A few words about... Kingdom of Heaven - The Director's Cut - Page 3

Robert Harris · 05-28-2006, 03:24 PM

Running time.

ChristopherDAC · 05-28-2006, 04:03 PM

And? HD DVD would require two discs, but unless 50 GB BD is a total failure [which I doubt], there would be no problem. 50 GB at 20 Mbps is five and a half hours!

Chuck Mayer · 05-28-2006, 04:11 PM

Almost a week later, and the film still lingers. That's usually a sign of it worming it's way into my heart

Just a monumental epic, in all respects. Made it through most of the bonus features. Excellent stuff, as usual. Still have the commentaries to go.

Aaron Reynolds · 05-28-2006, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richardWI

The production of this set obviously began before even the original film release. It wasn't like it suddenly spiked on home video (I've seen no evidence of this) and they scambled to make a 4 disc set after the fact, it was probably in the cards from the start as another way to recoup costs, ala Alexander.

Well, yes and no -- shooting all that making-of stuff is comparatively cheap, and I don't doubt that while Scott always wanted to release such a set I'm not sure that Fox would have been on-board if the DVD had tanked as badly as the theatrical run.

I picked the set up yesterday but haven't watched the feature yet. I did peek at the first half of the documentary (I wanted to know what happened to Tripoli!) and was fascinated by the lengths Scott Free went to in order to basically trick Fox into making a much longer film than they wanted to. For example, when Fox expressed concerns about a 180 page script that would indicate a three hour movie, they went through and eliminated all the "parentheticals" -- (he sighs) or (angrily) -- shaving 20 pages off of the screenplay without eliminating a single scene or having any impact at all on the actual running time.

But even better, when Fox suggested the removal of the "boy" subplot before filming, Scott Free prepared two versions of the screenplay -- "Kingdom of Heaven w/ boy" and "Kingdom of Heaven w/o boy" (as they are clearly and hilariously marked) -- and only showed the second version to Fox, then managed to shoehorn in all the parts needed for the "boy" version -- costume, cast, shooting days -- in the time and money designated for the "without boy" version.

What this also led to was the easy ability to remove the boy from the film, which is how the theatrical cut ended up. I haven't watched the segment on post-production yet, and am not going to until I see the long version of the film, hopefully tonight.

I'm notorious for preferring the short versions of many films, particularly The Abyss (which, despite the absurd ending, is a far more subtle film and gets its message across just as well and without preaching, I think), so I'm really curious to discover my own reaction to this one.

ErichH · 05-28-2006, 06:42 PM

I've yet to look at extras, but this REAL cut of the film is indeed a fine bit of work. Ridley continues to offer quality and remains high on my `Great Director' list.

I remember passing the first DVD (rental), and thinking Ridley's cut was almost a thumb of the nose to the studio, with it's obvious skips in the story or scene shortcut.

It really did feel like skipped chapters on the DVD. Not Now

E

Robert Harris · 05-28-2006, 08:47 PM

And. There seems to be a question as to precisely what running time will conveniently fit on a BD disc.

Word on the street has it that Kingdom of Heaven, at least at present, might be a no go.

ChristopherDAC · 05-28-2006, 09:41 PM

I've heard rumours about early replication problems. Has anyone heard anything besides rumours? DiscoVision couldn't press even a decent 54000 frame CAV side at first, to say nothing of a 1-hour CLV side, but those problems were worked out in less than two years after launch. Optical disc manufacturing is pretty mature now, so I don't guess that whatever difficulty there may be right now with BD will be permanent — or even protracted.

I'd definitely say "don't expect it right away", but I have my doubts about "don't expect it for a long time". Not to say that it might not be released for a long time ; I just suspect that it will be practical to release it considerably before Fox gets around to actually releasing it.

Ray H · 05-28-2006, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron Reynolds

Well, yes and no -- shooting all that making-of stuff is comparatively cheap, and I don't doubt that while Scott always wanted to release such a set I'm not sure that Fox would have been on-board if the DVD had tanked as badly as the theatrical run.

I'm thinking this was planned.

The first DVD was released on late October. I'm sure they started work on the documentaries, etc. before that considering the excellent and extensive material that was produced for this set.

I watched the Director's Cut for the first time today. As someone who thought the theatrical cut was a pretty good movie, I can't say it was a radical difference to me. Basically added complexity and character moments, but it makes the movie a much richer experience.

Mark_TS · 05-29-2006, 01:19 AM

Just finished viewing this Masterwork, and was stunned-it could have gone on for another 50 mins as far as I'm concerned-and Scott hit the nail on the head-neither Christian nor Muslim can point fingers-as theyve both are/have been guilty of killing in the "name of their God" as a guaranteed ticket to Heaven/Paradise for many thousands of years. It just goes back and forth.

And Eva Green is just delightful. Was sad to see Liam Neeson outed so early in the film.

THIS version should have been the Theatrical cut...with an even longer Directors cut-im sure he could have made it longer in telling such an epic story without "padding"

Robert Harris · 05-29-2006, 08:14 AM

As I recall the original problem with Discovision software was that they were replicated in a less than perfectly clean environment.

Constant detritus found bonded into the discs.

In the early days, it would not be unusual to purchase four or five sets of a film, and go through each disc, attempting to find both sides playable in an attempt to create a set.

RAH

Aaron Reynolds · 05-29-2006, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Harris

In the early days, it would not be unusual to purchase four or five sets of a film, and go through each disc, attempting to find both sides of playable in an attempt to create a set.

Ah, the good old days.

I've watched the first half up to the intermission, before my wife and I found ourselves getting sleepy. Part two will have to wait until this evening.

So far I've liked more than I've disliked -- the priest being Balian's brother makes his actions slightly more 'sensible', though I had no problem with him just being an unscrupulous priest in the theatrical cut. But actually, that (and maybe a moment here or there) I would have left out in favor of getting the story rolling a little more quickly. It doesn't bother me that it's there, but I don't think it adds as much as, for example, the small moments between Balian and Sibylla, which are wonderful. I especially like the ominous moment right before the intermission -- was that in the theatrical cut? I don't recall. I'd check, but the TC DVD is at my grandparents' house.