In France of 1184, Godfrey, Baron of Ibelin (Liam Neeson) returns home after twenty years of combat in the Holy Land. He seeks a skilled engineer and blacksmith by the name of Balian (Orlando Bloom). Balian has fallen into a depression following the suicide of his wife. Godfrey reveals himself to the boy as his father. He has one hundred men-at-arms in Jerusalem and adds, “If you come with me, you’ll have a living. And my thanks.” Balian refuses.

Confronted by his scheming brother – who seeks to be rid of Balian so he can inherit his property – Balian is told his wife’s head was removed prior to burial in accordance to religious doctrine. Balian kills his brother and flees. He catches up with his father and his band of Crusaders. When the authorities demand Balian be handed over, Godfrey refuses, and in the fierce battle that ensues, is shot in the ribs with an arrow.

Making their way to the port of Messina, Balian is knighted by Godfrey before he succumbs to fever. His father’s confidant – a mystic (David Thewlis) – tells Balian the voyage to the Holy Land is perilous, but “If God has purpose for you there, he’ll keep you safe in His hands.” Balian survives shipwreck and a duel with a Saracen to make his way to Jerusalem.

Balian learns the peace between the Christians who control Jerusalem, and the Muslims who surround it, has been threatened by the Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas), a pompous French lord who seeks to annihilate the Muslims and their king, Saladin. The Guy’s wife, Princess Sibylla (Eva Green) takes a liking to Balian, and introduces him to her brother, King Baldwin (Edward Norton), a wise young ruler stricken with leprosy and who wears a mask to hide his deformity.

The King dispatches Balian to Ibelin to protect Muslims and Jews on the pilgrim road. “Protect the helpless, and maybe one day, when I am helpless, you’ll come protect me.” Balian irrigates the land and receives a visit from Sibylla, who seeks his hospitality. Their idyll is broken when her husband, and the bloodthirsty Reynald de Chatillon (Brendan Gleeson) attack a caravan and instigate a war with Saladin and his army of 200,000.

Director Ridley Scott met with screenwriter William Monahan to discuss a script called Tripoli. Scott was also interested in doing a film about a knight, and asked the writer if he knew anything about them. Monahan was a history buff, and did. He told Scott that a story set between the second and third Crusades – when Christians and Muslims shared an uneasy peace in Jerusalem – would enable them to explore both cultures fairly.

Scott’s sprawling epic was whittled down to 145 minutes when released theatrically. An entire subplot involving Sibylla and her young son was left on the cutting room floor, infuriating Eva Green, who refused to publicize the $130 million film. Much of Balian’s characterization went missing as well, and many viewers complained that the movie was confusing. It received mixed reviews and grossed only $47 million at the U.S. box office.

A month after Kingdom of Heaven was released in May 2005, Scott and editor Dody Dorn were given permission by Fox to restore the film. 49 minutes was put back in, giving it character development, more period detail and greater coherence. In December of that year, the director’s cut was released theatrically on just one screen, the Laemmle’s Fairfax, a theater in L.A. that’s been closed and re-opened so many times, most people don’t know it exists.

Not much more was made of the film, which was regarded by many as a noble failure. It wasn’t nominated for a single year-end award. I admired the theatrical version, and the restored version is a major improvement. But as much as I’d love to champion this as a misunderstood masterpiece – like Heaven’s Gate or Blade Runner – the movie still has its flaws.

The casting is genius, from bottom to top. Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Edward Norton, David Thewlis and Liam Neeson are all in the same movie here. And as a cultural study of the Middle Ages, this is great stuff. One thing the film does well is illustrate why many Europeans were drawn to the Holy Land, and how perilous and profound that journey could be. It also surprised me how tolerant the Muslims were of the Christian occupation at the time.

The problem is that I felt like I was watching a textbook. Monahan’s script is very impressed with its grasp of history, but isn’t embellished with story or characters I felt much for. The first 20 minutes are confusing – even in the director’s cut – and the climactic siege of Jerusalem feels underwhelming. Overall, the film’s visual palette feels meager in comparison to some of Scott’s previous work. Hans Zimmer was replaced as musical composer by Harry Gregson-Williams, and the score he turned in isn’t very good.

Audiences may not have been ready to believe Orlando Bloom as a leading man, but he does have strong chemistry with Eva Green, who is terrific in the director’s cut. Arthur Max’s set design is beautiful. Janty Yates did the costume design, and itâ’s a total oversight she wasn’t even nominated for an Academy Award. The definitive film on the Crusades is still out there waiting to be made, but for now, Kingdom of Heaven will do fine. If you see it, the director’s cut is the only version to see.