A village blacksmith rises to his true calling as a knight who must lead the Christian army into battle during the Crusades. Orlando Bloom plays the lowly Balian who learns he is the illegitimate son of a respected knight–who has tracked down the boy in a remote French village in the hope of recruiting him to pick up a sword.
Had watched this movie when it released back in 2005. So revisited it after a long time. Decent movie. The movie is based on true story but it did take some cinematic liberties. Unlike usual Hollywood movies this doesn’t show the Muslims as bad. In fact the movie shows Saladin in a very positive light. Did not understand why Balian couldn’t have made the truce without getting so many people killed.
Orlando Bloom was good as Balian. Eva Green was ok as Sibylla. Jeremy Irons was good as Raymond. Brendan Gleeson was good as Raynald. Marton Csokas was good as Guy de Lusignan. Edward Norton was good as King Baldwin IV. Liam Neeson was good as Godfrey in a small role. Ghassan Massoud was very good as Saladin. Alexander Siddig was good as Imad ad-Din. It was nice to see Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie from Game of Thrones) and Iain Glen (Jorah from Game of Thrones) in small roles.
Recommended
P.S. This was a comment I originally made in June 2019.
Tags: Edward Norton Eva Green Jeremy Irons Liam Neeson Ridley Scott
