I have many questions when it comes to Ridley Scott making a film, and it can be traced back to the 4-Disc DVD for Kingdom of Heaven – Director’s Cut. I watched Scott’s story of the Holy Wars in theaters and was largely bored by the muddled 2hr20min feature starring Orlando Bloom. In one of the greatest cinematic turnarounds, the 3hr14min Directors Cut is one of the Best Movies of the 2000s and one of the Top 5 movies of Ridley Scott’s career. (Having seen 27 of his features, I can be real specific: 1.Alien 2.Black Hawk Down 3.The Martian 4.Kingdom of Heaven – Director’s Cut).
The DVD contains commentary by Sir Ridley and extensive “Making Of” features. It’s a digital film school with movie magic I still can’t believe, like when they created a shipwreck scene never filmed using discarded shots of Bloom and seamless digital effects. This is where I learned Scott always makes two cuts of a film, one for his investors and one that’s closer to his vision. This is a case where his version should be the only version. The characters are fleshed out, and Orlando Bloom still stands solidly in the middle of the incredible ensemble. In its new context Bloom gives his finest performance to date, and brings a previously unseen maturity to the part. The many subplots – especially Eva Green and Edward Norton – help the longer film to move faster. Editors take note, the two cuts are the best example you can find of how a film can run longer and be better paced.
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