you know what they say about curiosity
I succumbed to curiosity and watched the original cut of Kingdom of Heaven. As Rain predicted, it's hard to see how disjointed it is when you've already seen the extended version, as one tends to fill in details subconsciously. But having just seen the director's cut twice in a row (once with Rain, once with Llama), I was pretty up on the details and I could just tell when a scene wasn't flowing right, or when characters' monologues felt completely out of the blue because certain setup only present in the director's cut had not been shown. Motivations are foggy, relationships between characters superficial and fleeting. The battle scenes felt longer, although I'm sure they weren't -- it was probably because there wasn't enough real story between them.
A couple Baldwin scenes are left out, and his intro scene felt rushed -- which, considering the relatively slow pace at which he moves and speaks, one wouldn't think possible. His death felt rushed also, but that's clearly because of the lack of Sibylla's son. I know that many of Sibylla's lines actually referred to her son, but since he was cut out, she comes across as almost cheesy in her vague "listen to me while I dictate the moral of the film" scenes. I noticed once or twice where the flow of the dialogue was slowed down, which made it more theatrical in that you could hear every word each person said, but less realistic in that no one ever spoke over anyone else. People overlap when they talk; I'm sorry, but it just bothers me when dialogue is dumbed down for the sake of the audience. In fact there were a couple of moments when lines were clearly recorded later and added in -- if the camera cuts away and the character says another line or two, most likely they are different lines from the director's cut. The first and worst case is Godfrey saying "I am your father, Balian." As if audiences couldn't figure out what "I... knew your mother..." meant. I like it better in the D.C. when you can see Balian putting two and two together by his expressions. It gives him a hint more intelligence, and proves that Orlando was actually acting rather than looking pretty at the camera.
Orli -- still not hot stuff to me. He still can't seem to make more than three or four facial expressions. But I give the man kudos for trying, and he's improving -- I like him better in Kingdom than in anything else he's been in so far. So. *shrug* But honestly, get in a movie with David Thewlis and Liam Neeson (and, apparently, Edward Norton!) and I will not notice a word you say. XD
So. My two cents towards the great debate. I feel validated in my refusal to go see this movie while it was in theatres, though, as the original cut is one of the more mediocre things I've seen. Director's cut all the way. Ridley Scott just has no luck with studios, does he? But at least he was ahead of his time with director's cuts, insofar as the Blade Runner debacle is concerned, and he knows how to put together a damn good movie when people will let him.
Of course no cut of Kingdom holds a candle to Lawrence of Arabia. Very few things do. I've been debating whether I could get Llama to watch it (and whether it would be worth it, as I honestly have no idea whether he'd like it or not), but I'm starting to reach critical mass here, so I may have to watch it again myself with or without anyone else. I do love that movie.
I really ought to pick a fandom and be faithful to it one of these days, but I'm addicted to the experimentation. But hey, I am starting college; it fits. Besides, I'm faithful to Farscape and Trigun still, even if I don't talk constantly about them.
Speaking of which, I've nearly finished the first of my Last Exile stories for the Fanfic100 challenge. It should be postable soon.
I'm having a Baldwin fic idea. Stop me, quick!
-rave
A couple Baldwin scenes are left out, and his intro scene felt rushed -- which, considering the relatively slow pace at which he moves and speaks, one wouldn't think possible. His death felt rushed also, but that's clearly because of the lack of Sibylla's son. I know that many of Sibylla's lines actually referred to her son, but since he was cut out, she comes across as almost cheesy in her vague "listen to me while I dictate the moral of the film" scenes. I noticed once or twice where the flow of the dialogue was slowed down, which made it more theatrical in that you could hear every word each person said, but less realistic in that no one ever spoke over anyone else. People overlap when they talk; I'm sorry, but it just bothers me when dialogue is dumbed down for the sake of the audience. In fact there were a couple of moments when lines were clearly recorded later and added in -- if the camera cuts away and the character says another line or two, most likely they are different lines from the director's cut. The first and worst case is Godfrey saying "I am your father, Balian." As if audiences couldn't figure out what "I... knew your mother..." meant. I like it better in the D.C. when you can see Balian putting two and two together by his expressions. It gives him a hint more intelligence, and proves that Orlando was actually acting rather than looking pretty at the camera.
Orli -- still not hot stuff to me. He still can't seem to make more than three or four facial expressions. But I give the man kudos for trying, and he's improving -- I like him better in Kingdom than in anything else he's been in so far. So. *shrug* But honestly, get in a movie with David Thewlis and Liam Neeson (and, apparently, Edward Norton!) and I will not notice a word you say. XD
So. My two cents towards the great debate. I feel validated in my refusal to go see this movie while it was in theatres, though, as the original cut is one of the more mediocre things I've seen. Director's cut all the way. Ridley Scott just has no luck with studios, does he? But at least he was ahead of his time with director's cuts, insofar as the Blade Runner debacle is concerned, and he knows how to put together a damn good movie when people will let him.
Of course no cut of Kingdom holds a candle to Lawrence of Arabia. Very few things do. I've been debating whether I could get Llama to watch it (and whether it would be worth it, as I honestly have no idea whether he'd like it or not), but I'm starting to reach critical mass here, so I may have to watch it again myself with or without anyone else. I do love that movie.
I really ought to pick a fandom and be faithful to it one of these days, but I'm addicted to the experimentation. But hey, I am starting college; it fits. Besides, I'm faithful to Farscape and Trigun still, even if I don't talk constantly about them.
Speaking of which, I've nearly finished the first of my Last Exile stories for the Fanfic100 challenge. It should be postable soon.
I'm having a Baldwin fic idea. Stop me, quick!
-rave