10 Brilliant Historical Movies With Unforgivable Inaccuracies

4. Balian Was Never A Blacksmith - Kingdom Of Heaven (2005)

Kingdom Of Heaven depicts a man's struggle for his soul, set against the struggle for the Holy Land. With a meagre 39% on Rotten Tomatoes, it would barely seem to warrant a first watch, but it's actually a highly enjoyable movie.

Most of the initial criticism of Ridley Scott's crusader-epic centred around the portrayal of the Christian and Muslim characters. The Christians were seen as evil and the Muslims as saints. Scott was accused of simplifying history to make a political statement about the situation in the Middle East, post-9/11. But, this film is far more nuanced than it has been given credit for; at the very least it makes a decent commentary on the moral hypocrisy of religious institutions - plus there's some great actions sequences.

It does, however, fall victim to several inaccuracies. The story follows Balian (Orlando Bloom), a young blacksmith who flees to the Holy Land in search of salvation. By the end of the movie our lowly blacksmith has become a lord leading the defence of Jerusalem.

Most of this is nonsense. Balian was a real figure who defended Jerusalem, but he was born into nobility. There is no way a blacksmith could have risen to the position he does in this film, or have an affair with the Queen of Jerusalem for that matter.