ Andrew Holt (5 May 2005). "Truth is the First Victim- Jonathan Riley-Smith". Crusades-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  33. ^ "Kingdom of Heaven info page". Zombietime.com. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  34. ^ Jamie Byrom, Michael Riley "The Crusades"
  35. ^ "Thomas F. Madden on ''Kingdom of Heaven'' on National Review Online". Nationalreview.com. 27 May 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  36. ^ Creative Accuracy: The Scholars Speak
  37. ^ Bob Thompson (1 May 2005). "Hollywood on Crusade: With His Historical Epic, Ridley Scott Hurtles Into Vexing, Volatile Territory". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  38. ^ John Harlow. "Christian right goes to war with Ridley's crusaders".
  39. ^ Robert Fisk (20 June 2005). "Kingdom of Heaven: Why Ridley Scott's Story Of The Crusades Struck Such A Chord In A Lebanese Cinema". Zmag.org. Archived from the original on 17 December 2005.
  40. ^ Schlimm, Matthew Richard (20 August 2010). "The Necessity of Permanent Criticism: A Postcolonial Critique of Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven". Journal of Media and Religion. 9 (3): 129–145. doi:10.1080/15348423.2010.500967. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  41. ^ "Kingdom of Heaven – Box Office Data". The-Numbers.com.
  42. ^ "Hicelebs.com: "Kingdom of Heaven Trivia"". Archived from the original on 14 August 2007.
  43. ^ Garth Franklin. "Interview: Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven". DarkHorizons.com. [dead link‍]
  44. ^ http://dvd.ign.com/articles/711/711469p2.html
  45. ^ http://www.reelviews.net/movies/k/kingdom_heaven_directors.html
  46. ^ http://www.dvdtown.com/reviews/kingdom-of-heaven/3676
  47. ^ a b "Kingdom of Heaven: Director's Cut DVD official website".
  48. ^ Berardinelli, James. "Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut Review".
  49. ^ Kauffman, Jeffrey (5 October 2014). "Kingdom of Heaven Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  50. ^ Ridley Scott interview
  51. ^ Total Film magazine, July 2006: 'Three hours, eight minutes. It's beautiful.' (Interview to promote Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut)
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