Kingdom Of Heaven [HD]

Too bad it didn't do better at the box office
I really enjoyed the theatrical cut, and now, get ready for all the nice storylines that were deleted. What you'll see on the director's cut (referenced from AICN) SPOILERS AHEAD!!:

- did you realize that the priest at the beginning is actually the half-brother of Balian (Orlando Bloom)? Their relationship is much more complicated and unpleasant in this version, and we learn that Balian is in jail following his wife's death, thanks to his brother's claim that he is possessed by the devil.

- We also learn that Balian was an engineer before he became a blacksmith, that he built war machines when he was part of an army, and he's released from prison because the local lord needs Balian's help. So much more work is put into the establishment of Balian's character that by the time we actually meet him in the film now, we have a sense of who he is.

- The lord that Balian works for? Turns out, he's Neeson's brother, and when Godfrey shows up in the village,...

Exceptional presentation for an exceptional film that was butchered previously
(Please note: This is for the 4 disc director's cut--for some reason this is combined with ALL versions of the movie including the Blu-ray. The Blu-ray features ONLY the first two discs of this set on one Blu-ray disc. None of the discs with extras are included as part of the package).

Sometimes longer is better particularly when you have a complex story. The theatrical version of "Kingdom of Heaven" was flawed from the beginning with significant narrative gaps that undermine the character development and the smooth momentum of the story. That's because Fox had Scott cut the film by nearly an hour deleted significant and important character development at the expense of trying to fit in more showings per theater. The result was a sprawling ambitious project that had the epic scope of "Lawrence of Arabia" without the narrative strength. Thank God for DVD. "Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut" restores the material demonstrating that the original 3 hour cut was a brilliant...

wait for it
UPDATE: I originally wrote the following because of the notice that there would be an eventual extended edition of the movie. The update is that Amazon.com now has a listing for said extended edition that comes in at 191 minutes and is to be released on 23 May 2006.

I wrote a review for the theatrical release of this film which I will post below if you are curious what I think. I really wanted to just point out that if you enjoyed this film, you might not want to purchase this version. Back when the movie was first released in theatres, Ridley Scott was interviewed and stated that there was almost an hour taken from the movie. He also said there would be a director's cut that would have that material restored. Its not being released now, presumably, so that the studios can get their double dip. Look at Sin City (the "longer extended cut" comes out in December 3 months from its original release date) or Saw which is coming unrated this month to support the sequel. It...

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