If you've read my review of the original theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven on DVD, you'll know that I've felt that that version of the film leaves quite a lot to be desired. Although visually stunning and as expertly crafted as you'd expect from director Ridley Scott, the theatrical cut has many problems story-wise, including a lack of character depth and motivation, a lack of subtle intrigue, a number of plot events that seem to unfold with unrealistic ease or speed, etc.However, I've also known that the original director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven presented to Fox was nearly an hour longer, and that the studio pressured Scott to trim the running time down to allow for more screenings per theater. As a savvy businessman and producer in addition to his role as director, Scott complied. Unfortunately, the result of all the cutting was a film that's beautiful to look at, but that's largely empty of greater intelligence and substance. Mixed critical reviews and lackluster box office followed, which led many viewers to dismiss the film entirely.
如果你读过我的关于天堂王国DVD最初剧本评论，你将知道我对电影版本留下了更多的期望，尽管在你们所期望从导演雷德利·斯科特的熟练技巧中得到的视觉效果的确足以让人眩晕，但剧本剪切有许多问题，包括缺乏一个深度特性和动机、一个敏感的阴谋、若干个似乎有点莫明其妙的放缓或加速的剧情等等。无论如何，我也知道最初的天堂王国的导演剪接超出现在福克斯的版本几乎是一个小时之久。但是迫于片方的压力斯科特为了考虑为了更多影院的放映整理了执行时间，斯科特遵照除了是一名导演之外同样也是一个明智的商人和制片人的原则，不幸的是，结果所有的剪接看上去很好，但是它在很大程度上缺乏了一个伟大的智慧和主旨，综合评论和暗淡的票房，观众很很快放弃了这部电影
Thankfully though, Scott planned all along that his preferred cut would eventually see the light on DVD. Fox Home Entertainment agreed, and this exceptional 4-disc set is the result. THIS is the version of Kingdom of Heaven that Scott fans have been waiting for. And if you haven't seen the film yet, trust me, don't even bother with the theatrical cut.
斯科特按照最初的剪接计划终于在DVD上看到了。福克斯家庭娱乐同意发行4碟合集，雷德利的FANS期待的这个版本的天堂王国，如果你至今没有看过电影版本，相信我，甚至不必为剧场版的剪接而烦扰
The basic plot of the film is covered in our previous DVD review, 电but suffice it to say that the main thrust of the narrative follows Balian (Orlando Bloom), a 12th Century French blacksmith whose wife has just committed suicide after losing their child - an action that is considered a grave sin, and dooms her soul to Hell. Balian is given a chance to find redemption for his wife, however, when the father he never knew, Godfrey of Ibelin (played by Liam Neeson), passes through the village with his band of Crusaders and offers to take Balian to the Holy Land. As his epic journey unfolds, Balian eventually finds himself a loyal and trusted knight of the King of Jerusalem, serving in the midst of a brewing conflict between the Christian warriors who control the city and the Muslim armies of Saladian bent on retaking it, all of whom believe that God - and right - is on their side.
电影的基本剧情在我们早期的DVD中已经介绍过了，但很满足地说，剧情跟随着Balian(Orlando Bloom) ，一个十二世纪法国铁匠——他的妻子在失去了他们的孩子后自杀——这是一个严重罪行，她的灵魂将下地狱，Balian试图寻找一个机会拯救他的妻子。无论如何，他从不知道的父亲Godefroy d’Ibelin (Liam Neeson)和他的十字军经过村庄，建议并且照料Balian前往圣地。伴着他的史诗般的旅行展开，Balian终于发现自己是耶路撒冷王的忠诚且信赖的骑士，驻守在被基督战士控制的、但Saladian的穆斯林大军试图夺回的城市酿造冲突的中间地带，他们都有自己信仰的上帝，并都认为自己是对的。
So what makes this 191-minute cut of the film better? Plenty, let me assure you. The restored footage fleshes out a number of characters and story points considerably. Finally, you understand more of what motivates Balian - you see more of his life and circumstances in France. You see his wife briefly in Balian's memory, and understand his grief better. You learn that he's fought in war previously, and was an experienced engineer, so his cleverness in defending Jerusalem later in the film makes more sense. You learn more of Godfrey's own connections to Balian's home and his village, and why he would not only return to find Balian, but also why the local lord's men would attack them later (it's another family connection). The animosity between Balian and his brother, a local priest, is shown in greater clarity. Once Balian arrives in the Holy Land, you learn that Sibylla (Eva Green)'s marriage to Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) is really one of convenience only, which puts Sibylla and Balian's romantic relationship into better context. You learn that Sibylla has a son (who was completely cut out of the theatrical version), and that her love of her son motivates almost every action she takes (which in turn makes sense out of her bizarre behavior late in the film). You see more of Balian's interactions with King Baldwin (Edward Norton, in an uncredited performance by his own choice), and their developing respect for one another. And, at last, you not only understand why Guy hates Balian (it isn't just about Sibylla), but their animosity actually pays off in a final confrontation that, again, is completely missing from the theatrical cut. I can't stress enough how different this version of the film is, and how much better and more rewarding an experience it becomes, with the restoration of the trimmed minutes.
This improved cut of the film is presented here on DVD in full anamorphic widescreen as you'd expect. It's been split over two discs so as to maximize the video bitrate, and now includes both a musical overture and an intermission break (at the end of Disc One). The overall image quality is excellent, and is notably improved over the theatrical version in the areas of color saturation and compression artifacting. The image is clear and clean, even in the most chaotic scenes, with excellent contrast and shadow detail. Scott's painterly cinematography is well presented here. Audio-wise, these discs offer both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound, as was the case on the theatrical DVD release. The Dolby Digital audio is good, with a wide front soundstage, tremendous low frequency reinforcement and lively use of the rear channels. The DTS improves upon this with a smoother, more unified soundfield and slightly more natural imaging. The DTS is my preference, but whichever track you choose, you'll enjoy an excellent surround experience.
As is the case on most of Ridley Scott's films on DVD, the production team at the Lauzirika Motion Picture Company has turned in an outstanding batch of special features for this set. The film itself features a brief video introduction by Scott, who admits that this is the version of Kingdom of Heaven he prefers. Discs One and Two offer a very good audio commentary track with Scott, joined by screenwriter William Monahan and star Orlando Bloom. It's packed with information and interesting little insights about the film's plot, development and historical background. There's a second, nuts-and-bolts commentary by executive producer Lisa Ellzey, effects supervisor Wesley Sewell and 1st AD Adam Somner, and a third track as well featuring editor Dody Dorn. The movie discs also include an optional text track, similar to the one that was on the Gladiator: Extended Edition, called The Engineer's Guide. It offers additional historical information, film production anecdotes and trivia, and even DVD production details.
Discs Three and Four together present a hefty, 6-part documentary on the film's production, entitled The Path to Redemption. The first three parts of this are on Disc Three, beginning with Part I: Good Intentions, which chronicles the development of the film. Included separately here are the early draft of Monahan's screenplay for the film, story notes, a gallery of location scout photos and a video overview of the original Tripoli film project out of which Kingdom of Heaven emerged. Part II: Faith and Courage looks more closely at the pre-production process. Also available in this section are cast rehearsal video, the Colors of the Crusade featurette on the film's costume design, a gallery of Ridleygrams (storyboards drawn by the director), the Production Design Primer featurette, a gallery of production design images and a costume design gallery. The final section of Disc Three focuses on the first part of the film's location filming in Spain. The documentary continues here with Part III: The Pilgrimage Begins. This section also includes the Creative Accuracy: The Scholars Speak featurette (on the historical accuracy of the film), additional galleries of storyboards from the film and a gallery of unit production photography images.
Disc Four offers the second half of The Path to Redemption, starting with Part IV: Into the Holy Land (which, as you might expect, chronicles the film's production as it continued in Morocco). There's a separate featurette here that focuses on the film's epic battle scenes, entitled Unholy War: Mounting the Siege. Also included here are more galleries of storyboards and additional unit production photography images. Moving on, Part V: The Burning Bush delves into the film's post-production process and addresses, among other things, the cuts that were made to the film. In this section, you'll also find 15 deleted and extended scenes (with optional commentary by Scott and Dorn) presented in anamorphic widescreen. Also available here is an interactive Sound Design Suite, which lets you view a scene from the film with a variety of different audio options (from different parts of the audio process), or view featurettes on the work involved at those same stages in the process. It's a great use of DVD's interactive capabilities that actually enhances your knowledge of the film - think of it as an extension of the Interactive Production Grid from the theatrical Kingdom of Heaven DVD. Rounding out this section is a set of four featurettes, covering different aspects of the visual effects process. These include The Burning Man: Fire Effects and Face Replacement, Building Jerusalem: Digital Matte Painting and 3D Modeling, Casualties of War: Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Warriors and Medieval Engines: The Physics and Firepower of Trebuchets, all of which are interesting viewing (personally, I particularly enjoyed the piece on the trebuchets constructed for the production). The final section of Disc Four examines the film's release and contains the remainder of the set's extras. The documentary concludes here with Part VI: Sins and Absolution. All of the film's trailers and TV spots are here too, along with video of the film's press junket and the premieres in London, New York and Tokyo, a gallery of "special shoot" photos, an extensive gallery of poster explorations for the film (including many that feature the title Crusade), and additional credits for the director's cut. Finally, there is the Paradise Found: Creating the Director's Cut featurette, in which Dorn and others address the work that went into creating the version of the film that's presented on this 4-disc set.
Need a nap yet? Trust me, you will after watching all of these extras - not because they'll put you to sleep, but simply for the sheer volume of material and the time it will take you to go through it all (you might want to pack a lunch before you start your viewing as well). These features are exceptionally well-constructed and thoughtful, offering real insights into the making of Kingdom of Heaven. Every bit of this material is worthy of your time and attention. I should note that all of the documentary features here are in anamorphic widescreen, from the featurettes to the galleries (only the TV spots are full frame, as you'd expect). I believe that this set is also meant to have a liner notes booklet, but one wasn't included in my review copy. It's my understanding that there's at least one Easter egg here too - when we find it, we'll update this review with the relevant details.
[此贴子已经被作者于2006-5-15 0:21:30编辑过]
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