Arn: Knight Templar - Extended Edition [DVD]

Arn was a great film and Bluray is the perfect format for this epic and international tale. It follows the life of Arn Magnusson. A young boy brought up in a monastery, who as an adult fights in the crusades as a Templar Knight in the Holy Lands.An exceptional, yet honest and honourable fighter, he finds his equal in the guise of the infamous Saladin, as both men develop a mutual respect for each other and form an uneasy friendship of sorts.The film also concentrates heavily on Arns lover. A women who is the catalyst for Arn's joining the Crusades as a Templar Knight as a form of penance, while she too suffers at the hands of the church.The film is visually stunning and locations and costumes look authentic and real. The scenery is beautiful and takes you to many different locations; from the lush green forests of Sweden, to the harsh and barren deserts that surround Jerusalem, this great Bluray transfer really makes it all look amazing.Battle scenes aren't perhaps as prolific as I thought they would be - the film is more about the love between Arn and his women, and they journey's their lives take - but when battle does commence, it's bloody and brutal; the beating of hooves, the clash of steel, and the screams of dying men certainly satisfied my blood lust.But it makes sense this is just a full on war romp. Arn, being such a pious and humble man, has to be pushed and pushed before he lifts his sword (it's never raised in anger, and only to do God's work), so that when he is forced to fight - you are always on his side, and willing him to do so!You're practically screaming at him to teach the antagonists and villains a lesson; for threatening his village, or dishonouring his father, it doesn't matter - on more than one occasion I found myself punching the air in delight as Arn delivered `God's Justice'.All the cast are excellent. All the acting is excellent. And Joakim Nätterqvist is perfect in the lead role of this epic; based on Jan Guillou's trilogy about the fictional Swedish Knight. Apparently, it was originally 2 films, but for some reason here in the UK it's been rolled into 1.I'm not sure if there were any edits or scenes taken our or missing (I haven't seen the two originals), but if there were, the film didn't suffer from it. It certainly didn't feel clunky, or like there were any bits missing.Another thing I liked about this film is the use of language. This is the second multilingual films I've seen recently that mixes English with other tongues and it's a style that really works for me.The time, the film is mainly in Swedish, but to create a realistic feel it features Latin, English, French, and Arabic too. All this ads to the epic feel and grand scale of proceedings.Overall, Arn didn't disappoint. There was perhaps a little less fighting that I had expected but the film more than made up for that in many other ways. But do not think that it lacks action. It's just the film is a lot deeper than fight! fight! fight!As I say, however, there are still plenty of good battle scenes - this is after all, a 2 hour ten minute film about the life of a Templar Knight.

I was almost put off watching this film by the very fact that it seems to have appeared from nowhere. I hadn't read anything about it and had not heard any rumours about it being made. Like a US stealth bomber it seems to have slipped under the radar. But I have to say, when it finally arrived, just like a stealth bomber, it delivered an unexpected bang.This is a gem of a film. True, at heart, it's one of those soppy love stories. But like Tristan & Isolde before it (2005 20th Century Fox / Scott Free) it is a magical tale that transports you with ease into a world of rich textures, and just like the myriad facets of a gem, mesmerizes you with its tones and depth.The cinematography is magical and owes I think not a little to Ridley Scott's Kingdom Of Heaven. In fact many of the scenes shot in the Holy Land could easily have been lifted wholesale from that blockbuster of a movie. I don't mean here to suggest that Arn is in anyway a copy of the former, but like Kingdom, this film is a visual feast all be it on a much smaller, cosier scale.The film skips constantly back and forth between a snow-laden Northern Europe and a sun-scorched Holy Land, and whilst this gets a little disorientating at times, and one often wishes the film would slow down to ponder a little longer on a particular storyline, it does mean that there is very little padding throughout the length of the film. If I have a complaint at all, it is that this two hour ten minute film feels rushed - there is too much story and just not enough time, which is to be expected when a film tries to deal with three novels in one go. This is a big budget movie that works well on so many levels, but would have been so much better had it been two or even three films. But that is a minor quibble. If you like your historic dramas to be rich in detail, beautifully filmed and impeccably acted, then this film is worth a watch.EXTENDED EDITION UPDATE:I have since treated myself to the Special Extended Edition of this film that contains the original, two-part TV series in its entirety. With this edition you get a more detailed look at Arn's childhood and his adolescent friendship with the young Knut, which goes a long way to explain Arn's later devotion the the man who became king, and which was sorely missing in the original release. Also included are some nice and necessary scenes of Arn's married life, which extends the story quite considerably after his eventual return from the Holy Land. All in all it is definitely worth getting the extended version.