Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven & Black Hawk Down

this past weekend......nothing much happened......

on friday, i did some grocery shopping......bought stuff for the house since dad isn't here.....

on saturday......i watched KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.....

this is orlando bloom's first STARRING role.....all the movies he has done before have all been supporting roles......playing the "sidekick" to the hero......in this movie......he actually speaks.....but not too much more.....KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is an alright movie.....i probably won't see it again......why???.....cos there was something missing in the film......a sense of belief......as much as i am a huge fan of bloom because of his famed legolas portrayal.....but this film, it felt like bloom was trying a little too hard to prove he can hold up a movie by himself.....and that was his downfall.....there are parts of the movie where is stares downward or off into the distance.....i *guess* trying to portray the look of sincerty or complintation......where in fact it *looks* like he's concentrating too hard on how a hero should act instead of just letting his natual talent do his job for him......

the character who stood out the most in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN was the leper king played by edward norton......i don't know if it's because he was masked or what......but norton's portrayal of the leper king was one thing that probably saved the movie.....when watching the leper king......i was intrigued.....this weak man in the physical sense was the stongest in every other aspect......trying very hard to keep order over land that is coveted by all.....and even trying to keep that order after he is dead by passing it on to balian (bloom) and giving balian the crown along with the leading lady, the leper king's sister......which balian refuses because he thinks it's unmoral or whatnot even though he has already slept with her when she was still married......(they didn't portray very well on WHY balian refused - or at least *I* didn't get it)

overall.....it was a good epic......the score could have been better though.....and i was pleasantly surised to see alexander siddig since i'm a huge star trek fan......but probably won't see it again unless in the future, the DVD is lying around the house and i have nothing to do......

now.....for some reason......i guess i wanted a "ridley scott" weekend because i also watched BLACK HAWK DOWN......which i thought was very good......when i was in college, i actually got to watch a documentry on what "really" happened, narrated and told by the soldiers who we involved......and when watching BLACK HAWK DOWN......i was impressed at the realizism and how the movie was more into idolizing the soldiers than it was trying to be all about the actors......and i was impressed at the amount of actors in the film......josh harnett, eric bana, sam shepard, tom sizemore, jason isaacs, ewan mcgregor, orlando bloom......even ioan gruffud (lancelot - king arthur) ......and i was happy to see that scott was a little *less* graphic by not showing what CNN or whoever aired the imfamous dragging of dead soldiers......

on the "behind the scenes" section, it shows the cast going through intensive ranger training......and i found it a little amusing that bloom was in that training, yet we don't get to see him fire a gun.....or even run for that matter......*it's okay orlando, maybe next time*......i watched this DVD twice......in a row......i liked the realizism in it......i liked how it made me feel about the soldiers out there fighting.....then and now......it raised my already high respect for military personnel to a much higher level......and it also portrayed a little about both sides view on things......the movie mentioned that we shouldn't have been there in the first place because it was a civil war.....but it also mentioned that we had to be there to prevent genocide and help those in need......which i found was key to the movie, not over stating the fact WHY we were there but instead going straightforward with the fact that we're here NOW and this is what we're gonna do......

another thing i liked about this movie.....is that they used "real" black hawks and little birds.....and most (if not all) the extra we real army rangers......and i also read somewhere that one of the pilots was there during the actual event and he basically "re-enacted" his part for the scene......which i thought was awesome......this displayed the cooperation between the military personnel had with the crew and director in where they were determined to honor their fallen comrades.....

a great movie......