Appraisal: It has been said that the longer version is good. Well, I have seen the shorter one, and I don't see how it could become good by the insertion of 49 more minutes. Well, who knows... It is obvious for me that they just didn't have a good screenplay, and there is no way around that. One of the problems is that the characters talk in a lecturing, ideology laden way that is incompatible both with the period the film is set in and with the way normal people speak in any period. Another problem, that may be correlated to the first one, is that it is primitively manicheistic, displaying good characters and bad ones, with no nuances. I read that in the longer version this was changed regarding one of the characters (Sybilla). But the biggest problem in my opinion is that the film is dull.
Two honorable mentions: one for the actor who played the king. Considering the poor material he had to work with, and the fact that he wore a mask at all times, his performance was a real feat. The second honorable mention goes to the actor who played Saladin.
Rating: 37
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