Kingdom of Heaven (2006)

4 Discs DVD

Chances are if you saw KINGDOM OF HEAVEN in the theater or on DVD the first time around you either loved it or hated it. Seems there is little room in-between for a film of this kind. So the fact that director Ridley Scott and crew spent a ginormous amount of time putting together the ultimate DVD for KINGDOM OF HEAVEN will either get your juices flowing or make you stop reading this review pronto. For those still with me, congratulations you have made a wise choice as this is one awesome DVD made for fans of the film as well as budding filmmakers who are treated to a clinic on how to direct an epic production with hundreds of extras, animals, set designs, miles of footage and much, much more. Scott is no stranger to going back to his own work and tweaking it or adding content back into the final theatrical cut because of either his ego or he truly feels the film would be a better product with his final touches that studios wouldn't let him get away with. If you look at BLADE RUNNER DIRECTOR'S CUT, this is far and away the version that makes the film a classic science fiction tale and a cinematic masterpiece and not just a badly chopped up idea of the future. And on the other side of the fence, GLADIATOR EXTENDED CUT was really a futile attempt to make an already great movie better. In fact, much of the footage added back in was part of the deleted scenes on the first DVD version. More than likely KINGDOM OF HEAVEN has gotten this deluxe DVD treatment based on initial rentals and sales of the first DVD that were surprisingly hefty given the meager $45 million it took in at the U.S. box office (which at an estimated cost of $130 million budget definitely qualifies it as a ginormous flop - although the film overseas ended up grossing more than $200 million). The 4-disc DVD was already in the top 15 DVDs on amazon.com before it was even officially released. Clocking in with a whopping 47 minutes of additional material added onto the original cut, it makes the film a LORD OF THE RINGS-style three hour adventure because, can you really wage the Crusades in under 180 minutes? I think not. Most of this additional footage centers on character development and details what characters are doing and feeling before what we are about to see in the coming scenes happens. What's left are well-crafted, molded scenes that flow more effortlessly compared to the original cut and makes following along all the easier. In essence, where before stood a film that's severely chopped and truncated for mass market appeal, is a transformed film with more meaning and more meat to it - something Ridley Scott is famous for providing in most of his films. Beyond the great film that is KINGDOM OF HEAVEN now, the DVD includes a virtual clinic on how to operate and direct a major motion picture epic by Ridley Scott. The only thing that is irksome (and it's fairly minor) is that they could have included the original cut in the set or given the viewer a choice between the Director's cut version and the original.

The special features contain a conception to production to finished product two-disc long tour that, in essence, documents every single point of production in the film. Divided into six parts over two DVDs, the epic production tour is filled with multiple hours of material on the screenplay, casting, pre-production, filming, post-production and release. But each of these topics are sub-divided into multiple featurettes, with multiple image galleries, videos, production stills, text stills, rehearsals, art conceptions, storyboard releases, camera angle lessons, editing sequences and comparisons, press junkets, premieres, after parties and such a ridiculous amount more. The amount of material here and the depth of it rivals anything Peter Jackson did with the LORD OF THE RINGS collector's editions.

This is one of the best dvd packages just based on the amount of material that the reviewer has at his/her disposal. Kingdom of Heaven was a decent film made much better by the 45 minutes worth of added material.