Soldier of God

I was fortunate enough to see this film at the Straford Upon Avon International Digital Film Festival, where it won Best Film. In this day and age of "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" no-brainer action films and simpering synthetic rom coms, it was such a relief to have an intelligent film with characters that needed to be understood rather than handed out on a plate, that was beautiful but still harsh and brutal in its intensity.

It was a pleasure to watch. I for one am exceedingly grateful that it was nothing like "Kingdom of Heaven" (a pale comparison) and for once, which is unusual for Hollywood, historically accurate or as accurate as you can be in the 21st century. I am not a great historian of the period though I do have an interest in the Crusades, but I recently read another review of this film that praised it's historical accuracy -

"I highly recommend this movie to all students of medieval history, and those interested in comparative religious studies." D. Chaltry, Florida.

Praise indeed.

Historically accurate, beautifully shot and well-acted. What more could you want?

Rae

After seeing all the awards this movie had won I got it out expecting something special. This is a dreadful movie. It never started, just droned on and on. The main character's diction/accent is so poor it's hard to make out a word he said. But after rewinding it, we realised it wasn't worth hearing anyway.

And I can't believe another user thought the acting was good! It was ABYSMAL. In one of the first scenes we see the Templar Knights discuss how they will react to the Islamic King's actions - apart from one actor the rest of the cast give truly cringe-worthy performances.

This is definitely one to leave on the shelf. Embarrassingly, my guests also thought it was spectacularly rubbish.

To be honest you'd be better off watching Colin Farrell as Alexander the Celt (What? Alexander wasn't Irish?!) - yes, it is that bad!!!!

(RE: User comment by Dyxrum regarding the Da Vinci Code

Although I'm no fan of Dan Brown or his work, the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction and as such must be quite well written as it topped the bestseller lists for quite a while - so maybe the 12 year old comment is a tad O.T.T. Surely it's the mislead people who regard the Da Vinci Code as a work of nonfiction that you're referring to - not to the work of fiction itself. So before you get on your high horse take a look at your own 'know all' review!)

(RE: Comparisons to Kingdom of Heaven

Come on they're not really comparable...the plot's so simplistic it's better suited to kids than adults - big budget: no brainer. On the other hand, Soldier of God is meant to be cultured/high-brow. My opinion? Dull as dishwater.)

Before watching this film, leave behind any references to The Kingdom Heaven. This is an extremely low budget film shot somewhere in the desert (certainly not the judean desert) and with no sets to speak of. The film gives the impression it's going to lead you to some profound revelation at some point. This never happens and by the end I was left feeling cheated that I struggled through Rene's (The Templar) rare, mumbled, accented dialogue for nothing. I will never cease to be amazed at how easily some film goers are pleased. The reviews that paint this as some sort of beautiful, well acted, historical treat are myopic in my opinion and I am being kind. This was an awkward, pointless film, with a pointless story.

I noticed some really bad reviews of this movie so decided to comment. Firstly the movie isn't a story of the Knights Templer or the crusades, it is about life, the decisions we make, how we can spend our lives chasing the unimportant and miss the real life staring us in the face. Secondly if you look at the really bad comments,you will see that they were written by people who seem to think the know all truths. One of the reviewers wanted something that was on par with the Da Vinchi code!!!! I have no beliefs in any Gods but I would stand with Christians denouncing that book/film, because a 12 year old could have produced much better (no insult meant to 12yr olds). So if you have a bit of a brain and are open minded enough and realise that we are always learning, well this film is of a reasonable enough standard to spend some time on.

Honestly, I can't believe I watched this. Do not, do not believe anything that is written about this film. there is no art, there is no amazing story. I am using some anonymous (bugmenot) account, but, my words ring true. This movie is just trying to capitalize on the buzz of Knights Templar from the Da Vinci Code. This movie has nothing to do with the sort(the reason i watched it). It is only some estranged idea of a Christian consorting with a Muslim. But, it isn't even really anything to do with that. In the end, the saddening end, it is just a failed love story, of a Knight Templar doing something a Knight Templar would never do. In all honesty, a useless movie with no point.