Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Kingdom of Heaven Blu-ray Movie Review

Well they told you 'Heaven' would be eternal, didn't they?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 5, 2014

If as is commonly believed Sir Ridley Scott subscribes to the maxim “nothing succeeds like excess,” there’s probably no more excessive film in the director’s oeuvre than Kingdom of Heaven, a film that was already well over two hours in length in its original, somewhat derided, form before Scott returned to it to add another 45-50 minutes or so to create his preferred Director’s Cut, a version which still didn’t catch fire at the box office but which received a smattering of critical praise. Scott has always been a master of meticulous production design and visceral visuals, as evidenced by everything from Blade Runner to Gladiator to Prometheus 3D. But Scott also has a tendency to wander at times, delivering stories that can meander and feel bloated, and those who weren’t especially won over by the original version of King of Heaven probably will react to the Director’s Cut of the film with a withering sigh and a cursory “meh—more of the same” (meaning, of course, not in a good way). Kingdom of Heaven is built around the Crusades, a long running “religious war” between Christians and Muslims that would seem to be perhaps even more relevant today than it even was in 2005 when the film debuted. While some wags may accuse this Director’s Cut of running longer than the actual Crusades, for those with the patience to let Scott and his scenarist William Monahan unfold their intricately interwoven stories, Kingdom of Heaven offers one of Scott’s most thoughtful films, one that is also full of both arresting imagery and one of the most evocative scores to ever grace a Scott film.

Wikipedia may be the last refuge of the internet scoundrel, but it can often provide unexpected laughs in any given article. Take for example this wonderful little tidbit from the write-up on the Crusades:

Historians consider that between 1096 and 1291 there were seven major Crusades and numerous minor ones. However, some consider the Fifth Crusade of Frederick II as two distinct crusades. This would make the crusade launched by Louis IX in 1270 the Eighth Crusade. In addition, sometimes even this crusade is considered as two, leading to a Ninth Crusade.

The film’s setting of the late 12th century and its use of (fictionalized) versions of real life characters like erstwhile blacksmith Balian of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom), Sibylla of Jerusalem (Eva Green), and leperous King Baldwin (Edward Norton) alerts the astute viewer and armchair historian to the fact that this is the era of what would later be called the Third Crusade (before all that Wikipedia mishegos of various numbering gambits).

My colleague Martin Liebman reviewed the first Blu-ray release of Kingdom of Heaven here, and while I am somewhat more kindly inclined toward the film, Marty’s plot summary and many of his criticisms are cogent, so rather than repeat some of the same things here, I refer you to that review. Perhaps because I saw (and frankly was mostly captivated by) the theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven first, I more easily appreciated the changes and indeed even the extreme length of the Director’s Cut. I wholeheartedly concur with Marty that the film tends to ramble (or perhaps more accurately still tends to ramble), but there is so much more character information in the longer edition that the trade off in my estimation is negligible.

The main beneficiary of the lengthening is probably the character of Sibylla (Eva Green), a sort of Warrior Queen who captures Balian’s heart, even if a consummated romance is put on delayed gratification mode for the bulk of the film. In the theatrical version of the film, Sibylla was little more than a sidebar, a seeming tip of the eye candy hat to a film populated almost entirely by males. Here her relationships with her leperous brother and especially with Balian are fleshed out and more fully integrated into the overall story. Her story is also more fully developed, including a whole subplot involving the succession which is largely missing in action in the theatrical version.

What also works better in the Director’s Cut is the tension between religious fanatics on both sides of this particular equation. Most of Balian’s inner torment comes from his reaction to his wife’s suicide, especially with the added torment conveniently provided by his half- brother, a Catholic priest, who seems to delight in letting Balian know his wife’s mortal sin will keep her from experiencing eternal salvation. Some critics of the original version seemed to think Scott went out of his way to vilify Catholics while appeasing Muslims with a more rational, even keeled approach by the leaders in that camp, but that may be an unfair assessment. While it’s certainly true that characters like al- Isfahani (Alexander Siddig) are highly educated, articulate and almost suave in comparison to some of their Christian counterparts, there’s no denying that Scott (and Monahan) don’t shirk from detailing the lunacy of extremism wherever it may arise.

Kingdom of Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kingdom of Heaven is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Scott and cinematographer John Mathieson may well have been humming that old Bacharach-David tune "Blue on Blue" as they lensed the film, for it is bathed in a cool blue luster throughout a lot of its opening wintry sequences. Later, the film indulges in a more languid feeling amber ambience as things move into a more typical desert climate. The blue sequences are so heavily graded at times that detail, let alone fine detail, can be minimal. Many scenes are also shot in low light, another issue which exacerbates already low levels of discernable detail. The rampant darkness in many scenes can also exhibit crush, with things like black tunics or head wrappings seemingly disappearing into the overall shadowy backgrounds. Now, with those niggling complaints out of the way—Kingdom of Heaven is easily one of Scott's most gorgeous films, even when it's decidedly gruesome (some of the battle scenes are very graphic, and there's one disturbing reveal of what the leperous King really looks—or looked—like). Even in the heavily blue filtered scenes, there are no issues with typical bugaboos like noise, and smaller elements like the snow that billows through the frame are precise looking. When the film segues to brighter lit scenes, the image pops magnificently. In fact, some of the seaside footage is downright ravishing, with beautiful teal waters, crisp reds in the flags and other heraldry, and awesome depth of field. In decent lighting fine detail is exceptional, especially in close-ups. Close knit patterns like the chain mail on the warriors' costumes resolve easily, with no aliasing or moiré. When not graded artificially, colors are superbly saturated and very accurate looking. Despite the need for a lot of real estate on the Blu-ray disc and bitrates that rarely rose much above 25, I noticed no overt compression artifacts in preparation for this review.

Kingdom of Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kingdom of Heaven's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is reference quality (in my estimation), with superb surround activity brow beating the listener in the epic battle scenes, but incredible attention paid to directionality in things as simple as what side of the frame a cavalry officer enters on, or where dialogue speakers are placed within the frame. I am frankly shocked that Harry Gregson-Williams' amazing score was overlooked at Academy Awards time (as was the film as a whole, certainly a shame with regard to below the line technical aspects if nothing else), and this pulsating, percussion and vocal filled, score wafts through the surrounds and offers a very evocative sonic foundation for quite a bit of the film. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and well prioritized. Fidelity is top notch, dynamic range is extremely wide, and there are no issues of any kind to report.

Kingdom of Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Well, collectors, it may be time to retire yet another big, bulky DVD package. The four disc Director's Cut edition of Kingdom of Heaven was loaded with extras, and aside from the explanatory booklet in the DVD package, they've all been ported over here (albeit largely in standard definition, for which I've subtracted half a point in the scores above):

Disc One

• Original Theatrical Version (1080p; 2:24:32)


• Director's Cut Version (1080p; 3:09:34)


• Director's Cut Roadshow Version (1080p; 3:13:54) includes Overture, Intermission and Exit music.


• Ridley Scott Introduction to Director's Cut Version (480i; 1:01) plays automatically when either version of the Director's Cut is selected.


• Commentary by Producer/Director Ridley Scott, Writer William Monahan and Actor Orlando Bloom (Director's Cut Roadshow Version Only)


• Commentary by by Executive Producer Lisa Ellzey, Visual Effects Supervisor Wesley Sewell and First Assistant Director Adam Somner (Director's Cut Roadshow Version Only)


• Commentary by Film Editor Dody Dorn (Director's Cut Roadshow Version Only)


• The Engineer's Guide (Director's Cut Roadshow Version Only) brings up factoids about things like the cast's filmographies as the film plays.


• The Pilgrim's Guide (Theatrical Version Only) does much the same thing with facts about the historical milieu of the film.

Disc Two

• The Path to Redemption (480i; 2:21:49)


• Production Sequence includes video content, galleries and text extras devoted to:

  Development, including:

  Tripoli Overview

  Early Draft Screenplay by William Monahan

  Story Notes

  Location Scout Gallery

Pre-Production, including:

Cast Rehearsals (480i; 13:23)

Ridleygrams

Colors of the Crusade (480i; 32:14), devoted to costume and production design

Costume Design Gallery

Production Design Primer (480i; 6:52), more on the film's production design with the Production Designer and Set Decorator

Production Design Gallery

Production, including:

Creative Accuracy: The Scholars Speak (480i; 26:38) features talking heads discussing the film's historical veracity

Unholy War: Mounting the Seige (480i; 17:04) shows the behind the scenes activity involved in one of the film's big set pieces

Storyboard Galleries

Unit Photography Gallery

Post-Production, including:

Deleted and Extended Scenes (480i; 30:09) features optional commentary by Director Ridley Scott and Editor Dody Dorn

Sound Design Suite features a fun interactive grid where you can do your own ADR and foley mixes

Visual Effects Breakdown (480i; 21:53)

Release and Director's Cut, including:

Press Junket Walkthrough (480i; 6:17)

World Premieres: London, New York and Tokyo (480i; 3:41)

Special Shoot Gallery

Poster Explorations

Trailers and TV Spots features four Trailers (1080p; 2:34), (480i; 1:34), (1080p; 2:34), (1080p; 2:25), and an amazing total of 50 TV Spots in 480i, varying from 00:16 to 00:32, many of which trace the film's somewhat bumpy marketing efforts to various demographics.

Paradise Found: Creating the Director's Cut (480i; 8:29)

Director's Cut Credits

• Archive, including:

  Interactive Production Grid (480i; 1:23:45), additional featurettes which are accessible via various categories, or playable all at once.

  A&E Movie Real (480i; 44;28)

  History vs. Hollywood (480i; 42:55)

  Ridley Scott - Creating Worlds (480i; 2:37)

  Production Featurette (480i; 2:18)

  Wardrobe Featurette (480i; 2:12)

  Orlando Bloom - The Adventure of a Lifetime (480i; 2:11)

Kingdom of Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Is Kingdom of Heaven long? Yes. Is it too long in its director's cut? Is Lawrence of Arabia (which this film has some passing resemblances to) too long? I'll leave those questions and answers to those who like to debate such matters, but I'll say that I never had the overwhelming issues with King of Heaven in its original version that so many did, and so I was probably already primed to simply enjoy more of the same than might otherwise have been the case. In my estimation the Director's Cut is the way to go with this film. There is so much more character development here, and various plot threads are so much more clearly developed, that the added length rarely if ever feels like padding (as is so often the case with these directorial revisions). As with so many of Scott's films, the visceral intensity of what lies on the surface (in this case the epic battles between two major religions) becomes fodder for some very weighty, provocative and philosophical musings, all of which are delivered with aplomb by a large and very colorful cast. Scenically, this ranks with the very best and most impressive work Scott has ever done, which is saying a lot. Kingdom of Heaven may be flawed in trying to do so much (and to take so much time doing it), but that's a noble flaw as far as I'm concerned, in a world where there's frequently a shocking lack of ambition or literary acumen in film. Technical merits here are first rate, the supplemental package is aces, and Kingdom of Heaven comes Highly recommended.