Orlando Bloom Comments on the Director's Cut

Even though he may not yet have seen the Director's Cut, Orlando said, in a recent interview with DarkHorizons.com (click for full interview):

"I say go out and buy the long version, mate. I'm so happy to have been a part of that process and I would go straight back into the desert in a ton of chain mail for Ridley any day of the week. He's an amazing director and I can't wait to see the long version."

Share your impressions of the Director's Cut below in "Now That You've Seen It....".

Now That You've Seen It....

..How did you like it? If you've watched the Director's Cut, please share your thoughts.

Director's Cut Official Website On Line

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has launched the official website for the Director's cut. Official website.

The Movie the Way it was Meant to be Seen

Don't forget to get your copy of the 4-disc Director's Cut. Available in the U.S. on May 23, 2006

More Reviews of the Director's Cut DVD

Adding links to reviews of the Director's Cut:

IGN review
Digital Bits revew (scroll down to right below the Tristan and Isolde poster)
Updated Digital Bits review
DVDtalk.com's review
Miami Herald's review
Hometheaterspot.com's review
InsidePulse.com's review
DVD Times' review
UGO.com's review
jblo.com's review

Director's Cut to Be Screened in LA on 04Apr06

Collider.com is having a drawing for free tickets to the screening and Q&A session with Ridley Scott and William Monahan. Here's one more chance (although a long shot) to see the complete movie on the big screen. Good luck to those who decide to enter the drawing!

Blog Sparks Campaign in the Far East

We received an e-mail today from Japan that I want to share with all of you. The subject title is "A big cheer from Japan".

Dear Show Us the Movie!

Hi. My name is Kirisawa from Tokyo, Japan. I am a huge fan of "Kingdom of Heaven" and I would like to thank you from my heart for standing up for this beautiful epic which has been treated so unfairly. The theatrical version was compelling but I had this feeling that a good deal of the story was cut out and left behind. I assume it was slashed because movie execs were afraid of "the bum-numb" thing, but for that it became difficult for a number of audiences/critics to really understand and appreciate the depth of this beautiful movie.

Excellent reviews and compliments from the lucky ones who had a chance to see the Director's Cut confirms my thoughts. So, encouraged by your site, my dear friend Mame, who is an ardent devotee to this movie launched a Japanese version of it - this February (for URL, see below). We carried out a grass root signature-gathering campaign and have successfully collected 126 signatures all speaking up for the same thing - "Show us the Directors' Cut version at the theatre!". We have sent it a hard copy of 126 signatures & a cover letter presenting our opinion/intentions) to Fox Japan on 21st Feb 2006 by post. We are now waiting for their reply with intense interest, hoping that they will do the right thing. (Well, their DVD Marketing division has shown that movie companies can do the right thing if they feel like it. They have done a major touch-up to the Japanese subtitle when KoH came out on DVD, in response to the heavy volume of complaints raised against the unbelievingly poor quality of the original theatrical subtitle. Actually, we have done a petition drive and sent 20th Century Fox Japan approx. 4,000 signatures which I guess was a number they couldn't simply ignore. I am so proud of my friends and myself for pulling off victory from a major company!)

Gosh, I am sorry for my lengthy mail..... I just wanted to let you know that there are supporters even over here in Far East Asia. There are many dedicated movie fans who are yearning to see the "full package" of what Sir Ridley Scott truly wanted to show in "Kingdom of Heaven". The situation may not look good but do not forget that we will be behind you all the way!!

Best regards,
Kirisawa

Our site : Written only in Japanese, but FYI.
Al-Quds

you can see our pretty cool "show us the movie" banner at
Show Us the Movie banner
(done by Yuunosu)

Well, we all know by now that the DVD of the Director's Cut is coming out soon, with a May 23 release in the U.S. But it's very gratifying to know that fans around the world have been campaigning at a grass roots level and contacting Fox about our disappointment with their treatment of this movie in the theaters.

Aintitcool.com Speaks out Again

Moriarty lists Kingdom of Heaven as one of his favorite films of 2005 and also recognizes this blog for our grassroots movement. For the entire list, see our "links" section on the sidebar, click on "Aintitcool.com's 2005 Favorites" and scroll down to #20.

Here's an excerpt:

....There’s already a grass-roots movement starting to build some support, and consider this startling fact: for the first time in what seems like forever, Jeffrey Wells, David Poland, and I are all in complete agreement about something. That alone should suggest just how special this film is, and how much Fox needs to step up and do the right thing. Have faith in it. It’s not too late. Everyone finds forgiveness in the Kingdom of Heaven... maybe even Fox executives.

UPDATE: Director's Cut DVD May 23, 2006?

UPDATE: The extended edition may be out in DVD form as early as May 23! Please click on the link on the right hand side-bar to read the details from DVDtalk.com.

From the Rumor mill at digitalbits.com:

1/13/06

Here's a little something for you fans of director Ridley Scott. As we reported last year, 20th Century Fox was planning to let Scott cut together a director's cut of his Kingdom of Heaven, with some 40+ minutes of footage restored to the edit. This has in fact happened, and the new director's cut was recently given a two week theatrical run at a theater here in Los Angeles. We've reported that this longer edit of the film would eventually be given its own DVD release, and now our industry sources are telling us that Fox is planning to make that happen in sometime in mid to late 2006. We'll bring you more details as things develop. FYI, we wouldn't be surprised to see this longer cut appear on high-definition Blu-ray Disc format as well as DVD before the year is out
Stay tuned....

We can keep our fingers crossed. And we can continue to make our requests to Fox (see the post below titled "E-mail 20th Century Fox").

Publicity for Our Message!

Thehollywoodnews.com picked up our press release. Their story is linked here.

The campaign continues to get 20th Century Fox to hear our message about Kingdom of Heaven. We welcome your feedback and input.

Trailer Scenes Used to Entice Us....

were summarily removed from the film we paid to see.

These are all scenes from Kingdom of Heaven, in no particular order, which were shown to audiences in Teaser, Theatrical, and special Online trailers throughout the marketing period and while the film was in theaters. These images are the property of Twentieth Century Fox and are being used here in accordance with the Fair Use Clause. Tell us if these images, used to entice you to the box office, accurately represent the film you saw in May.

Let's start with a couple of official production images released by Fox.





Sex sells, and how. But did we ever see these shots OR the scene(s) they are from on the silver screen? Nope. The first image was even marketed as a poster, because I got one as a gift.



A boy king? Really? Did we miss something?



Woops...there he is again.



and again.



Sword fight with Guy. We wondered what happened to him after he was paraded by Saladin sitting backwards on that ass.



Hmmm...

Call for Other Reviews and Articles - Updated

We need your help. We are continuing to add content about the "bait and switch" marketing tactic used to advertise Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you to the reader who took the time to type up the entire text of the Hollywood Reporter's article on the announcement of the release of the Director's Cut! It's now available for reading in the comments of this post. If anyone else knows of other articles or reviews of the Director's Cut, please leave a comment or email us at showusthemovie@yahoo.com

Thanks again to everyone for participating, and stay tuned. Over the next few days we'll be posting some "visual proof" of this bait-and-switch -- scenes from the movie that Fox used in their advertisements, that were left out of the version shown to audiences.

E-mail 20th Century Fox

Are you interested in:

(a) Seeing the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven?
(b) Letting movie studios know that as movie-goers, we expect to see the movie advertised in the trailers, and that we will hold them accountable if they don't show the movie they advertised?
(c) Encouraging 20th Century Fox to release a DVD of the KOH Director's cut sooner rather than later?

E-mail 20th Century fox at foxmovies@fox.com

We ask that you keep your e-mail brief and polite. Doing so will increase the chance of your e-mail being read. Here is sample language:

Please forward this e-mail to Bruce Snyder, President of Domestic Distribution. Please screen the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven in major markets nationwide. The theatrical version I saw lacked many scenes, characters, and plot development alluded to by the movie's trailers. I've read several glowing reviews from critics who have seen the Director's Cut. Their reviews confirm my suspicions -- I bought a ticket, I watched the movie, but it wasn't the movie 20th Century Fox advertised! I will gladly pay to see the movie the way it was meant to be if you show the Director's Cut in a major city nearby.

If it is impossible for 20th Century Fox to widen the release of the Director's Cut, please make it available for purchase as a DVD immediately. Thank you!

Feel free to paste and copy the above text, or modify it to suit your needs.

Put our Plea to 20th Century Fox in the LA Times?

We want Fox to release the Director's cut in major cities so more people can see, on the big screen, the movie the way it was meant to be. We'll be putting up an e-mail link and sample wording that people can use to send a request to Fox.

Another idea is to take an ad out in the Los Angeles Times. Newspaper advertising is VERY expensive. $7,518.00 for a one-time ad that's 3 1/4 inches wide by 5 1/4 inches long. It would take a LOT of generous donations to buy such an ad. Would you consider donating money for such an ad? Tell us.

Welcome to Show Us The Movie

Everyone's comments are welcome. Stay tuned for links and more information. Meanwhile, please feel free to share your thoughts on the injustice that has been done to "Kingdom of Heaven." If you have any information (excerpts of reviews of the "Director's Cut"; or links to those reviews) please feel free to post them. If you've seen the shorter theatrical version would you like Fox to release the Director's cut in a major city near you so you can see the movie the way it was meant to be seen? Tell us.