Kingdom of the Idiots

Advantages: Plenty of bang for your buck.
Disadvantages: It's appalling portrayal of Arabs.

...After an American enclave in Saudi Arabia is bombed in a terrorist attack, Special Agent Ronald Fleury negotiates a secret trip to Riyadh to find those responsible. He is accompanied by a team of experts including forensics examiner Janet Mayes, explosives expert Grant Sykes and intelligence analyst Adam Leavitt. But once in the desert kingdom, Fleury and his team encounter cultural and political opposition to their presence. As they unlock the secrets of the bomb site they uncover evidence of an extremist cell determined to cause further destruction. Actor-turned-director Peter Berg takes what could be a potentially insightful movie on American foreign policy and turns it into a brainless, balls-to-the-wall action fest. It is a celebration of gung-ho US ?might is right? propaganda aimed squarely at Republican whipping boys; The Middle...

afy9mab 05.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Kingdom (DVD)

Kingdom of Heaven

Advantages: Brilliantly shot with lavish sets and costumes and exciting action sequences
Disadvantages: Feels a little disjointed, Orlando Bloom doesnt quite work as the lead

...Often tagged 'Gladiator 2', Kingdom of Heaven is Ridley Scott's take on The Crusades during the 12th century, and fans of Gladiator should know what to expect; Elaborate sets and constumes; dynamic shots of armoured men in frenzied battle; a fearless yet tormented hero rising from the bottom to change the course of history. Balian (Orlando Bloom) a bereaved blacksmith, is approached by his previously unknown father, a crusading Lord named Sir Godfrey (Liam Neeson), and joins his father to fight the crusades, but his father and his men are ambused and killed en route and Balion ends up taking up his fathers office in Jerusalem, a Crusader stronghold in the Holy Land. There he becomes embroiled in a political struggle between rivalling orders of Christian knights, and after the tensions spill out into war and defeat at the hands of Saladin...

Burning_Darkness 12.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Kingdom Of Heaven (DVD)

Kingdom of Purgatory

Advantages: Good cinematography and set design
Disadvantages: Orlando Bloom, One-dimensional characters, Frequently tedious

...Kingdom of Heaven (2005) - FILM ONLY REVIEW Certificate: 15 (UK), R (USA), 15A (Ireland) Running time: 145 minutes (there is also a director's cut at 194 minutes) Writer: William Monahan Director: Ridley Scott Main cast: Balian - Orlando Bloom Godfrey - Liam Neeson Guy de Lusignan - Marton Csokas Nasir - Alexander Siddig Sibylla - Eva Green Tiberias - Jeremy Irons King Baldwin - Edward Norton Saladin - Ghassan Massoud "Kingdom of Heaven" is the latest historical epic from Ridley Scott, he of "Gladiator" fame (as the DVD packaging and posters like to remind us). I liked "Gladiator" for all its faults - and I would probably liked it a good deal more if I had known that "Alexander", "Troy" and "King Arthur" were in my future - and I was hopeful of something equally absorbing in this offering. It initially looked...

Collingwood21 04.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Kingdom Of Heaven (DVD)

The Kingdom - Jack Bauer Could Have Sorted This One Out In 24 HRS

Advantages: Very good action scenes
Disadvantages: Would have like more characterisation

...The Kingdom (2007) I have had this film sat on my shelf now for a while and had not got around to watching it. As the pickings on the tv were a bit slim, I decided to give it a go. Basic Plot The story is centred around a terrible terrorist attack that takes place at the beginning of the film, in an American compound which is located in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - (hence the title). With the presence of American investigators being likely to further inflame an already volatile situation, America is told not to send any personnel; that Saudi Arabian police are quite capable of finding the people behind the attack. Not happy with this response, FBI agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) blackmails an official representing Saudi Arabia in America and gains permission to have five days on Saudi soil to be satisfied that a proper...

LAURALILIA 11.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Kingdom (DVD)

My kingdom

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...****MySims: Kingdom (DS)**** I really liked mysims when it came out so when this was published i had to buy it!!! The main task in the game is to help king Roland (well the major Ellen ) fix the kingdom as some mysterious person is making things disappear and it is no longer the fab town that it once was. You have to help the other sims and as you do they give you things to help you find out who is destroying the place and as the game progresses more areas and tasks open up. Mini games There are quite a lot of these in this game and they include playing tennis,fishing,selling fruit and catching ghosts.When you play them it starts off easy and as you complete the levels it gets harder.A lot of these test your reaction time which i think is good as you want to play again to beat your previous score. One of the mini tasks is...

katie22008m 01.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of MySims Kingdom (Nintendo DS)

Kingdom of Heaven- or Hell?

Advantages: Convincing performances, great battle scenes
Disadvantages: A Bit Long

...Kingdom of Heaven is the latest epic from Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien) and stars Orlando Bloom. There are also appearances from a number of established actors such as Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons. Kingdom of Heaven is based between the 2nd and 3rd Crusades, where Jerusalem is currently held by the Christians. There is currently a kind of peace (in that there is not an open war) in Jerusalem and Christians, Moslems and Jews all co-exist fairly well. This is the time just before King Richard (the Lionheart) set of on his Crusade. THE STORY: Set in 1186, the story centres around Balian (Bloom), a young French blacksmith mourning the recent death of his wife who committed suicide after their baby died. As a result of this the local priest cheerfully assures Balian that his wife will be at that very moment burning in...

karenes 09.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of Kingdom Of Heaven (DVD)

Kingdom of Conscious

Advantages: Stunning scenery and Interesting Story
Disadvantages: Some bad acting

...arrest Balian for his recent crime. However, Godfrey is keen to protect his son and does not let them. This results into a fight where all the crusaders but Godfrey, Balian and another guy die. Upon their arrival to Messina (they would later set sail for Jerusalem from there), Balian is declared a knight by Godfrey, just before the latter dies from an arrow injury sustained during the previous skirmish. From here on, Balian must travel to Jerusalem alone and protect King Baldwin IV and the people.... however more than this, he must help create a Kingdom of Heaven. Meanwhile in Jerusalem... King Baldwin IV who is dying, is trying his best to keep the peace between the Christians and the Muslims so Jerusalem can remain a holy place where the people of both religions can visit and pray. However, there is increasing pressure from...

jeffe 02.06.2005 · Read review
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Review of Kingdom of Heaven

A murky kingdom at that!

Advantages: illustrations are OK
Disadvantages: rambling story, badly written

...The Kingdom of the Deep seemed to promise much when I first picked it up to read with my five year old daughter. It had an attractive and somewhat mysterious cover and promised a classic tale of good and evil if the praise from The Guardian on the back cover was to be believed. To a certain degree the book does deliver on this promise but unfortunately there is a lot about the book that we found disappointing. Before the story starts there are a couple of pages where the reader is introduced to the characters. We see their pictures, learn their names and read a brief description about them, My daughter liked this introduction and it made her keen to get to know them better and to find out what was going to happen. However, after having read the book, you realise that actually these were not the only characters and other significant ones...

kingfisher111 08.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Kingdom of the Deep - Frank Hinks

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Dubious Ending

Advantages: Harrison Ford, classic Indy humour and tension, the music
Disadvantages: That ending!

...Let's get one thing straight from the start. I'm a huge fan of Indiana Jones. Always have been. I think the original trilogy of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade are cinematic genius. That hat, that music, Harrison Ford...love it all. For years there were rumours of an "Indy IV". Scripts came and went, everyone seemed to be on board but it was all about finding the right script. Then one day, they had it. And the hype began. I was very excited, devouring Empire every month to see what news there was. Finally, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released...and reactions were mixed, It was reported to be "definitely Indy" but also there was something not right. Had Spielberg and Lucas gone too far? Was it another Phantom Menace, god forbid? The storyline of Crystal Skull follows Indy...

eilidhcatriona 14.08.2009 (15.08.2009) · Read review
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Review of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (DVD)

A Riven Kingdom indeed

Advantages: Excellent second book of the Godspeaker series
Disadvantages: helps if you've read the first book

...*** The Plot *** Our story picks up in Ethrea, a land far from Mijak where no-one has heard of the smiting god who wants blood sacrifices; where Zandakar the Hammer is unknown. Princess Rhian is distraught as her father, the king of Ethrea, is dying. Having recently suffered the loss of her two brothers as well, the future of Ethrea depends on her. Although her father has encouraged her to follow pursuits normally only offered to boys, she will now be expected to marry and produce an heir to be Ethrea's ruler. And she knows that this choice will not be hers. Meanwhile Dexterity, Toymaker by royal appointment, is worried he may be losing his mind. He has always chatted to hid dead wife, but now she is talking back. And she has told him that the kingdom is in trouble and that it is he who must save it. Despite his reluctance...

wolfatgoogle 29.10.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Riven Kingdom - Karen Miller