by Anthony whoknows

Created on: February 24, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Kingdom of Heaven

"You are not what you are born, but what you have in yourself to be" Godfrey said that and lived by it in the movie "Kingdom of Heaven". This movie is about a knight, Godfrey, played by Liam Neeson, going in search of his fatherless son Balian played by Orlando Bloom who is a black smith in a small town, with a wife that just committed suicide. Godfrey and Balian join up and they began a journey to protect the King of Jerusalem, King Baldwin played by Edward Norton who is a leper that is dying and trying to keep peace among the Kingdom of Jerusalem between the Muslims and the Christians. The Christian Crusaders are killing helpless Muslims because of their allegiance to the Church, while King Baldwin believes that he would rather live with the Muslims than Massacre them. This conflict of interests eventually leads to a conflict between Muslim leader Saladin played by Ghassan Massourd and the Balian the blacksmith became knight over the Kingdom of Heaven, The Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Director Ridley Scott is brilliant managing to capture the life of the times and to make you feel like you are there, he makes the on screen struggle be felt within you and creates an anger that makes the movie, more personal and more direct. Along with the captivating screen play by William Manahan, every line, every conversation feels real and is moving within itself. Also the beauty of John Mathieson's cinematography is breath taking. Some of his camera angles are completely new and allow a different perspective of a movie with a new and a broader scope of the scenery. Finally the movie is wrapped up with the entrancing music by Harry Gregson Williams and the absolutely perfect editing of Dody Dorn, who managed to connect the scenes in a way in which they flowed perfectly throughout the movie. Casting by Jina Jay and Debra Zane was precise, managing to place every role with the perfect candidate and even some of the small parts were done perfectly.
This movie captivates the mind and entrances your body with a perfect blend of cinematography an amazing score and an outstanding screenplay. Kingdom of Heaven allows you to see a different side of the crusades and brings the dark ages a new excitement.

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