Crusade: A March Through Time
by Ben Sombogaart
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DVD details
Actor: Emily Watson, Joe Flynn, Michael Culkin, Stephanie LeonidasDirector: Ben Sombogaart
Brand: Ardustry Home Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-26
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Allumination
DVD Reviews of Crusade: A March Through Time
DVD Review: "Crap! I'm in the 13th Century."
Summary: 4 Stars
First the Dutch gave us those clogs and Vermeer and that tasty Edam cheese, and then followed up with Rutger Hauer and Famke Janssen and, of course, Ikea. To round off this very shallow breakdown of Dutch exports, here's this pretty neat movie CRUSADE: A MARCH THROUGH TIME (otherwise known as CRUSADE IN JEANS or KRUISTOCHT IN SPIJKERBROEK). Adapted from and apparently diverging a bit from Thea Beckman's novel Crusade in Jeans, it's an absorbing coming-of-age time travel adventure set primarily in the Middle Ages. I think it's well worth watching.
It's not often that one gets a second chance in life. Teenaged soccer player Rudolf Vega had just royally bollixed it up and cost his team and country the European Junior Cup Championship. But this is a sci-fi picture and it's encouraged that you roll with the unbelievable. Dolf's scientist mom has built a time machine, and it doesn't take too long for a distraught Dolf to have it in his mind that he can time travel to the immediate past and replay the championship match. He sneaks in the lab, punches in the time travel computations, and bollixes that up, too. A startled Rudolf Vega finds himself in the year 1212 and taking part in the Children's Crusade, a self-referred Army of Innocents composed of thousands of children journeying to Jerusalem's gates to convert heathens, infidels, and other naysayers of clogs, Edam cheese, and Ikea.
Stranded in the Middle Ages and alternatively regarded as a miracle worker and a minion of the Devil, Dolf and his contemporary perspective predictably clash with 13th Century thinking and beliefs. Although he starts out a sort of whiny kid, he rapidly enough straightens out his act, his modern day wits rapidly elevating him to the rank of squire. He ends up making a difference as the pilgrimage encounters arrogant lords, mass starvation, deadly disease, slavers, and a corrupt companion in the midst.
It's gratifying that the movie chooses to veer away from the kiddish shenanigans of, say, A KID IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT, a film which has its own niche and is more tot-friendly. CRUSADE carries more weight, takes its story more seriously and is keyed by the kid actors' quite sincere, very good performances. The two young leads, Joe Flynn and Stephanie Leonidas, are outstanding and create sparks together. In tone this movie is more in line with LIONHEART, another (but rather more boring) film about the Children's Crusade. However, CRUSADE tends to be more spirited and playful, the nature of the premise allowing for several cute and fun moments. You can't help but smile at the effect a Mars bar has on the raggedy children or at Dolf putting to good use that iPod of his, or as he calls it: a "troubadour in a box." Now, medieval children baking bread whilst singing along to Queen's "We Are the Champions" may be stretching things a bit too far, but I ate it up, brother!
Interwoven into the main story thread is a side arc involving Dolf's scientist mom frantically trying to get him back to the present, even as her backers threaten to shut her down. Thank goodness for historical records.
CRUSADE: A MARCH THROUGH TIME has its share of action, although it plays fair in that it doesn't portray the few warrior-minded children as being able to easily stand up to grown combatants. Dolf himself doesn't suddenly acquire massive martial skills. Instead he consistently relies on his 21st Century brains to problem solve. But, realistically, he can't save everyone, and he doesn't, and Joe Flynn is a savvy enough actor that he's able to roll with his character arc and demonstrate grief and growth and maturity. This movie - part science-fiction, part medieval adventure, and most improbable - still manages to deliver a powerful coming-of-age story.
I saw the film in its true entirety at a buddy's house, so I do want to echo one of the reviewers in that this version is only 100 minutes long, meaning that about half an hour of story content is missing here, resulting in a sometimes choppy feel. Thing is, far as I know, the film in its more than 2 hours running time is only available in Region 2, so I'm envying those lucky bastards who own an All Region DVD player. Regarding bonus stuff, there's not much in the way of that on this DVD. There's a brief, five-minute Making Of featurette and the film trailer. The Dutch evidently feel that they've contributed enough already. To which I say: Ikea rocks!
Description of Crusade: A March Through Time
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