In recent years, the en vogue trend for DVDs was the unrated director’s cut of a film. The movies seemed to typically fit into two categories: “What they couldn’t show in theaters!” and
extended versions of a film that add exposition to it without significantly changing the overall plot. Seldom does a movie
receive major alterations.
When Ridley Scott, the esteemed director of films such as “Blade
Runner,” “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down,” planned his director’s cut of his 2005 film “Kingdom of Heaven,” he had a much broader treatment in mind. Before the DVD begins, Scott offers a brief explanation of the purpose of the DVD. It’s the version he intended to hit screens, not the scaled-back film the studio presented to movie-goers.
This isn’t the first time Scott has been displeased with the theatrical release of one of his films. In 1992, Scott released the director’s cut of “Blade Runner,” a version of the film that made relatively few changes to the original, but those changes drastically changed the “meaning” of the film.
With “Kingdom of Heaven,” Scott adds about 50 minutes of footage to the choppy, underdeveloped theatrical release that critics largely panned and audiences largely ignored. The changes transform the film from a forgettable war movie to a near epic.
The biggest difference between the two versions is the character
development. As in the original, Godfrey (Liam Neeson), a knight of the crusades, returns to France in search of his son, Balian (Orlando Bloom), a blacksmith in a small village. Godfrey finds Balian despondent over the suicide of his wife after the death of their child. Unlike the original, the film shows the breadth of Balian’s despair and better explains the reasons for his rage toward the local priest (Michael Sheen) who, it turns out, is also Balian’s brother. This added facet to their relationship draws the audience in to Balian in ways the shallower, original version could never accomplish.
After Balian reunites with hisfather, he travels with him to Jerusalem where he takes over as Lord of Ibelin upon Godfrey’s death. Here, Balian meets Jerusalem’s king, Baldwin (Edward Norton hides under that freaky iron mask), who is dying from leprosy. In the original, Baldwin makes Balian a ward of the people for no apparent reason other than the fact that he’s Godfrey’s son. Here, Balian is given the chance to showcase his military prowess before he is vaulted into his role as caretaker of the people of Jerusalem. This extra bit of development, again, adds to the depth of Balian and makes the final defense of Jerusalem easier to watch because the audience isn’t forced to ask, “Why, exactly, is a former blacksmith in charge of defending Jerusalem?”
Balian’s relationship with Sibylla (Eva Green), the sister of Baldwin and princess of Jerusalem, is also given a chance to breathe. There is one more major addition to the movie that goes a long way in explaining the reason why Sibylla names her psychotic husband Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) king after Baldwin’s death. It also makes Sibylla’s shame at the movie’s end much more believable and stirring.
Overall, the added scenes give much-needed breadth to the movie, making it closer to the epic Scott intended it to be.
The real treasure of the director’s cut of “Kingdom of Heaven” is in the special features. A six-hour making-of documentary, 15 deleted scenes, director’s commentary and a documentary about the film’s historical accuracy are just some of the
additions. The real gem of the extra footage is the actors’ rehearsals with Scott. There’s just something cool about seeing Neeson, Bloom and David Thewliss (who plays the Hospitaler in the movie) joke around and talk shop with Scott in their native British accents.
While the director’s cut of “Kingdom of Heaven” may not be Wilder! Funnier!, it is a vast improvement over the theatrical release. It’s a shame the studio cut this movie down because the footage they trimmed was more meat than fat.
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