All of the background has been gutted, at least an hour and a half at the beginning, all the Christian 'fundamentalist' activity has been cut, all that's left in the original is effectively the battle scenes and some stilted dialog...Originally Posted by colinB
A good example...Watching the original, one might be forgiven for thinking that the blacksmith Baileon gains some kind of superhuman powers out of thin air...in the full version we learn that he's an experienced technical advisor, engineer, and soldier, who was having a break to look after his missus during childbirth, smithing is bit of a backup job. When the baby dies and she subsequently commits suicide he looses it and is banged up in the local cells. The Crusaders do not just happen by, they are specifically looking for him based on reputation, his brother the priest (this is a bit skipped over in the original) tries to convince him to go with them, attempting to sell his skills to the Crusaders...etc...etc...etc.
OK it doesn't make Orlando Bloom a better actor, but you at least feel his character is somewhat more believable.
It's worth a go, just to make sense of the original, he rarely makes a poor film IMHO
Reply With Quote