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Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
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Gladiator director Ridley Scott once again finds inspiration in the past with this exciting mix of action, adventure and history lesson. Orlando Bloom stars as 12th-century French blacksmith Balian, who loses his family and is invited to the Holy Land by the Crusader father (Liam Neeson) previously unknown to him. The uneasy peace in Jerusalem between the Christians, under King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), and the neighbouring Muslim forces of Saladin (a wonderful Ghassan Massoud) is threatened by fanatics, prompting Balian to defend the city against overwhelming odds. A story of western forces in the Middle East has obvious contemporary resonance, but Scott steps skilfully through the minefield, stressing the desirability of co-existence and tolerance and the dangers of fundamentalism. While Bloom is rather unconvincing as a leader of men, the siege is breathtaking, the characters colourful, and there's even some intelligent dialogue. BP
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Tell us what you think
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Running time
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138min
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Country of origin
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US / UK / Sp / Ger
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Genre
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Epic Period Drama
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Alternate title
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The Crusades
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Original language
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English / Arabic
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Screenplay
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William Monahan
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Theatrical distributor
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20th Century Fox
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UK cinema certificate
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15
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UK cinema release date
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May 2005
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Subtitling information
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In English, Arabic with subtitles
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Film certification logos reproduced by kind permission of BBFC |
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