Soldier of God

This movie is very watchable for a low budget flick. The historical references were close to perfect. I'm surprised judging from all the reviews, nobody has any accurate knowledge about Islam here. Islam has many divisions when it comes to religious beliefs other than the Quran. The two largest are Shia's, or Ismaili's and Sunni's who usually in a political sense don't quite get along with each other. There are many others, including Bori's, Agha Khanis, etc. Hassan from the movie is a Shia and Sallahudin's army etc consists of Sunni's. The division started during politics in Mecca and Madina after the death of the Prophet(PBUH) between most of the companions of the Prophet(PBUH) and his cousin Hazrat Ali (use the internet its pretty interesting. The woman who looked like an American was a Christian forced to convert to Islam after her city was sacked and she was enslaved and then her master fell in love with her and bla bla bla. Slavery was a common practice back then. A Muslim woman bathing in public was actually quite common in those times, so was taking a dump in a bush, even if people were watching. Public Toilet Cabins were not that common :P. As for people who didn't understand how she was providing food for her guests, she states in the movie that her husband supplies her with enough food. She's away from civilization since her mother in law from her first husband didn't like her. It is a custom in most middle eastern areas, that Son's usually stay with there parents even after their married, as it is there rightful obligation to care for them in old age. Women in Islam are not oppressed as I get the vibe from some of the reviews here, as it is not Islam but the culture that is to blame nowadays. There are only two countries where I feel the women are oppressed, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Overall this movie was great but the ending sucked bad.....oh and btw for those of you that don't know soap wasn't introduced to the general public of Europe till the late 13th Century, before that soap was only used by high ranking Nobles and Royalties as a luxury.

the film is very slow ,,, i mean when they are lost , it took forever to find the tent .... and ohhh yehh about the tent , come on she looks like someone from USA , i mean come on find someone who looks like arab , never see an arab women taking shower just like the one we see in this movie , i don't know but the i think the script was OK but the director killed it ..... i don't recommend it at all, one thing , the facts ,,,, when they took him as a slave we see him in a desert , just log into google map and tell me where is that desert ? and about the women in the tent , i don't know but if we want to talk about arab women for a whil you will imagine an arab look with a veil and a very black hair , but what we see .... anyway again i think it was the director who killed this film after all

I was not impressed. Rene is a Knight Templar (a warrior monk) who is wandering in the desert after surviving the battle of Hattin in which most of the Crusaders were killed. He meets a Muslim named Hassan, they end up saving each other's lives, they become buddies to the point where they at least wont kill each other. Rene is a humorless, religious fellow, prone to mumbled, barely intelligible voiceovers about God and stuff. Supposedly Hassan is an Assassin, who were a group of brainwashed violent fanatics, yet in the movie he just seems like a totally reasonable regular guy, much smarter than the humorless, oxlike Frenchman. They meet a Muslim widow who is kinda hot and has a not-very-good imitation of an Arab accent. What is the woman doing permanently out in the desert? She keeps no animals, doesn't grow anything, what does she do for a living? They spend most of the movie hanging out around her tent and demonstrating trite lessons about how religious fanaticism and hatred are bad. The woman tries to tempt Rene away from his crazy religious vows, so to remove the temptation he offs her at the end in a way that seems abrupt and not believable. His character never really develops into anything more than a cardboard dumb dirty guy who's nuts. The whole thing seems like a pointless exercise in verbose pretentiousness. And another thing- there's a scene where Hassan hands Rene some soap, and he tries to eat it. I'm sorry, Europeans of that time period may have been a bit sketchy about personal hygiene, but they did have soap, and they used it.

The characters from this movie are far a way from any culture (Christianity, Islam,...) A muslin woman living alone in the desert...with two man...some time she rise the voice and both man calm down.... Do you really know how was the condition of woman in that age ..in Islam ? Someone say: "I highly recommend this movie to all students of medieval history, and those interested in comparative religious studies." D. Chaltry, Florida. Ha Ha Ha... Mr. Mir Bahmanyar and Kathryn Kuhlen.....please...read at least one book before to write a movie.

I was walking around Wal-Mart looking at their DVDs when all of a sudden something caught my eye,. a DVD with a list of Awards from various festivals including Deep Ellum Film Festival winner of Best Picture and the Stratford-Upon-Avon winner of Best Picture,.. Its called " Soldier Of God",. It stars Tim Abell known for his roles in" We Were Soldiers" and "Miracle At Sage Creek" he was also listed as a Producer,. the story was written by Mir Bahamanyar who also acted as Executive Producer I'm not entirely sure what the budget of this film was but its an absolutely beautiful film full of images that flow like an animated work of art,. the story revolves around a Templar Knight and his struggle to understand the "what" and "why" he fights after becoming friends to a man who essentially is to be his enemy ,..Tim Abell portrays Rene brilliantly as a conflicted dedicated Christian ,.the whole cast did a stellar job in recreating the simplistic sensibilities that surround the vision this film wants you to feel,. this movie parallels the same feelings and same decisions that are being made today,. some people I've talked to have compared "Soldier Of God" to "Kingdom Of Heaven" but for my money if you want thought provoking story telling over the urge to open big on a singular weekend then do yourself a favor and check this film out,.. You will not be disappointed…Well acted,well crafted,. Well done. I love it when I find gems like this,. I enjoy movies I can tell other people about and this is one of those movies. I even bought a few copies to give out to a few local filmmakers here around town so they could see what a beautiful HD Independent movie should be like. Thanks for reading

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.

An excellent film...Acting is excellent. Camera work is fantastic, especially noting that the film was shot in HD video. Tim Abell is especially notable in his role as it is a departure from the special forces and sci-fi thrillers we're used to seeing him in. Mapi and Mendieta were unbelievable. Bill Mendieta's transformation from a nice looking yuppie type to the assassin role is pretty unbelievable as well. The plot follows a Knight of Templar (Abell)through the Crusades. Nice work all around and kind to the eye. I really enjoyed this film as presented at the Deep Ellum Film Festival in 2005.

It's well acted that's for sure. Not bad to watch at all. It doesn't compare to Kingdom of Heaven in the shear scale of modern film making, but it's an interesting critique on the madness of absolute belief some warriors may have lived by, at the time of the crusades. I noticed a previous comment mentioned that a member of the crusading knights would not have acted in the way depicted in the film - I wonder how you would know that of every knight. It's an interesting take on the ambiguities that could beset devote individuals of any faith. I doubt we have come that far since the time depicted in the film, but I'm sure it will all turn out all right in the end. Oh dear...