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| In Gladiator, Ridley Scott took audiences to the year 180 AD. Five years and four motion pictures later, the Oscar Winning director moves on a millennium to deal with the blood and gore of more hand-to-hand combat.
In one of the most awe-inspiring films of the decade so far, Scott rebuilds the medieval city of Jerusalem, where humble blacksmith Balian (Bloom, Lord Of The Rings), is made leader of the Crusading Knights, who seek to protect the righteous Kingdom of Heaven.
As Jerusalem is thrust into one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the Crusades, Balian uses his faith, intelligence and desire for peace to lead an army into the battle for the Kingdom Of Heaven.
Acclaimed for his visual artistry, Scott has memorably created worlds on the screen, from space in Alien to ancient Rome in Gladiator. So, why did he choose medieval times?
"Historically, the Knight - like the cowboy or policeman - represents a person on the leading edge of his culture at a particular time", Scott says. "These figures have given us great opportunities to tell stories that carry the attributes of a hero. One of the most important is that the character carries his own degrees of fairness, faithfulness, and chivalry."
The film reunites Bloom and Scott who worked together on Black Hawk Down. "Orlando is a very honest, outgoing person," says Scott.
He's also very good physically in the field. He fell out of a helicopter for me in Black Hawk Down. He can do all the things that I required him to do, but I think his honesty and earnestness give him a distinct level of authenticity in the role of Balian."
A great spectacle with sweeping narrative and lots of gore, Scott again delivers the goods for a mighty epic.
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Here's what our members thought of this title. 5 stars = very good, 1 star = poor.
 |  | "Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Speak the truth, always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath."
Gladiator director Ridley Scott returns to the history books to tell a similarly epic yet intimate tale of honour, responsibility, bravery, love and slaughter. No longer the second banana of Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean, Orlando Bloom smoulders in his role as a lowly blacksmith turned superheroic knight. Set at the time of the Dark Age Crusades, a world shaping 200-year collision between Europe and the East, Kingdom of Heaven follows Bloom as, amid the pageantry and intrigues of medieval Jerusalem, he falls in love, grows into a leader, and ultimately uses all his courage and skill to defend the city against staggering odds. That's the best bit, a battle rivaling anything seen on the silver screen.
"I'd always wanted to make a movie about knights and medieval times, the Crusades especially," says Scott. "Historically, the knight-like the cowboy or the policeman-represents a person on the leading edge of his culture at a particular time. These figures have always given us great opportunities to tell stories that carry the attributes of a hero. And one of the most important is that the character carries with him his own degrees of fairness, faithfulness, and chivalry."
"It's a very rich time in history," explains Scott. "If you examine those 200 years historically, you see every possible shade of human behavior. You can go in and almost surgically choose the moment you want to explore."
"It is an era which has a lot of parallels in today's world: how the Christians deal with the Muslims, how the Muslims deal with the Christians, how they use each other, what their real agendas are," adds actor Jeremy Irons. "This story has reverberations for today."
Besides Irons, Liam Neeson, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson and Edward Norton – hidden behind a mask as a leper king – form a spectacular supporting cast, yet it's Bloom's show all the way. "I got to live every boy's dream," he says. "A knight, quite simply, gets the girl, gets to be everything he is meant to be. Balian [Bloom] is a reluctant hero on a quest, which is the best kind of hero, for my money."
Ridley Scott and Bloom had previously worked together on Black Hawk Down. "Orlando is a very honest, outgoing person," says Scott. "That's who he is. He's also very good physically in the field. He fell out of a helicopter for me in Black Hawk Down. He can do all the things that I required him to do, but I think his honesty and earnestness give him a distinct level of authenticity in the role of Balian."
"I felt so privileged to be surrounded by this cast and to work so closely with Ridley," says Bloom. "To see how he works and create something with him. He has this uncanny ability to take history and merge it with contemporary society's idea of what they want in a movie; he juxtaposes politics with truth, and if you come from truth you really get to the crux of the matter. His films are a feast for the eyes, but they also leave you questioning and wondering, with a sense of purpose. It's truly extraordinary and I feel incredibly lucky."
Jeremy Irons, who appeared in an advert made by Scott two decades ago, actively sought out the director after reading the script. "It was everything you want a big action movie script to be," he says. "I wanted to be a part of that. If you're going make a big movie, with heart and with enormous potential for huge things happening, the director you want to work with is Ridley. I think he is making a film unlike anything he's done before."
Screenwriter William Monahan agrees. "Because of the extreme power and scope of Ridley's visual talent, people lose sight of the fact that he's a great actor's director," says screenwriter Monahan. "You see this from the earliest days with Alien, which is a masterpiece of ensemble playing."
"Ridley's canvasses seem to be getting bigger and bigger," comments production designer Arthur Max. "But it seems like the stories are getting more intimate. A seemingly ordinary person is suddenly swept up into a huge historical tableau where he is surrounded by historical characters that we all know, but it's seen and told through the eyes of someone who has been living a very normal life."
Exciting, involving and beautiful to behold, well made and played by the best in the business, Kingdom of Heaven is a super-sized epic ideal for all.
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