La Visa Loca

There were people queued at the entrance of Cinema 6 in Gateway Mall and they were not lined up for "Revenge of the Sith". They were there to watch the Mark Meily's latest movie "La Visa Loca".

Originally I had planned to watch it at 5.00 pm but I got too engrossed with writing and surfing the Internet that I forgot the time. I left the office at at around 4:20 and reached MRT-Ayala 4:40. Got on the train along with a sea of people leaving Makati. Fortunately I found myself situated in the area of the train where the two cars meet. This is usually the most comfortable spot when travelling the MRT. However, in front of me was a man who seemed to have been infected with a lesser and more benigh strain of the ebola virus. Needless to say he was coughing and spreading the germs through-out the car.

Poor guy was sick but I was also getting sick because of his coughing. Images from the movie "Outbreak" filled my thoughts. To be honest and fair the guy was trying to cover his mouth but he was really ill and could not help it. A few moments later the train had reached the Araneta station.

The usual scene greeted me when I left the station and proceeded to Gateway mall. I came across stalls selling children's books and other stalls selling street foods like shawarma, goto and cold drinks. Then just as I passed them by and just in front of the entrance to Farmers Plaza, an older mall connected to gateway (the malls in Cubao seem to be turning to hives), the blind troubadors welcomed me with their songs. All this before submitting for inspection my bag to the local security guard.In a few minutes after passing by several more shops and crossing over the road via an elevated walkway I was at my destination, Gateway...unto Cinema 6.

I came in late and ended up watching the 7:00 pm screening. Cinema 6 is not as grand as Cinema 5 but it was comfortable. The seats were cushy and the air-conditioner lowered the temperature to a comfortable level. Just before the preview and the screening they played music crooned by the Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and company, not quite sure though if it was Michael Buble. The music blended in nicely with the cool ambiance of the cinema. A far cry from the time I was waiting for the movie to begin and was treated to music from Stars on 45.

Mark Meily's follow-up to "Crying Ladies" is a nice movie but in my opinion not as better as the first one.

The movie begins with people lined up and being interviewed by a immigration officer of the US Embassy. Characters that we see are comic caricatures of Filipinos who want to leave the Philippines. One of the applicants we see Jess, Robin Padilla. Unfortunately, his application for a visa was denied.

The same scene in the preview of the movie seemed funnier. Maybe its just the case of seeing the same joke twice. It suffers from the law of diminishing return.

The movie tells the misadventures of Jess in his quest to get a visa in order to work in the United States. Jess (I am not quite sure what is the correct term but his profession lies somewhere between a nurse and a caregiver.)works as a driver for a hotel car service to make ends meet.

Complicating and making Jess' struggle interesting are the characters and situation that surrounds him. A grouchy, brutally frank and partially deaf diabetic father who depends on him. A girl friend who is already in the US and forever supporting-badgering him to follow her there. The reappearance of his former girl,who works as a "mermaid" in a local carnival, and what he ulimately suspects as his love-child.

Through out the movie Jess tries nearly all schemes in order to get a visa. And in the end he finds himself in a situation that I guess nearly all of us leaving and working in another country has to face.

All actors in the film were credible and gave depth to their parts. Padilla ,who became famous for his anti-hero roles in action movies, validly portrays the angst and tragic but relentless determination of Jess to get a visa. Johhny Delgado also fitted the role of Jess' father to t. Its rare to see a film, a Filipino film with a very competent cast.

Like Crying Ladies the film's production values were superb. If you are going to watch a Mark Meily film the most unlikely thing to see is bad production value.

The movie itself was punctuated with several comic scenes highlighting the interaction between the characters. However, they do not seem to be as funny as the scenes or sketches in Crying Ladies. Meily also used a Greek chorus, Noel Trinidad, Tessie Tomas, Robert Cena, Isay Alvarez and, to highlight Jess's plight. The Greek Chorus here is not quite effective and funny as Jon Red's use of a guitar singer in his film short "Still Lives".

In conclusion, the film although polished technically and acting wise excellent seem to be a few shades paler than Crying Ladies. Padilla and cast gives an excellent performance and it would be a joy to see them in the future involved in such projects.

In the cinema around three people left during the middle of the screening. They were sporting baseball caps and the latest in basketball shirt and short fashion. You cannot please everyone.

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My Movie meme

What is a meme? A quick check on Wikipedia brought about several definitions the most simplest description of a meme is that it is any piece of information passed from mind to mind. I think I like that definition the best.

So here I am infected and inspired by the posts of Dean and Oscar to write down my film meme. This should be fun.

Total number of films I own on DVD/video: 30 original DVDs and around 50 VCDs. Plus of course an assorted number of bootleg DVDs. I only buy original DVDs when these are the movies I would like to watch again and again. Also, if ever I end up leaving the country with originals I should not have any problems with the customs and immigration officials. The original VCDs I was able to buy when they lowered the price to around 70 pesos. Most of them have high repeatability scores for me.

The last film I bought: Le Grande Illusion,A B&W French film telling the tale of two French officers as they transfer from pow camp to pow camp, along they encountering people from all walks of life and of course trying to escape from their German captors. Critically acclaimed the Goebbels and the Nazis condemed the film and confiscated the original.


The last film I watched: Felllowship of the Ring Wacthed this last night with my nephew. Despite changes to the story this has to be (for me) the best of the three Tolkien movies.


Films that I watch a lot or mean a lot to me: Mix batch of Filipino movies and films I like watching over and over again because of the humor and the storytelling.

Mike De Leon's Bayaning Third World and Abaya's Rizal - A movie about Rizal one sarcastic and one bordering on hero worship.

Romero's Ganito Kami Noon Paano Kayo Ngayon - I first watched this film at the now long gone Magallanes Theatre. Records the misadventures of Kulas as he rises in Philippines Society during a time of change, the Katipunan, the departing Spaniards and the arrival of the Americans. Tackles the term what is a Filipino?

Imelda - An honest and often times funny documentary about Imelda. Funny but in a way tragic. Especially love it when Imelda expounds on her guiding philosophy.

Stalag 17 - B&W. A William Holden about life in a German WWII POW camp for Sargeants. There is a spy amongst them. Who is it? Dark with very funny moments.

Bridge on the River Kwai - William Holden & Alec Guiness movie about the building of the River Kwai and how one British Colonel justifies the collaboration with the Japanese in completing the bridge as therapy for his troops. Another anti-war movie with several sub-plots. Engaging and comes with Col Bogey's March, probably one of the best marching tunes in a movie. What makes it more interesting is that the march song is actually a naughty tune aimed at Hitler and company and poked fun at their private bits.

Dr Strangelove: Or how I learned to love the bomb: Black comedy directed by Stanley Kubrik and starring Peter Sellers in different roles. Shares with Stalag 17 the marching Song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again". The movie made Slim Pickens famous. He plays Col Kong, the only role in the movie Sellers did not play due to health reasons.

Kind Hearts and Coronets - Alec Guiness, black comedy about Edwardian Society. Guiness played six or seven different characters. Peter Sellers emulated this in the movie the Lion Roared.

Lady Killers - Alec Guiness, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom and company play criminals stiffled by an unassuming old lady and her parrot. Better than remake definetly.

Princess Bride - Inconceivable! This movies with lines like "My Name is Inigo Montoya you killed my father prepare to die" you cannot but enjoy this movie. A witty fairy tale.

Star Wars Trilogy ( Star Wars, Empire Strikes back and Return of the Jedi): Seems better and better especially after watching episodes one, two and three.

Grand Illusion - For reasons already mentioned

Amelie - Adventures of zany French girl in search of love.

The Odd Couple - A slob and anal retentive person living together. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon.

Marty - Ernest Borgnine, single Italian male looking for a wife.

Conan - Krom! The riddle of Steel, It has James Earl Jones as Tulza Doom and of course Arnold the Governor of California

Dr No, Goldfinger and on Her Majesty's Secret Service - Bond, James Bond, Secret Service Agent shaken but not stirred.

Unforgiven - William Money

Patricia Javier's Bare Naked - Self-explanatory.

I think I have to stop now.

To which 5 people am I passing the baton and why? Friends and foes a like. Its good therapy.

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Postscript: Revenge of the Sith: I still want my Darth Vader coffee mug!

Revenge of the Sith, the last of the prequel movies of Star Wars, finally started its commercial run of the local theatres yesterday. Originally I had plan to spend the day getting my check, as payment for being a member of the panel reviewing a Masteral thesis, and writing. Unfortunately, when I got to the cashier's office of the University I was informed that the check was not yet ready. So no money. I then decided to trek to our local mall and find if I can watch Revenge of the Sith. Initially, I was planning to watch in the premiere theatre, the ones with Lazy-boy seats and with bottomless sodas and popcorn, but as fate and fortune would have it all seats were taken. So I opted for the Cinema Five, the biggest cinema in the complex. The number of people lined up to watch the movies was legion. I was finally able to enter the cinema around 12.30, while waiting had lunch and dropped by the local bookstore, and the movie finished at around 3.30 or so. As I came out there were still a sea people engulfing the ticker box.

My thoughts on Revenge of Sith nice special effects and to a degree watchable because you want to see the events that led to the transformation of Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader. However, Empire Strikes Back it is not. Flash and pomp will only carry a story so far. The rest of the way it is the storytelling that matters.

Reader beware/Caveat lector: some comments will contain spoilers and will probably affect your viewing pleasure. So consider yourself forewarned, there be spoilers in the next set of texts. Avoid if you must if not then please proceed. Furthermore, for die-hard Star Wars fans please remember these are mere opinions and not pronouncements. I do not claim them to be the truth, even if it is my point of view, just only opinions and feelings.

First, What I liked about the movie:

Nice special effects

Like any film by Lucas it is full of special effects and it makes the movie credible visually. It would seem that you are in space seeing the fight between the Republic and the Separatist forces. And the action of the droids seemed all to real. In other words the merging of the live action and the computer-generated imagery (CGI) was in a word flawless/perfect.

The Acting was credible, with a set of top hollywood actors how could you go wrong? What a difference three or more box-office records make. The movie series started with a host of just starting actors (Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher) at the time, two critically acclaimed English actors (Alec Guiness and Peter Cushing) and actors who played composite parts of a single character (In the case of Darth Vader you have James Earl Jones doing the voice, David Prowse acting).

For the fans of the movie series, especially the first three, all loose ends were tied up. All things are explained. We see the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the rise of Darth Vader. The death of Padme and the birth of the Skywalker twins, Leia and Luke. We witness the rise of the Empire and from the fall of the republic. And catch glimpses of the Death Star and Grand Moff Tarkin (played by Wayne Pygram for Science fiction fans he is bet remembered now for playing Scorpius in Farscape), Informed of how the Jedi Master Yoda and Jedi Knight ObiWan Kenobi were able to able to roam and communicate with Luke even after their death. Possibly also explains why their bodies disappeared immediately upon death.


Disappointments with the movie:

The storytelling aspect of the movie was disappointing. It would seem that Lucas relied too much on special effects to get the audience attention but failed to engaged the audience, me. The sory was about the descent of Anakin and the fall of the Republic, however, Lucas relied too much on visual gimmickry to expand the story to three hours without a convincing me that Anakin the hero's fall would be that easy. His corruption merely to attain the power to stop the self-prophesied demise of his wife is unconvincing and seemed to be hastily put in place. The other factors like his growing disenchantment with the Jedis, his friendship with Palpatine and his secret marriage with Padme were not used extensively to justify his alliances to the dark side. Failure to exploit his secret marriage to Padme, which would have been ripe for plot and intrigue since it was forbidden for Jedis to marry, was for me a critical mistake in the storytelling. Imagine if the marriage was discovered and he was subsequently expelled from the Jedi order. Such situations are of course and in the realm of hindsight and fan fiction, alternative stories to the Revenge of the Sith.

Lucas also wasted a lot characters in the movie. Most of them like Mace Windu and Count Dooku he simply disposed of quickly. Christopher Lee's exit seems so fast he looked like Dracula running away from Grand Moff Tarkin ... Peter Cushing. Mace Windu gave the same look he gave before he was eaten by cranially-pumped up shark in Deep Blue Sea. And the fight between Darth Sideous and Yoda was not done as good as the fight scene between Dooku and Yoda in Episode II. Furthermore , the fight achieved nothing in the story, it did not move the story nor did it contribute to it, we just know that the two of them fought it out and ended in a draw. In an earlier scene Darth Sideous was even beaten by Mace Windu, only the betryal of Anakin saved his Sith hide. At least Mace Windu died but Lucas made Yoda flee! There should have been a compelling reason for Yoda to flee since in the scenes before their confrontation Yoda made it quite plain before his intent to destroy the Sith.

The script itself was trite. Riddled with cliches from all previous movies. It sort of becomes annoying when you hear "I have a bad feeling about this" in nearly all the episodes and by different characters.

In the end the movie will probably end up being one of the worst Star Wars movie, it being equivalent to the Star Trek movie "The Search for God". A three hour movie full of flash and sound of thunder but no lightning. Sure you will be compelled to watch because you want to see how the prequel ends.But then again that reason is only good when you watch it the first time. It really was fortuitous that I did not spend my money on that premiere seat.

I still am and will be a Star Wars fan especially for the first three movies, Episode Four to Five. Maybe it would have been better if Episodes One, Two and Three were made into one prequel.

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Revenge of the Sith: I want my Darth Vader coffee mug!

Metro Manila - Star Wars fans are preparing for the premiere of the last installment of George Lucas' space fairy tale. Expectations are high that this version, which tells the tale of the downfall of Anakin Skywalker and the ascendancy of the Sith and Darth Vader, will be as good as the Empire Strikes Back, Episode V.

Star Wars fans in the Philippines have been busy as bees preparing for the event. Some Star Wars fan are planning a light-saber duel in front of select and a lot of science fiction and fantasy fans will be having a convention of sorts on the 23rd and 24th of May at the Glorietta Mall in Makati City. Premieres are as many as the midochlorian count in Anakin's body. One premiere will start around 10 pm tonight. In office cubicles in the Philippines talk and plans to watch the movie are as numerous Jango Fett's clones. The merchandising of Star Wars products, like Darth Vader ball pens and non-delicious ice cream containing Star Wars keepsakes, has began to outpace the level of Sith deceit.

Well, this should be fun to watch. I just went to the official Star Wars Shop.com and you should see the Darth Vader coffee mug.

Will probably watch it this weekend.

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DVD: La Grande Illusion

I just received I will be receiving a original DVD version of this movie. The first time I saw this movie was several years ago during one of the movie festivals at the old cinema house at Shangrila. Now of course they have that cineplex and the premiere theatre. This is probably one of the best movies ever.
The movie is set during the WWI and tells the story of how war affected the life and fate of French and German officers. It is said to be one of the greatest anti-war movies of all time. One of the strength of the movie, for me at least, is that it shows rather than tells or preach.

According to an article in Wikipedia, the film was released in 1937 and received much critical acclaim. And in 1938 the film was the first foreign language film nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the National Board of Review awarded it the Best Foreign Film award in 1938. And it won an award for "Best Artistic Ensemble" at the Venice Film Festival. Afterwards, the Nazis declared the film "Cinematic Public Enemy Number One" (although in some accounts it was said that the label was actually given to its director Jean Renoir) and Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels issued orders that the prints be confiscated and destroyed.

It was long believed that the original negative was destroyed in the Alled air bombings in 1942. Fortunately, the film was smuggled by film archivist and Frank Hansel to Berlin. After the Russians attacked in 1945 the film found its way to an archive in Moscow. Here the negatives stayed until the Russian archive swapped it with some material with an archive in Tolouse. However, it would take another 30 years before anyone realised that the original negative was part of the collection of the archive in Tolouse.

I am not quite sure but I think the DVD version is based on the original negative from collection in Tolouse. I cannot wait to watch when I get back home today. For me movies like these are worth collecting.
Reference:

IMDB. Grand Illusion, La (1937)

Wikipedia. Grand Illusion

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Futurama

Ramblings about the animation show Futurama. The writer and his nephews are experiencing mania for this show only equal to the fanaticism of Tulip lovers or Star Wars and Trekkies. A fan is actually a shorterned version of the word fanatic and means an enthusiastic admirer.This has to be one of my favourite comedy shows of late. The story is a spoof on nearly all science fiction stories and films. It starts off with one of its characters a pizza delivery boy Philip Fry who wakes up in the future, courtesy of an accident in a cryo-facility during New Year's Eve celebration. Threads of Buck Rogers...hmm.

Anyway Fry wakes several centuries later and finds himself in a new job going to different planets and facing aliens of all kind as a intergalactic delivery boy. By luck he now works for his great-grand nephew an uber-geriatric mad scientist named Prof Farnsworth. Working with him is the space ship captain Leela a female cyclop and a robot capable of bending metal whose name is Bender. Together with the other characters - an alien crustacean Dr Zooidberg, Hermes the Jaimacan bureaucrat, and Amy wong a rich martian-chinese heiress, they make Galactic express.

The series was conceptualized by Matt Groening, the creator of Simpsons. Like the Simpsons the series is populated with a host of zany characters. There is Shatner-Kirk parody Zap Brannigan and his long suffering 1st of officer Kif Kroker. And with characters like Morbo, Calculon, Lrrr, Donbot, Wernstrom, President Richard Nixon's Head and Nibbler you cannot just me.

Groening and company pulled out all the stops in this series. Everything was made fun of from Star Wars and Star Trek to Iron Chef and alien abduction. Ok, maybe Iron Chef did not neet to be parodied.

Most of the episodes were really funny. The nephews loved it because of the antics provided by Bender. This slapstick and violent antics seems to make my nephews extremely happy. This also explains the attraction to Loony Tunes cartoons and the three stooges. On a personal level its fun to watch because the series is full of gags and parody a science fiction fan lucky enough to watch a lot of old science fiction shows - meaning that person is old or has diligently over the years watched the re-runs of Space 1999, Star Trek, Lost in Space and a lot of B-movies.

Then of course there is Zap Brannigan. This is quite a character. You have to see it to believe it.

Funny as it is Futurama is not condescending. It treats the subject with the respect it deserves...treat with humor and riducule its seriousness. Even Shatner and company probably understoosd this and perhaps that is why they consented to be in the episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before". This has got to be one of my favourite episodes along with "Amazon Women in the Mood".

Unfortunately, the series suffered from bad scheduling by Fox. And it ended quite early.

The upside though is that it is now available on DVD. So I can get to watch whenever I or my nephews want to watch it.

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DVD Review: Sergio Leone’s Il Buono, Il brutto, il cattivo

You press play and then you hear that familiar tune. Its the theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

It is always nice to see movies one has not seen for a long time. I first saw this movie when it was aired on television. It was part of Western movies shown late at night.

The next time I saw this movie was when it was for rent at the neighborhood video rental store. For me it must be one the best Sergio Leone’s movie. It starred Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef and the movie was called, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”.

The story is set near the end of the US Civil War and we find three unlikely and unscrupulous characters surviving in the West. None of them was heroes in the manner of the Lone Ranger. Actually, the three were characters that the Lone Rangers would beat every time. In short, they were the lawless elements of the Western world. The ones who are beaten in the movie up by John Wayne and his compadres. These men were the bad guys.

The movie tells the tale three rogues and their adventure to get the confederacy gold. In order to get the gold they travel across and enter a prisoner of war zone. Did the director try to use the movie to make a statement? I do not know. However, with creative lens work the images blended in nicely and the inclusion of the theme song further enhanced the movie.

What is interesting is like all spaghetti movies this was shot not in the USA but in Spain. A bit too long in certain portions but the interaction between the characters made up for it. Last year, I saw the movie “800 balas”. It was about the group of retired actors and stunt men living in an old western town. “800 Balas” really is another interesting movie.

Enrico Morricone’s theme song for the movie is unforgettable. It is one of the most recognizable tunes anywhere in the world. Try humming it and you will find it easily recognizable.

Clint Eastwood after finishing this movie would go on star in several cowboy films before doing his Harry Callahan movies. In addition, afterward would star and direct the critically acclaimed movie Unforgiven.

Elli Wallach, also played similar comical but deadly characters in the movie the Magnificent 7 and Lord Jim. I believe Wallach ,who was born in 1915, is still active in movies. The last time I saw him work was when he played the sinister and affable Don Altobello in the last Godfather movie.

Lee Van Cliff would continue to work with Eastwood in the Spaghetti Western films. During the 1980s, he reinvented himself as TV hero as a ninja in the “Master”.

The DVD version aside from having the main feature also included the film preview, and filmography of the cast.

Although not for all, the film is a good watch.

I just found myself humming that tune again.

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Ill-mannered movie goers

Don't you just hate it when you are in a movie house watching a movie and somebody's cellphone rings?

After spending so many years watching movies all of us at one point or another have encountered such rude behaviour.

Last Thursday, I was with a friend watching the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" and the couple next to us was loudly talking and answering their phone. which they did not put on mute. They would have probably continued till Kingdom come. Luckily, the occassional angry glance at them eventually made them stop.

On other such occassions extreme measures were taken.

Several years ago before the ascent of video discs a friend of mine was watching those retrospective screening of the Exorcist. In front of a him was a gang of high school girls who were quite noisy. And despite the occassional shhh and glare they continued to cackle and talk. My friend could not contain himself anymore and in his best imitation of a possessed Linda Blair voice told them to be quite. After a few expletives silence descended upon the theatre.

Sometimes though the outcome of such encounters differ. In Singapore just before the dawn of the new millenium. A solicitor, which is what you would call a lawyer in the UK and the commonwealth, was beaten up by four soldiers after he told to be quite. Apparently the soldiers , all able-bodied Singaporeans are required to serve in the military for some time, were noisy in the cinema house. During that year a Grandmother suffered a heart attack after a micro-disturbance occured after an altercation happened along the queue for Hello Kitty dolls at a McDonald's outlet. Both events were headlined in the press, Elder Statesman Lee Kwan Yew condemned the event and called it a national shame.

There is of course a time to laugh and be noisy in the cinema. Comedies are supposed to make you laugh and then there are of course unintentional comedy scenes and movies. And it is also possible that because of cultural differences or special circumstances when you cannot help it. Case in point a friend of mine was in Japan and he went to watch the latest English-language comedy movie at the time. The movie was subtitled in Japanese, because of this he found himself laughing at the jokes before the audience did resulting in two sets of laughter his and the rest of the patrons.

Aside from being noisy, its also rude to discuss the movie while the movie is being shown. Especially if ehat you are saying is a spoiler. The one who does that deserves pile driver on the movie floor.

Perhaps the worst offense I knew of happened in theatre house in Leyte a two scores ago. A group of students who were in Leyte for fieldwork decided to kill time one sunday afternoon by watching a movie. The cinema house was an old one, the seats were made of wood and airconditiong there was none. Ventilation was provided by a set of old ceiling fans hanging like bats on the ceiling. The students were settling in to watch the movie, when a man comes in and sits on the row immediately in front of them. He takes off his perspiration drenched shirt. Some of the students were at a loss of words. Unfortunately for them and before they could speak the shirtless man in an effort to cool or dry his shirt began to swing his shirt to and fro bombarding those at the back of him with the odor of sweat and perspiration.

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Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven

Yesterday, my friend convinced me to watch Ridley Scott's movie "Kingdom of Heaven".

The movie is about the fictionalised story of Balian of Ibelin. Ibelin is the name of a castle in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was located in an area near Jaffa and Escalon and now the area is called Yavne, a city in Israel. Ibelin is also the name of an import family of noblemen in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The true Balian of Ibelin was one of the more important knights in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Along with the other nobles of the crusader states Balian, the Ibelin family, were heavily involved in the struggle for power within the court of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was present at the Battle of Montsigard, one of the only battles Saladin lost to the crusaders, helped with the defense and negotiated the surrender of Jerusalem against the siege of Saladin and aided the English King Richard and Saladdin in the ending the Third Crusade.

The movie presents a more "saintly" version of Balian rather than a pragmatic political player in Crusader politics. Here Balian, recently widowed blacksmith, discovers that he is the natural son of the Godfrey of Ibelin. Godfrey invites Balian to be his heir and join him in the Holy Land. At the onset Balian refuses no doubt still remorseful over the death of his wife, who commited suicide after their child died at birth. Fortunately, the priest convinces him that only by going on a pilgrimage/crusade (it becomes almost synomous at this point) can he redeem his wife from hell since she died in a state of sin this of course and seeing his' wifes crucifix on the priest's neck convinces him and he promptly dispatches the priest to the almighty and burns his shop to the ground. He promptly leaves town and joins his father on the road to the Kingdom Jerusalem. Along the way they encounter the lawmen who are after Balian for killing the priest. Godfrey, Balian and the knights with them battle it out with the lawmen. They kill all of the lawmen but some of the knights die and Godfrey is fatally wounded. Thus in the spirit of Obi Wan Kenobi, Godfrey dies, knights Balian and sends him on a doomed ship to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The ship sinks during a storm but our Hero survives and enters the Kingdom of Jerusalem and into history, the movie version.

Orlando Bloom is Balian the Blacksmith-Count who played an important role in the defense of the people of Jerusalem. Bloom essays the role of Balian the blacksmith/crusader, but was he not a blacksmith in The Pirates of the Carribbean. And Liam Neeson plays his father Godfrey of Ibelin. Is it me or does not Liam mostly plays the role of the mentor who dies before his time, Qui-Gon Jin in Star Wars Episode 1 and Priest Valon in Gangs of New York. Then of course there is Kinsey. Jeremy Iron, David Thewlis, Edward Norton and a lot of competent actors were there to give competence to this film play.

Unfortunately all their efforts were unmade by a half-baked story. Not poorly made but half-baked.

First, Ridely Scott or writer did not include or removed scenes that were pivotal to the story. The battle of Hattin, which ended in the unequivocal defeat of the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, was the crucial stroke that enabled Saladdin to recapture Jerusalem and caused Pope Urban III to die of shock, some say.If one were to read the account of the battle and its importance you would doubt why this was just a footnote in the movie.

Second, Part of the downfall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was the infighting of the different factions in that society. The in-fighting and intrigue in the court were byzantine.

The movie failed to capitalise on this so despite the competency of its actors and the skills of its technical people it failed to generate interest.

The movie-version of Balian was not as charismatic as Maximus and its highly fictionalised tale not convincing at all.

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