Kingdom of Heaven
Dec. 23rd, 2007 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartYep, after having the VHS cassette standing on my shelf for two years, I've finally seen the movie on German TV.
I was impressed. Even though I didn't recognize Siddig el Fadil aka Alexander Siddig, but that's my fault, not his.
I was impressed by Orlando Bloom. And I'll be sorry for the rest of my life that Peter Jackson didn't cast him for the part of Faramir, for which he'd originally spoke for. "Kingdom of Heaven" has shown me what a fantastic, charismatic Faramir we could have had in the LOTR movies, instead of the pudgy-faced weakling with the ridiculous wig.
I liked the other characters, too. Personally, I can't stand Liam Neeson, but I liked the Saracen characters, Márton Csókás was wonderfully slimy, and the individual defenders of Jerusalem were well-chosen faces, IMO. I wasn't much taken by Sybilla; frankly, I found her a gratutious addition, even though she was an historic character. The poor Baldwin IV was creepy with his silver masks.
Okay, I'm not a great fan of historic battle movies, because all that killing and blood and gore. But I liked very much how cleverly Balian brought down the siege towers, and all the little tricks he used to stop the Saracen army. It reminded him a great deal of a Hungarian historic novel, "Eclipse of the Crescent Moon", which describes the siege of the Burg of Eger, where some two thousand defenders successfully beat the Turkish army that outmanned them ten to one.
Oh, and Orlando looked really, really well without a blond wig and blue contact lenses. I can't repeat often enough: what a Faramir was lost for us!
Okay, you can shoot now.
I was impressed. Even though I didn't recognize Siddig el Fadil aka Alexander Siddig, but that's my fault, not his.
I was impressed by Orlando Bloom. And I'll be sorry for the rest of my life that Peter Jackson didn't cast him for the part of Faramir, for which he'd originally spoke for. "Kingdom of Heaven" has shown me what a fantastic, charismatic Faramir we could have had in the LOTR movies, instead of the pudgy-faced weakling with the ridiculous wig.
I liked the other characters, too. Personally, I can't stand Liam Neeson, but I liked the Saracen characters, Márton Csókás was wonderfully slimy, and the individual defenders of Jerusalem were well-chosen faces, IMO. I wasn't much taken by Sybilla; frankly, I found her a gratutious addition, even though she was an historic character. The poor Baldwin IV was creepy with his silver masks.
Okay, I'm not a great fan of historic battle movies, because all that killing and blood and gore. But I liked very much how cleverly Balian brought down the siege towers, and all the little tricks he used to stop the Saracen army. It reminded him a great deal of a Hungarian historic novel, "Eclipse of the Crescent Moon", which describes the siege of the Burg of Eger, where some two thousand defenders successfully beat the Turkish army that outmanned them ten to one.
Oh, and Orlando looked really, really well without a blond wig and blue contact lenses. I can't repeat often enough: what a Faramir was lost for us!
Okay, you can shoot now.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-24 01:00 am (UTC)But I thought KoH was a superlative movie on a number of levels. Just a beautiful piece of work. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-24 01:10 am (UTC)