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[[File:KoHposter.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Kingdom of Heaven]]
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ICLRIE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000ICLRIE&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=9c4ccbf03b28480046f0dc3cc1b739e4 The Kingdom of Heaven ] is a 2005 historical epic directed by Ridley Scott, who directed some of the most memorable movies of recent decades such as Gladiator. The historical epic was produced in Spain and Morocco. The movie starred Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, and Jeremy Irons, among others. The movie was scripted by Academy Award winner William Monahan. It was one of the most anticipated releases in 2005 but the theatrical release did not live up to expectations. The motion picture was something of a box-office flop and was not liked by the critics who complained that felt incomplete and fragmentary.
Most of the movie's problems because Ridley Scott was forced to cut his original version of the picture by the studio executives. He did this against his will and these cuts gutted the movie. Later, Scott was allowed to release a director's cut of the movie on Blu-ray and DVD. The new cut included many scenes that Scott was forced to delete and is fifty minutes longer than the theatrical release. The director's cut was a dramatic improvement and was widely praised by the critics. It is now regarded as the definitive version of the movie. This article evaluates the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven and its historical accuracy instead of the dramatically inferior theatrical version.
To the movie's credit, it does a good job accurately portraying the defense of Jerusalem by Balian and his forces. In the movie, Balian was shown as an outstanding swordsman, a brave leader, and an outstanding tactician. Bloom's character became the commander of the Christian garrison of Jerusalem before the Battle of Hattin and he devised the defense of Jerusalem that effectively beat off countless attacks by the Muslims. Balian was the commander, but the movie diminishes the importance of other leaders who were also pivotal in the defense of Jerusalem. Balian is essentially a composite character for the purposes of this battle.
<dh-ad/>Balian and Saladin reaching a negotiated settlement that ended the bloody siege. This was actually the case and the Christian did agree to surrender the city on terms in 1187. In one of the most memorable scenes , we see the main character as leading the Christians safely out of Jerusalem as he hands it over to Saladin. This actually happened and the Muslims did allow the garrison and the Christian population to leave the city unmolested. In the movie after the surrender of Jerusalem to the Muslim Sultan that he returns to Europe with Sybilla. In one scene he is shown as living happily as a blacksmith in his native village and refusing the entreaties of English knights to go on the Third Crusade. In fact, after the fall of Jerusalem Balian stayed in the region and he became one of the leaders of the Crusader states. He actually participated in the Third Crusades and was a key advisor to the legendary Richard the Lionheart. Scott shows the main character as having good relations with Muslim and indeed in real-life Balian of Ibelin had a good relationship with Saladin.
==== Sibylla of Jerusalem====
In real life, she was married to Guy de Lusignan (1150-1194), but Sibylla did not have affair with Balian. Additionally, Sybilla did not return to Europe and live in a remote village as shown in the climax of the movie. Balian was married to a Byzantine Princess and Sibylla remained married to Guy and never left him. Ultimately, she succumbed an epidemic while campaigning with Guy in 1190, dying at the age of thirty.<ref> William of Tyre, p. 178</ref> The love affair between Sibylla of Jerusalem and Balian while an important part of the movie was completely fiction.
<div class="portal" style='float:right; width:35%'>====Related Articles===={{#dpl:category=Medieval History|ordermethod=firstedit|order=descending|count=6}}</div>
==== Guy de Lusignan====
[[File: Kingdom of Heaven four.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Ridley Scott in 2015]]
Ultimately, <i>Kingdom of Heaven</i> does a pretty good job telling an exciting and surprisingly historically accurate story.
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====Further Reading====
Bernard Hamilton, "Women in the Crusader States: The Queens of Jerusalem", in Medieval Women, edited by Derek Baker. (London, Ecclesiastical History Society, 1978).
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[[Category: Historically Accurate]] [[Category: Middle Eastern History of Middle East]] [[Category:History of the Middle Ages]] [[Category:Wikis]]
