Kingdom of Heaven

Evidently it isn't a very good movie. Thats a shame. I enjoy a good sword and armor flick. This shouldn't be a surprise since I both own a sword and have a chain maille shirt started at home.

Ridley Scott went with the wishy washy route with the script. There isn't a strong hero with good motivation. There is just this guy who is sorta there doing whatever. The Crusaders are in it for the money, etc, etc. Big frickin' deal. Knowing Orlando Bloom he will do whatever with lots of deep breathing.

All this has reminded me of is that while Scott made Gladiator and Blackhawk Down, he also made GI Jane, a movie so awful that Demi Moore couldn't show her face for years.

I'll probably still rent Kingdom of Heaven eventually, but I won't be forking over 8 bucks anymore.

And about the Crusades, I don't think that they are Christianity's finest hour by any stretch of the imagination. But you really need to understand that the Muslims had been gobbling up Christian nations for centuries by the time the first Crusade rolled around. When the Byzantines in Constantinople thought they were next to be put to the sword and appealed to Europe (and Pope Urban II) for help, that started the First Crusade. Many liberal historians like to paint the Crusades as some imperialist onslaught where the warlike Christians attacked the peace-loving Muslims out of a desire to get rich quick. This is a pretty skewed version of history.