In the history of cinema, there might not be a director that has had more director’s cuts that are flat out superior to the theatrical cuts than Ridley Scott. When we talk about the majesty of Blade Runner, we’re never talking about the theatrical cut, but any of the 3 cuts after that that he supervised. The extended cut of The Counselor is a better cut than the theatrical, allowing Cormac McCarthy’s dialogue to flow the way it’s intended. As much as I really liked the theatrical cut of Napoleon, I am salivating for the 4-hour director’s cut. But the biggest jump between a piece-of-shit and a near masterpiece in cuts has to be Kingdom of Heaven. 

It’s hard to briefly surmise the premise of this film, so just stick with me. In 1184 France, Sir Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson) returns to find his bastard son Balian (Orlando Bloom), the local blacksmith whose wife has recently committed suicide after the death of their baby. He invites Balian to come with him to Jerusalem, and Balian does after being forced to flee after killing the local priest when he finds he has his wife’s necklace that he took off her corpse. Godfrey dies on the way to Jerusalem from a battle wound, and names Balian his heir. After being shipwrecked, Balian arrives in Jerusalem to serve King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), who is dying from leprosy and under whose rule a religious peace in the city has existed for the last 5 years. Muslims, Jews and Christians are all free to worship together in his Jerusalem. Balian falls for Baldwin’s sister Sibylla (Eva Green), whose husband Guy de Lusignan (Martin Csokas) seeks a war against the Muslims led by the powerful warrior Saladin, and bides his time waiting for Baldwin to die. That’s honestly as succinct a premise as I can give you. 

Released in 2005, 20th Century Fox balked at the 3 hour plus runtime Scott presented them with and forced it to be cut down to 2 and half hours. A tale as old as time, a studio scared of a runtime and opts for an inferior cut to be released theatrically. And this time, it was a massively inferior cut. I remember seeing the theatrical cut some 10-12 years ago and like most, didn’t find much to love. Aside from some nice action set pieces, the whole thing felt thematically hollow with characters who seemed to lack any real reason for what they did. It was a bad film you were quick to forget about. The film does not hide from commentary on the War in Iraq, and it was certainly a bold choice to release this film during the height of Christian religious fascism on display in the USA at that time. Audiences simply weren’t willing to hear such an honest and pure plea for religious peace. After the lukewarm reviews and box office, 20th Century Fox allowed Ridley Scott to release his director’s cut later that year in a limited release, dubbed the roadshow version. It included 45 extra minutes of footage, and is a dramatically better film. This is the film it was always meant to be. To be clear, the roadshow version of the director’s cut is the cut you want. There’s just one addition in the roadshow cut, but it’s vital for the experience. The roadshow version of the director’s cut introduces an overture at the start and an intermission and entr’acte an hour and 40 minutes into the film. It just adds to the experience, harkening back to the sword and sandal epics of old that had overtures and intermissions, just helping drive home the epic scale and nature of this tale. Clocking in at 194 minutes, this is the version you want.

A year or two ago, I stumbled across the roadshow version of the director’s cut on streaming and said “Sure, why not?” as I’ve mentioned that Scott’s director’s cuts are always better than the theatrical. And what I found was a dramatically better film on all counts. This film was thematically rich work, with deep examinations of religious conflicts and what it means to be holy. It was a truly epic film, featuring one of the greatest sequences put on screen during the climax when the city of Jerusalem is under siege. It’s literally night and day difference between how much better this cut is than the theatrical. And as I get into what was missing from the theatrical cut, I’m sure you’ll see that it was an act of filmmaking malpractice for the studio to release the neutered version of Kingdom of Heaven.

In the theatrical cut, Michael Sheen’s unnamed Priest character in the opening minutes of the film only has 3 scenes. The first shows him at the burial of Balian’s wife where he orders the beheading of her, since she was a suicide. We’re led to believe that this was the custom at the time. Two scenes of him later, Balian kills him after discovering the priest took his wife’s necklace off her corpse. It’s a very sudden shift just 10 minutes in. As the audience, we get that he’s a prick but we’re not left feeling like Balian was really justified in killing him. It just happens so suddenly, we’re not sure how we’re supposed to feel about it. However, in the director’s cut, he has a few more scenes that not only flesh out his character and his connection to Balian, but also displays one of the key components of who Balian is as a character that makes the moment he kills the priest so much more impactful. That trait of his is highlighted throughout the film, especially where he won’t agree to marry Sibylla and take command of the army after Balian IV dies, as that would require the killing of Guy and his men. But knowing this trait from the start adds greater context to how Balian approaches conflict.

First off, they cut out the detail that the priest is the brother of Balian, adding a whole lifetime of layers to the moment Balian kills him. Secondly, they reveal that beheading a suicide was not actually the custom at the time and is in fact discouraged but the priest ordered it to be cruel and then lies to the bishop about it. He also lies to Balian that he was even at the burial. In the same conversation the priest reveals a key trait of who Balian is, when he taunts him by slapping and shoving him while Bailan doesn’t even look at him or respond. The priest remarks “You always turn the other cheek.” This is key to who Balian is. He’s not an inherently violent person, nor does he ever seek it out. It’s just not how he was created. He always turns the other cheek. These additional scenes of the priest also just really flesh out how much of a scumbag he is at every opportunity, he only wanted Balian to leave with his father so he could take his land. It also tells you the most important quality of Balian’s, his non-violent nature, so that when he does kill the priest, it feels like a much larger character moment. 

One other key thing they cut out in the theatrical cut is an entire character: Sybilla’s son Baldwin V. About 8 years old, he is the heir to the throne after his uncle passes, and he is an incredibly important character to the plot of the film yet is completely absent from the theatrical cut. After the passing of Baldwin IV, Sibylla agrees to be committed to Guy in order to protect her son from getting killed by him and his soldiers. Soon after, Sibylla learns that her son is also a leper and decides to euthanize him rather than see him live in pain. She then becomes queen and gives Guy the war he wants as she no longer cares what happens. Again, her son isn’t in the theatrical cut so we just go straight from Baldwin IV dying to her just giving Guy all the power, making her just seem really bitchy and evil for no reason. But with the context that she only stayed with Guy to protect her son, and the grief and guilt she was feeling after euthanizing him fueling her decision to give Guy the war he wanted, it gives you actual reasons for the choices she makes. She’s not doing all of this for no reason at all, like in the theatrical cut.

Small changes sometimes can go the longest way. The Hospitaler, wonderfully played by David Thewlis, somewhat of an omnipotent man in the theatrical version, is portrayed and hinted at to be either an angel or at least some sort of messenger of God in the director’s cut. In a literal burning bush scene, he vanishes when Balian looks away. After Balian passes out after surviving an assassination attempt, the Hospitaler appears and touches Balian on the head to reawaken him, as if he’s resurrecting him. He then vanishes again. It’s just a beautiful interpretation that furthers the interplay between Balian and him losing his religion early on in the film. Even the tertiary roles of Godfrey’s men feel like actual characters here.

Some other things of note. When a group shows up to arrest Balian from Godfrey for killing the priest, the theatrical cut portrays it as if they are actually there to arrest Balian, when the director’s cut confirms to the audience that this is his nephew actually to kill Godfrey thanks to a previous scene revealing the character of Godfrey’s brother and nephew. In the theatrical cut, Balian arrives in Jerusalem at 33 minutes into the film. In the director’s cut it’s minute 47 when he arrives in Jerusalem. Almaric, a knight of Godrey’s and Balian’s, refers jokingly to Ibelin as “a poor and dusty place.” before the climax after Balian offers him the place if he lives through the battle. That is a reference back to Almaric calling Ibelin “a poor and dusty place” earlier when they first arrived in Ibelin. His first time saying that line was cut from the theatrical cut. 

One quote that beautifully defines the film’s themes and philosophy is when the Hospitaler responds to Balian revealing that he has lost his religion with “I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. I’ve seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves…and goodness. What God desires is here (points to head) and here (points to heart). By what you decide to do every day, you will be a good man…or not.” Religion does not make a man holy, a man makes a man holy by his thoughts and actions. This is carried throughout the dialogue in the film. “There is so much done in Christendom of which Christ would be incapable.” remarks a character early in the film. Early on, Balian hears a muslim prayer and announces “Sounds like our prayers.” Baldwin tells Balian upon meeting him “Your soul is in your keeping alone.” and later “When you stand before God, you cannot say, “But I was told by others to do thus.” Or that, “Virtue was not convenient at the time.” This will not suffice. Remember that.”

Unfortunately, the same weak link exists in this film that was in the theatrical. Orlando Bloom is simply not the man for the job here as Balian. I feel bad, he is clearly trying here, but he just does not have it in him. But I also acknowledge this film wouldn’t have been made if he wasn’t a huge star at that point in time. Man, you remember when Orlando Bloom was the biggest deal? There is so much depth to the character of Balian that just can’t come across from Bloom. It should be noted that the director’s cut is so damn great that it almost doesn’t matter that Bloom is lacking. This is a really winning cast otherwise. Jeremy Irons can deliver lines with the best of them. Martin Csokas and Brendan Gleason are so cartoonish as the villains, but it somehow works. It definitely helps that Gleason is having the time of his life in this role. Eva Green brings a much more layered and great performance in the director’s cut. Ghassan Massoud makes Saladin feel  like a far more interesting and detailed character in the director’s cut with more time to flesh him out. Edward Norton gives one of his greatest performances entirely behind a mask as King Baldwin IV, and embodies the film’s ideals in his line delivery. David Thewlis is at his absolute best here as I mentioned earlier. He delivers what might be my favorite line of the film. Before marching off to die in the desert with the army, Balian warns him “You ride to a certain death.” Thewlis just smiles and responds “All death is certain.” He lets that sink in and then tells Balian “I shall tell your father what I’ve seen you become.” 

Now you can’t talk about this film without talking about the climactic siege of Jerusalem that caps off the final act. Love this film, hate this film, you respect this part of the film. The siege of Jerusalem is quite possibly the finest achievement of Scott’s career. Nobody else can do big and epic battle scenes quite like he does. It’s an absolute feat of practical effects filmmaking, the most massive in scope that Scott has ever done. And in the 3 hour cut, it feels even more grand with more buildup to it, more investment in what’s at stake for these characters. What I write cannot properly capture the majesty of this sequence. You must watch it to know it. It is magnificent.

Strange how a film I had mostly forgotten can become so impactful to me with a different cut, but that is the power of this director’s cut. It’s become a film I just find myself rewatching every few months now. I’ve found myself incorporating this work’s views on god and religion into my own daily practices, striving to be holy. I guess maybe I just miss a time when studio films were even this romantic about storytelling. It hasn’t been 20 years but it feels like something that has not been made in a century, not drowned in CGI and reveling in practical effects filmmaking. Kingdom of Heaven is one of Ridley Scott’s defining works of cinema in his director’s cut, and I hope you seek it out.