Kingdom of Heaven

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Sometimes movie makers (and the investors and movie houses behind them) use this medium to spread propaganda concerning one subject or another. In a modern world that could explode in religious war, this might be a dangerous thing to do. As I approached this film, I worried about a potential heavy-handed “message” being woven into its story. While there could be seen biases or favored views within this movie, I was relieved to find that I was mostly swept along in an epic historical drama and all of its battle action and character-based suspense. Ridley Scott’s direction can be credited for that. Overall, Christianity is no more villainized than Islam. In fact, they are both humanized by several degrees. It was hard at times to decipher one side from another on first watch, but as the story unfolded and the extra features explained, it becomes clear who is who.

It was sad to see the phrase “the will of God” used to manipulate the bands of warriors, as it was sad to see leaders corrupted by power and greed. The documentaries on the bonus disc, however, paint with a much heavier hand with its commentary on history. While the Crusades stand as the ugliest period of activity done in the Name of Christ, now is a good time to have discussions about it.
[Fox Video] DV

00 : Obscenities
08 : Scenes of Gore
00 : Nudity / Sexuality
100% : Spiritual Relevancy

This DVD review was originally published in the Jan/Feb Issue
(#117) of HM Magazine. Order the Print Version to read more reviews.

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Kingdom of Heaven

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