The Kingdom

[BaggedLancer]

Wow, wow, and wow. This was a great movie.....had me on the edge of my seat almost the entire movie but I love these type of movies anyway.

The action scenes are great, not overdone, but just right.

The movie really depicts how many of the people in this part of the world view Americans as the terrorists, not some of their own people and what they will do to see that they don't survive.

The weapons for the Saudi's were realistic, a mix of crappy AK's, shotguns, RPGs, nail bombs, fertilizer bombs, etc.......

Another highlight was their culture is more important to them than war and solving violent crimes.

I'm not gonna spoil anything, so don't ask.

I'm gonna give this one 2 thumbs up as a must see.

[PolkThug]

Movie was kick ass. Nice little history refresher in the beginning, followed shortly by an intense opening. Good pace throughout. Just when I thought it was going to have a weak finish, I was pleasantly suprised.

Only bad point was sometimes I would miss a few words because of accents.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

51% right now on Rottentomatoes.com

[PolkThug]

...and its 90% with RT users!

[Ron-P]

This will be a blind buy for me.

[BaggedLancer]

51% right now on Rottentomatoes.com

I wouldn't believe anything you read for a movie like this. A huge majority of people don't support war in the middle east so they simply will vote the movie bad beacuse that's what this portrays.

[jdhdiggs]

Bagged: Have you been to Saudi? If not, how do you know that it portrays how they (Saudi Arabs) view America? I have't seen the movie yet but I've seen several like it where people say the same thing you did and couldn't be more wrong.

[hockeyboy]

Ruh-ROh. In one fell swoop a movie review thread becomes a political thread JD...

[PolkThug]

Bagged: Have you been to Saudi? If not, how do you know that it portrays how they (Saudi Arabs) view America?

The movie does a great job. In the movie, the dichotomy of US and Saudi relations corresponds to what has already happened in reality after the attacks on Americans on Saudi soil in '95 and '96. The movie is a continuation of that timeline, and the Saudi government in the movie acts as it had in the history books.

Going into this movie, I thought it was going to be more of a shoot em up popcorn flick, and I was completely wrong.

[MrNightly]

PT is right on... I felt it was a history lesson turned into a badass movie. :D

While I didn't feel so uplifted or happy after the show, it was extremely well done. Stayed clear of being political, and just was a solid story. Well worth the viewing.

[BaggedLancer]

Bagged: Have you been to Saudi? If not, how do you know that it portrays how they (Saudi Arabs) view America? I have't seen the movie yet but I've seen several like it where people say the same thing you did and couldn't be more wrong.

Before this takes a downward spiral go see the movie first.....then we can talk. And no, I havent been to Saudi and have no intention of going.

[George Grand]

Been there and my experience was......

If they were taking your money, they were all smiles. If you were just walking around downtown, you got kind of stared at. Now I'll admit, we weren't allowed to go downtown all that often, so perhaps repeated exposures to DIFFERENT sections of the city Jeddah would've yielded mixed results.

[jdhdiggs]

First time in Downtown Jeddah I got pointed at and then a bnch of them started hollering something at me. I think I could have ran a 3 minute mile at that point....

The Saudi's were, for the most part, hypocritical turds, especially the prince's. Now the average worker (Egyptisn, Syrian, Indian, etc...) were some of the most sincere and hard working mofo's I've seen in my travels around. Similar expeirences in Riyad, Taife, and even Meccah. It's the Saudi nationals and their ****tard "Princes" system that's screwing up the whole region.

Bagged: No problem, just saying that the last couple of movies that "really grasped how they think about us" were complete propaganda BS. From what I saw of the previews, this looks to be more of the same. The thing is, if you haven't been there and interacted and talked to the people, how do you know it's realistic?

[BaggedLancer]

Bagged: No problem, just saying that the last couple of movies that "really grasped how they think about us" were complete propaganda BS. From what I saw of the previews, this looks to be more of the same. The thing is, if you haven't been there and interacted and talked to the people, how do you know it's realistic?

I guess I should have worded what I said a bit better.....since in the movie they did have the hard working mofos you described.....however, the ones that fought for their "cause", it seemed pretty realistic......doing whatever it takes to kill an american.....much like we see on the news here in the states, the IED's, suicide bombers, etc.....from any country.

[MerLuv]

...what I want to know about was the sound? Good mix? Clear? Will it be okay in a theater or should I wait to watch it in my HT (which generally sounds better than most of the theaters around these parts).

[polkatese]

Bought HD-DVD cut on this movie, very clean transfer, and great PQ. SQ is clean and solid, but nothin spectacular.

Storyline is very compeling and suspenseful.

[Roy Munson]

The movie gave me a headache, not from the content or storyline but from the over use of the "shaky cam". Man, I'm sick and tired of this gimmick that imho ruins many movies and TV. Someone needed to get the director a "steady cam"!

Two thumbs down.

[Early B.]

Another great movie. The ending was fantastic. Opening scene was very good, too. Even my wife liked this one.

Pay close attention to the timeline at the very beginning of the movie. It's educational.

[mrbigbluelight]

^^^^

Ditto.

[rskarvan]

I've been to Saudi. Best food in the world and absolutely the cheapest price at the pump for gasoline.

[Sherardp]

Another great movie. The ending was fantastic. Opening scene was very good, too. Even my wife liked this one.

Pay close attention to the timeline at the very beginning of the movie. It's educational.

Definitely agree, some amazing facts going on in the timeline, just watched this one on HD DVD, PQ was very good lossless audio was outstanding. Gunshots sounded as if I had the gun firing in my living room. A must own on HD DVD.

[jdhdiggs]

I've been to Saudi. Best food in the world and absolutely the cheapest price at the pump for gasoline.

Wrong IMO on the first (You probably only ate at higher end resteraunts and not with families) REAL suadi food, not Lebonese, Indian, or Yemenese food is disgusting. You're definately wrong on the second, Chavez holds that one. $0.12/gallon vs $1/gallon

Some of the nuances from the movie were great and real: ("I knew something was wrong about him, Saudi's don't do labor") The armed walls and concrete bunkers everywhere in the wealthier parts of the city.

A lot were not.- Too many to list....

[rskarvan]

You are right... I ate at higher end establishments. I did enjoy the middle-eastern food. I filled up the rental car at $0.35 per gallon. So, if Chavez is selling it for $0.12/gallon, you are correct.

Anyway, I enjoyed my time in Saudi Arabia. However, the beeches in the Persian Gulf (Dammam) are littered with trash. It was interesting to see the Saudi women swimming in the gulf with full veils and dress on their head.

[TroyD]

My experiences run pretty much concurent with James.

The Sauds tend to suck. Omanis and Emirates are very pro western and in downtown Muscat and Abu Dhabi and Dubai, I felt safer on the street than in Charleston. Ditto re the food. I did find a schwarma stand in Muscat that the owner went to UNC and lived in Raleigh for a long time and only returned to take over the family business when his Dad's health failed. Very nice guy.

James is also right about the imported workers.....just the nicest people you could meet.

Much of the Kingdom was filmed in Abu Dhabi, it looked very familiar.

When I was there gas was very expensive....it depends on where you are at. In Muscat, we were paying about 1.25US per LITRE (about 5 bucks/gallon). Don't remember Abu Dhabi but it was similar.

BDT

[rskarvan]

Link for global gasoline prices (2005)
I was in Saudi Arabia in 1997.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

[Sami]

Back to the actual movie... :)

Watched it last night, I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars. Your basic action flick, well done but not much in terms of story line or character development. Definitely not Syriana but still enjoyable to watch.

[Early B.]

Back to the actual movie... :)

Watched it last night, I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars. Your basic action flick, well done but not much in terms of story line or character development.

Story line and character development in an action flick? That's an oxymoron. Blood & bullets is all I wanna see. If I want character development, I'll watch a chick flick with the wife.

I understand what you mean, though. That's why I mentioned the best parts being the beginning and the ending. That's where all of the action is.

[hearingimpared]

Link for global gasoline prices (2005)
I was in Saudi Arabia in 1997.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

Who gives a flip?

[Sami]

Story line and character development in an action flick? That's an oxymoron.

That's why I said it's your basic action movie, nothing more, nothing less. :)

[Ron-P]

I watched the HD-DVD last night, fantastic film. I wasn't impressed with the DD+ track though, it seemed quite weak. From my research it seems to be the mix as it was the same way in the theater...too bad. This could have sounded so much better.

[Early B.]

I watched the HD-DVD last night, fantastic film. I wasn't impressed with the DD+ track though, it seemed quite weak. From my research it seems to be the mix as it was the same way in the theater...too bad. This could have sounded so much better.

Glad you mentioned that. I guess I wasn't the only one that noticed this. I wanted to point the finger at my HT system.