Ridley Scott’s historical filmography has a fanbase of its own, with the director’s visual spectacles rarely disappointing audiences. However, when Kingdom of Heaven was released in 2005, the film received mixed to negative reviews. Interestingly, the Alien director subsequently released a director’s cut, which went on to receive critical acclaim. He blamed the studio for cutting down the film’s length, but paradoxically, he adopted a similar approach for his latest movie.
Scott revealed that he tried to keep his new movie, Napoleon, under three hours, making several cuts in the editing process. The two hours and 38 minutes long movie is currently receiving a lukewarm response at the box office, with criticisms directed at its historical inaccuracies.
Also Read: Ridley Scott Compares Terrible Cameron Diaz Film To Blade Runner For Failing To Take Off Among Fans
Ridley Scott’s Editing Rule Did Not Work In His Favor For Kingdom of Heaven
Ridley Scott‘s Kingdom of Heaven explored the events leading up to the historical Third Crusade, where three European monarchs united to recapture the holy land. Scott’s depiction of the events initially received wide criticism at the theaters. One of the major issues with the film was its lack of depth due to the oversimplification of events.
Scott revealed that this less sophisticated version of the film resulted from the opinions of the preview audiences and Fox’s insistence on delivering a 2-hour film. The Prometheus director criticized the editing process, stating that it involved taking bits from every good aspect of the film. Ironically, the Gladiator director himself admitted to following a ruthless editing rule, when it came to his recent film, Napoleon.
In an interview with BBC, Scott explained that he considered the “bum ache factor” during editing. His understanding was that for a moviegoer, it becomes uncomfortable to sit in theaters two hours into the film, due to which he had to keep the film as short as possible, preferably under three hours. Scott metaphorically explained the situation to BBC:
“When you start to go ‘oh my God’ and then you say ‘Christ, we can’t eat for another hour’, it’s too long.”
To resolve the issue with Kingdom of Heaven‘s theatrical version, Scott released an uncut version of 194 minutes, which became a massive success. The Martian director also plans to release an uncut version of Napoleon. Scott even disowned the theatrical version of the Orlando Bloom starrer in favor of the uncut version.
Why Was The Uncut Version of Kingdom Of Heaven Far Superior?
There were no doubts about the commitments of the talented cast in Kingdom of Heaven. Edward Norton, who played King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, wore a mask throughout his scenes and refused to even take credit. However, the film did an injustice to its actors by cutting nearly 45 minutes of its scenes. The director’s cut supervised by Scott was far superior to the theatrical version for multiple reasons.
For one, significant subplots were added back to the film, completing some puzzling moments in the film. Some character relationships were also significantly enhanced, and battle scenes were made more violent. Some of the important plot points added to the extended cut included Sibylla’s poisoning of her son, Baldwin V, and the final fight between Balian and Guy.
Kingdom of Heaven (Extended Director’s Cut) is now available for rent on Amazon or DirectTV. Napoleon is currently running in theaters and will stream on Apple TV+ at a later date.
