10 Time Honored Crusader Movies You Don't Want To Miss
Between the 11th and 16th Centuries the Crusades were a series of
religious wars all set around capturing the city of Jerusalem!
There have
been many interpretations on the big screen, but today I'm going to be
focusing on the movies which have Crusaders in them, such as Knight
Templar's, which gives me an excuse to talk about the first crusader movie in this
video: 2011's Ironclad.
Technically not a movie on the crusades, it stars
James Purefoy, Kate Mara, Charlse Dance who fights to defend Rochester Castle against
the
tyrannical King John played by Paul Giamatti.
You won't be watching this
movie for its drama, good dialog, interesting characters or historical
accuracy.
This film specialises in nonstop action, graphic violence and gore!
Even the films theatrical poster caption is Blood.Will.Run.
so I think you get
the general idea of what the crusader movies main focus is on.
As soon as they
arrive at that castle, the carnage in this film doesn't really slow down till
the end of the movie and that's only because nearly everyone is dead by
that point.
2007's Arn- The Knight Templar.
The Swedish film based around the son of
a high ranking nobleman.
Where Arn from an early age is educated in a
monastery, where he learns to fight.
And then heads of to the Holy lands
as a knight templar to kick ass and chew bubble gum.
This Crusader film is the exact
opposite to Ironclad where it has fleshed out characters, the plot actually
develops at the pace of a drama and it's pretty historically accurate,
although I'm no historian, so what do I know.
Those of you wanting just
action had better look elsewhere though as this Crusader film explores the values of
knighthood and the lifestyle of a monk templar.
So in 2008 they released Arn: The Kingdom at the End of the Road, which
currently holds the title of Sweden's most expensive film ever made.
It's a
must watch story to the original, with the same cast and main character, except
its faster with more battles and drama!
1963's Saladin and the Great Crusades, is an interesting portrayal of the
crusades from a Musilm Egyptian point of view.
It's a pretty well done
movie, although the special effects are horribly dated.
Like all the other
movies in this video, it's not very historically accurate, and weirdly enough
Saladin himself is barley in the film.
If you like Foreign films or something a
bit different, then this is worth a viewing!
Kingdom of Heaven the 2005 epic historical drama directed and produced by
one of my favourite Director's Ridley Scott.
It stars Orlando bloom, Eva
Green, Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, Michael Sheen and Edward Norton.
Yes
Edward Norton is in this crusader movie, he's the leprosy ridden King (Baldwin), But I
didn't actually realise this till about 2 weeks ago!
While I wasn't a big fan of the theatrical release, the Directors cut really
caught my attention, as it adds 45 minutes of character development,
where you actually understand Orblandos and Michaels characters.
Where
you learn about the animosity between the half brothers, due to a grudge
over their inheritance.
2010's Robin Hood, is another Ridley Scott film, while it didn't do that great
in the box office, I still think it's a good crusader movie.
Staring Russell
Crowe as Robin, and Cate Blanchett as Marion.
The first 20 minutes with
Robin's origin story are great, where you have a cool castle siege followed
up by more action while Robin and his men heading towards England.
The
end battle feels more like the D-Day Normandy landings with horses and a
maid Marrion in Armor!
ww1954's King Richard and the Crusaders.
With a movie like this you have to take into consideration the time it was
filmed.
While it's historically inaccurate and makes lots of random stuff up,
it's still silly and fun enough to watch and enjoy.
You have a hilarious fight
scene with Saladin vs Sir Huntington, where Saladin hits the knight with an
arrow, but Sir Huntington fights like nothings has happened to him.
This
movie has some of the funniest unintentional one liners I've heard in a long
time, it's a real classic.
A must watch movie 1976's Robin and Marian, starring Sean Connery as Robin Hood and Audrey
Hepburn as Maid Marian!
This classic crusader story is one of love and
romance, which has some pretty moving and funny scenes.
What really
makes this different from all the other Robin Hoods, is that he's an old
man- who's still willing to fight but has to deal with several physical
restrictions.
This does take some time to get used to, but it does work
pretty well.
1987's Lionheart, staring Eric Stoltz, Gabriel Byrne and a very young Dexter
Fletcher.
The story follows a young knight, who sets out to join King
Richard and his crusaders!
At a first glance this one of those movies you
would normally find in a bargain bin.
But there are some interesting facts,
for example its executive producer was the Godfathers Francis Ford
Coperla and the crusader film score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith!
Is it a good
movie?
no - but it's one of those so bad it's good films.
Coppola
1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, probably the best known film in this
video.
Where you have an all star cast including Kevin Costner, Morgan
Freeman, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman and Mary Mastrantonio.
Sure it's
not a masterpiece, and Kevin Costner's lack of an English accent may come
off a little funny at times.
But the movie is still fun and full of energy with
a cheesy larger than life hero, and with an even more over the top villain.
And that's my video!
leave a comment in the comments section down
below on which Crusader movie is your favourite, and if you have any
suggestions for any other film genres for me to cover, please by all means,
let me know, and don't forget to like and Subscribe.
10 Time Honored Movies You Don't Want To Miss