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Movie - Kingdom of Heaven


abespam

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So i just went and watched it at the cinemas, and i thought it was pretty good, i give it 4 stars.

 

Scott uses a lot of his Gladiator style cinematography and story telling to create the film, and im sure it historically inaccurate but the movie was decent.

 

Orlando Bloom did a good job , but i was expecting bigger roles from Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons.

 

I recommend watching it, though ROTS opening next week may cause ppl to forget about this film.

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I love historical epics, though they are often jokingly inaccurate :) The Crusades were a fascinating part of history so it is always cool to check out a movie about them...

 

One thing I am cringing though is the portrayal of Saladin and his forces.... I am hoping it is not a stereotypical "Hollywood Muslim" but I am sure It wont be otherwise :(

 

mtfbwya

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thats what it look like from the trailers, which are obviously designed to appeal to (christian) middle america.

 

But apparently the film is fairly pro muslim (infact some people have said it is even TOO pro muslim).

 

Mind you, from what i remember of my history the muslims were more technologically advanced and didn't go slaughtering entire cities like the christians did... so maybe they were the good guys after all.

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What?

 

Troy rocked. King Arthur was below my expectations, but it was semi decent to watch, I wasn't bored by it too much. and I didn't bother to see Alexander because I knew that movie was crap.

 

C'mon. Colin Ferrell? Angelina Jolie?

 

Not to mention Alexander's cheeseball lines.. "Conquer your fear and you will conquer death."

 

X)

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well the movie was more pro-muslim nor pro-christian, though there were fanatics on each side. Saladin himself was not portrayed as a fanatic in the movie more of a "general" type character, caring more about winning the battle with minimal loss rather than destroying christians.

 

There were quite a few fanatics on the christian side, especially the knights templar...

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I do agree that i've got a bit burned out on these historical epics. That is hollywood for you, get one good film and then you end up with 3 years of clones. Like all those comic book movies... or all these gladiator/LOTR clones.

 

Troy was dull, eric bana and orlando bloom had the charisma of a wet blanket, brad pitt wasn't much better. The only good thing about it were the old guys who completely blew them off the screen, acting wise.

 

King arthur was terrible. Dull and meaningless. If it hadn't had ray winstone in it to make me laugh i'd have left the cinema. How does clive owen manage to alternate between being great in some movies and terrible in others?

 

Alexander pretty much skated over and copped out of the gay thing... which version did you watch? (special edition with extra cgi gayness? :D )

 

I may watch HoH this week, but i'm not really rushing to do so.

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Let's not forget the fact that there is no historical record proving Alexander's sexuality either way, and it's purely conjectural revisionism to state that he swung one way, or swung the other.

 

The best that most historians have been able to come up with is "He was probably bisexual". How non-commital is that!

 

I'm utterly fed up of sexuality being inserted into historical records when it is simply not necessary... unless you have some sort of agenda to further, that is. ;)

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Another factor which plays a part none of the less is also timing imo.... How long the movie really is which can help make a difference rather than just cramming all of two hours which I prefer in all honesty. Some movies you can fit a set amount of time and some others not, but I suppose it's all on how you're going about historical accuracy on a certain event, a certain timing of it, and so on... I heard KoH could have been better with more added to it aswell and the acting.. All I want is the historical accuracy in a movie and not all the BS fluff to it..

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I'll watch it later on DVD. I've heard about the bias, though. The Muslims were actually military masterminds and it's the Crusaders who invaded mindlessly and ran away with their tails between their legs. Looking at how America looks at Muslims, I can the word "Bias" painted all over the movie. :)

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Originally posted by Sabretooth

Looking at how America looks at Muslims, I can the word "Bias" painted all over the movie. :)

 

Funny you should say that, considering R. Scott is in fact not American but British. People can find a way to blame America for everything they don't like nowadays, it seems. Even the crusades.

 

I remember when Ridley Scott made Black Hawk Down. And all the bitching from scruvier foreign types I had to read or listen to. Nevermind the fact that only a handful of the cast or crew involved in making the movie were Americans. It's a lopsided American story where big bad evil America is portrayed as the hero.

 

Originally posted by Spider AL

historical record proving Alexander's sexuality...historians...historical records...

 

Maybe, just maybe, when people watch a movie, they should take into account that for the most part, movies are made for entertainment purposes, and should not always be held to the standard of historical fact. I'll be watching this movie eventually, despite the pc and euro turd picket lines I might have to wade through to do so. And for the simple fact that it's a movie, you know, with actors? People who are paid to act like someone they're not? I'll probably assume all by myself that I shouldn't take any of it seriously, and who knows? I might even be entertained.

 

Dumb. :rolleyes:

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The simple fact is that we usually don't know anything about the private, personal and emotional details of these historical figures. And any film needs to try and flesh out the characters to more than just a few battle scenes and historical events.

 

Since most of the personalities pasted onto these historical figures are going to be entirely fictional anyway, what does it matter whether they make them gay or straight, or innocent or bitter or any way. In a fictional representation of a character making him gay seems just as valid as making him straight... and at least it might have the virtue of making a slightly unique character... not another cookie cutter hollywood hero.

 

On the other hand, what is usually known about such historical figures is the hard facts (locations, victories, losses, etc..) so its nice if they can at least TRY to stick to the few things that we do know.

 

I've heard a few people mention that scott might be using this movie to try and balance the scales after Black Hawk Down, which might be why he goes a bit overboard on the pro-muslim front. But i'll reserve judgement on that till i can see for myself, as i've also heard a few people say its anti muslim. Who knows.

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Originally posted by CapNColostomy

Funny you should say that, considering R. Scott is in fact not American but British. People can find a way to blame America for everything they don't like nowadays, it seems. Even the crusades.

 

The movie came out of Hollywood. Hollywood = America. Hollywood + Blame = America + Blame.

 

My 2 cents.

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seriously it no where near as bias as ppl might think. In fact the movie accentuates the fact that there are some fanatics on either side, but that nearly all of the main characters are not..

 

of course in terms of military masterminds.. scott couldnt resist , bloom doing some tricks against the seige towers...

.. some of it reminded me of Return of the King

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what the fuzz ! this is hilarious..... a flame war about gays and muslims and america being bad in a thread that is about a movie :D

 

I still havent seen it yet....

 

CapN.... Ridley Scott might have been born in the UK, but he's hardly a "British" director by *any* stretch of the imagination :p You want to see some awesome British directors, look up Mike Leigh & Peter Greenaway :)

 

but I can tell you from historical records that the Knights Templar were indeed fanatics... their code included not bathing, and not burying their dead :( smelly !

 

mtfbwya

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Originally posted by jon_hill987

He isn't a British dirctor, he is a Holywood director. There is a diference.

But he's British, and a director. Thus a British Director. "British" is a description of nationality, not cinema style.

 

I suppose you're one of those people the seperates styles of humour into "american" and "british". Such arrogance is disturbing.

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I think what they meant is that Ridley Scott is a British director who does Hollywood movies while Mike Leigh and Peter Greenaway are drectors who make British movies.

 

If you watch a lot of foreign films, from any place, you'll end up seeing the difference between each countries' style.

It's like architecture or the way of thinking of a culture.

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sithy, calm down.... It is not unusual at all to describe directors according to their style...as opposed to their place of birth..

 

Scott simply has done most of his work in Hollywood..

 

how about this description, your majesty :

 

"British Born Hollywood Director" Ridley Scott

 

Go watch a film called "Naked" by Mike Leigh .... even Trainspotting or anything by Guy Ritchie.... they are British Films :)

 

mtfbwya

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Originally posted by lukeiamyourdad

I think what they meant is that Ridley Scott is a British director who does Hollywood movies while Mike Leigh and Peter Greenaway are drectors who make British movies.

I get what they mean, but classification based on nationality comes off as arrogant and elitist.

 

He may make movies in hollywood, but he is British, and that was CapN's point.

 

Originally posted by lukeiamyourdad

If you watch a lot of foreign films, from any place, you'll end up seeing the difference between each countries' style.

It's like architecture or the way of thinking of a culture.

The differences are based on their cultural principles. They're not different cinematic styles. They just approach things differently due to their cultural upbringing.

 

A japanese girl may be more subdued when speaking english, but she's not speaking "Japanese english". It's not a different kind of english. It's just cultural upbringing.

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