2005 / Ridley Scott > There’s been a lot of talk about how the director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven is a considerable improvement on the theatrical cut. While I agree that may be true, both cuts fail to take the film beyond a level of superfluous grandiose. Sure, there are some memorable sequences—the climactic siege at Jerusalem is a magnificent artistic and technical achievement—but that isn’t enough for a film nearing four hours where I keep asking myself, “Why do I care?”

There were too many deviations from the main plotline, many of which would have been better left out. The backstory provided in the director’s cut is of importance, however I could have had a little less of Eva Green’s character, who was ultimately time fodder. Worst of all, it feels, was that the epicness of the film was mitigated heavily by the middle third, which became an attention-testing palace drama. The mistake Sony made wasn’t chopping up the film for theatrical release, but rather cutting up the incorrect parts. Who knows, maybe now we’ll get a theatrical director’s cut that will work a little better.