Let me summarize in the first sentence. I will praise the movie as romantic, but it is a historically despicable movie. You should think of this movie as a fantasy movie, not a history movie (it constantly sends absurd messages to the present). I liked this movie as I liked The Last Samurai.
First, I will talk about the good aspects of the movie:
The knight's oath scenes were very romantic. The scene where Gadfrey tells Balian that he is his father made me laugh. The conversations between Tiberias and Balian were also romantic. When we replace God with conscience, the sentences make sense. The conversations between Balian and the king were also romantic. Eva Green is a very sexy woman. The argument between Guy de Lusignan and Tiberias in front of the king denigrates radicalism. The dialogues between Balian and Imad were romantic. Balian was romantic in the small battle in front of Kerak. Balian's refusal to marry Sybilla was completely absurd. I could not understand most of the subtext in the movie, but I liked the romance. Saladin killing Reynald with his own knife instead of Mullah's sword was a message. While mullah and reynald represented the radicals, imad and balian represented the seculars. the movie is not about the 11th century, it is about 2005. tiberias and balian's speech in front of reynald's head was very romantic. i was saddened by raynald's death. i used reynald effectively by converting him while playing the saladin campaign in aoe2. that's why i like reynald. the conversations between imad and saladin were very romantic. balian's conversation with the priest while burning the bodies was very romantic. balian's speech before the breach in the walls was opened was very romantic. there are many romantic scenes in the movie that i can't remember. i liked the movie very much from a romantic perspective.
as for the bad aspects of the movie:
it's a terrible movie from a historical perspective. fthe movie constantly gives a deist message with the concept of the kingdom of conscience. Also in the movie the king and Saladin (conversations between Imad and Saladin: Saladin acts peacefully because he is sure there will be a war. According to the movie we know that if there is no war the sultan will lose his title) were getting along well and the message is given that the war started because of a few fanatic idiots. That is not the case. There were a few skirmishes before. Ridley Scot raped history to give a political message. The mentality of clash of civilizations in Europe is wrong. Islam and Christianity are very similar. But they are not as similar as the movie tells. It is true that Christians and Muslims did common work and made friends. But these relationships are exaggerated in the movie. Balian was not born in France, he was born in Outre-mer (Crusader lands). He was an important man there. Also, it was ridiculous that kings constantly passed through that blacksmith village, as it was a village. Richard came last. There cannot be such a valuable knight, Balien is only 1 man. Balian never actually did blacksmithing. It was ridiculous that a blacksmith would learn how to use a sword and then teach people how to be a soldier after 2-3 months. Also, in various cases, parts were cut off from dead bodies. But there was never any beheading of people who committed suicide. It was ridiculous in this respect as well. Also, it was very funny that barbarian Europeans talked about the concept of conscience. It was ridiculous that men who traveled thousands of kilometers to fight talked about conscience (if they were not ashamed, they would make the Crusaders look like Buddhists). The kingdom of conscience is a completely made-up concept. Also, the reason why the Crusader aristocrats joined the campaigns was not money but glory. Back then, money did not solve every problem like it does today. Blacksmiths could also go to Jerusalem and become small aristocrats. But Balian was actually an aristocrat. He was a knight, not a blacksmith. Think of knights as academics. Being an academic is not done for money, just like being a knight. In the Middle Ages, there was very little you could buy with money. What mattered was fame, reputation, prestige and respect. Louis XIV is a good example of this. His career did not make sense strategically. But he used France for his own fame. It is logical that people join the crusades to become knights. Because the door to becoming a knight is open in the 10th, 11th, 12th centuries. Therefore, knighthood is worthless. The period when knighthood is valuable is the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the crossbow appears and causes other complicated situations. La posta di falcone is a real longsword style. But this style did not exist at that time and the long sword was just emerging. La posta di falcone is described in the book De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi written in 1470. You can read about the use of swords from the discussions of fencers. Also, a ship does not sink easily on the Messina-Jerusalem line. The Messina-Jerusalem line is as safe as today's metro lines. By the way, human relations are completely wrong. In reality, Sybilla got along very well with Guy de Lusignan. Balian was married to Sybilla's stepmother. Also, Sybella couldn't be that free and liberated in reality. They handled the leprosy issue beautifully. It was ridiculous that Balian learned military tactics, fighting, and soil cultivation expertise in such a short time in the movie. It was ridiculous that they showed Israel as a desert. If you go somewhere and find water in 10 days, that water was found before you.
Also, it was ridiculous that a man from a rainy place like France knew how to dig a well, but the villagers there didn't. Also, it was ridiculous that people were being cut down despite the armor. If the armor didn't protect you despite its weight, why would you wear it? Also, people can't walk around in armor all day long except in war. This was also ridiculous. The Last Duel explains armor well. It is true that Reynald's attack on the caravan caused the war. But there was a war environment before that. Also, Saladin doesn't free everyone. He leaves those he leaves for money. Not everyone goes in brotherhood. But there is a wedding during a siege (I'm not sure which one is Jerusalem or Kerak). At the wedding, they send food to Saladin and that's why Saladin lifts the siege. At the wedding, they give an emotional message about the time Saladin was a slave. Saladin is a Sunni vizier of the Fatimids. Then, Saladin establishes his own dynasty. Although Saladin is a Kurdish Turkish-Arab mix, it is estimated that he is predominantly Kurdish. It is estimated that Saladin was the child of an Arabized Kurdish family coming from Tikrit. There was no concept of nation in those times, but there were situations related to the kinship network. Also, the Europeans of that period were not a tolerant and civilized society like the Muslims. The Europeans were barbaric terrorists at that time. The Muslims of that period did not experience barbarism such as the Inquisition or burning witches very much. The Islamic states (like the Sassanid and Assyrian) came from old imperial traditions. There were Jewish and Christian communities in Muslim countries. The Muslims of that period were civilized and tolerant people. Also, the central cities of Christianity remained in Muslim hands for a long time (except Rome) and an Islamic renaissance was experienced. Of course, radicalism and Ghazali's ideas would become widespread in the following periods. The second radicalism movement would emerge with the colonies. The last and main radicalism would emerge with the green belt project. It was also absurd for people to pray towards the sun. Sybilla does not return to France when Jerusalem falls. She dies while besieging Akka with her husband. Everything about Balian is wrong. Also, declaring normal people as knights was ridiculous in terms of the spirit of the period. As if you get an upgrade when you are declared a knight, you get MANA, like you get a ring in Diablo. Also, Europeans who came to the region dressed like Arabs due to the climate. You cannot establish an army of two hundred thousand in the Middle Ages. You can gather a maximum of fifty thousand soldiers. Also, in castle sieges (Kerak Castle), you do not see the siege men when they come to the door. You are informed in advance and make preparations. The siege of a castle is like other gangs coming to fight us after school. Someone says Selahattin is coming, the civilians around run to the castle. This was ridiculous. Also, it was ridiculous to establish cities, castles and villages in the desert. Castles are built near wetlands. There must be fields around the castle. There is a fortress inside the castle. There must be large lands inside the castle. At the beginning of the 20th century, they were selling pigs in Central Park. These people need to be fed. When everywhere is covered in stones, you think people eat stones. Also, there was no sentence like this at that time: Nemo vir est ut qui mundum reddat meliorem. The director gave a message like a twitter aphorism. The absurdity of the movie being that the good ones are very good and the bad ones are very bad like Inglourious Basterds. The movie had a message like the Pope holding hands with the Caliph and going to the Bulgarian church. Wait a minute, the Bulgarian church is Bogomil, they can't go there...
In short, it was a beautiful romantic movie set in a fantastic universe. Also, I'm not ignorant enough to read Wikipedia.
