The Kingdom is part whodunit part shoot em up in the land of camels, sand and black gold.
The Special features on this DVD include: deleted scenes, character by character the apartment shootout, constructing the freeway sequence, creating the kingdom, history of the kingdom: an interactive timeline, commentary with director Peter Berg. Much of the extras focus on the camerawork and the technical wherewithal that was necessary to deliver the action in this film. This film was almost entirely shot on 3 hand held cameras to create a fluid and almost documentary feel to the film (director’s words). I must admit my favorite part of the Kingdom was the “closeness” of the camera shots; you feel like you are on the street watching the action unfold in front of you.
In the character by character the apartment shootout we see the action take place from 4 different perspectives. It was great to see an action scene broken down like this and see the editing work that is involved to make these different scenes reflect different aspects of the same event. This is probably my favorite part of the film and it was cool to see it from different angles.
In constructing of the freeway sequence we see very serious men playing with dinky cars on the road. These men are working out an intense highway scene that involves multiple explosions, smash ups and all out carnage. To see the different stages of planning, and the amount of work that is required for less than 5 minutes of screen time is quite an eye opener. We are a species that likes to be entertained; and doing so is no easy task.
The Kingdom DVD is full of behind the scenes shots and explanations of scene set ups. The extras themselves seem to be geared to students of film and those that enjoy the craft of filmmaking. I appreciated this film much more after I saw the work that was required to put it together. We see so many action movies that we take them for granted, and often sluff them aside as kitsch. Behind every action film is an army of artists and in the special features of this disc, they are given a tip of the hat.
