Kingdom of Heaven (2005) on Netflix
R20052h 24mActionAdventureDrama
Balian, a blacksmith in medieval France, mourns his wife and has nearly lost his faith. A knight, Godfrey de Ibelin, reveals himself as his father and calls him to the Holy Land.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.3/10361,524 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes39%
Trailer
Plot summary
After a crusader knight, Godfrey de Ibelin, tells him that he is his father, Balian, a blacksmith in France, joins his company and sails for the Holy Land, hoping to win salvation for himself and his dead wife. An arrow wounds Godfrey in a fight with soldiers sent to arrest Balian, and before he dies he knights his son and names him Baron of Ibelin, charging him to protect the helpless. Balian survives a shipwreck and reaches Jerusalem, where a fragile peace holds under King Baldwin IV, his marshal Tiberias, and the restraint of the Muslim leader Saladin. He claims his estate at Ibelin and uses his engineering knowledge to bring water to its residents, and Princess Sibylla, the king's sister, visits him there.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Unhappy with the theatrical version, which he blamed on paying too much attention to the opinions of preview audiences and acceding to Fox's request to shorten the film by 45 minutes, Ridley Scott supervised a director's cut, released on 23 December 2005 at the Laemmle Fairfax Theatre in Los Angeles.
- The story of Balian of Ibelin was heavily fictionalized: the historical Balian was not a French artisan but a prominent lord in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the characters of Godfrey of Ibelin and the Hospitaller were wholly invented.
- Jonathan Riley-Smith, quoted by The Daily Telegraph, described the film as “dangerous to Arab relations” and called it “Osama bin Laden's version of history”, which would “fuel the Islamic fundamentalists”.
- During production Ridley Scott consulted Hamid Dabashi, a lecturer from Columbia, who said it was the best portrayal of Saladin he has ever seen; Dabashi praised the film for “linking historical events with contemporary issues”.
- Thomas F. Madden, Director of Saint Louis University's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, wrote that the movie only widens the gulf between what professional historians know about the Crusades and what the general population believes, and that dozens of distinguished historians would have been only too happy to help Scott and Monahan get it right.
