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Archon919
Reviews
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Mediocre
The Kingdom of Heaven is the story of blacksmith who joins the Crusades in a quest for salvation. In the Holy Lands, he will find himself battling Saracens, evil crusaders and temptation. It is not a memorable plot, but then again, this is not a memorable film. Indeed, there are very few things one would remember after leaving the theatre: the siege of Jerusalem, Orlando Bloom and the repetitive moral overtones were the only things I could recollect.
Granted, the scene of the siege is impressive. Perhaps not as grandiose as that on The Return of the King, but still decent. On the other hand, Orlando Bloom's performance can only be described as disappointing. In scene after scene, he fails to deliver any credible emotion, and that is most evident in his pre-battle speech, a badly- written and boringly-delivered monologue.
What is more disappointing than Bloom's performance though is the naive moral message that underlies the whole film. People, we are led to believe, are either good or evil. Good people act well consistently, whereas evil people refrain from nothing horrible. While it is good to see the film that rejects the fallacy of religious fanaticism, this film tries to force upon us an equally simplistic (and equally dangerous) moral dogmatism.
To sum up, the film appears to rely on a single battle scene and Orlando Bloom's physical attractiveness to hammer in a simplistic moral message. For this reason, it may be best suited to audiences below the age of 16. People with more refined viewing tastes may want to pass.
The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984)
Disappointing
"Disappointing" is the best word I could think for this film, especially considering the glowing reviews it receives from some other users.
One thing that really spoils the film is that it is unabashedly partial(in both senses of the word). Not only does it present a very selective description of the games (focussing as it does on the US athletics team) but it also contains several inaccuracies, most of which serve to exaggerate the difficulties the US team faced.
What is even more disturbing is that all the omissions and mistakes (?), appear to glorify US sportsmanship to the exclusion of other athletes (with a few celebrated exceptions). For example, the viewer is led to believe that the US won the majority of medals in the Games, when in fact they won only one out of four gold medals and one out of 6 total. Similarly, many athletes are portrayed as caricatures of their respective countrymen (thus we have an arrogant Brit, and a wine-swilling French). This attitude does very little service to the Olympic ideals that the film is supposed to celebrate.
In conclusion, I believe that this film would appeal to that part of the US audience that is looking for a quick boost of national self-esteem. Those looking for a detailed and historically correct description of the games are advised to look elsewhere.