Bloom rides along in Scott’s epic return

“Kingdom of Heaven,” set for a May 6 release, marks director Ridley Scott’s return to the epic period adventure genre.

His last historical spectacle, “Gladiator” (2000), won Oscars for best picture and best actor (Russell Crowe). But Scott is quick to point out this isn’t a “Gladiator” redux.

“ ‘Gladiator’ is a film that took good liberties to tell a story,” says the director. “This has action. It’s what we would classify as an adventure, but it’s based on fact. There is a lot more fact in this than ‘Gladiator.’ ” More political sparks, as well, as it echoes into current global conflicts.

The film, shot on location last year in Spain, stars “The Lord of the Rings” heartthrob Orlando Bloom as Balian of Ibelin, a young blacksmith living in Jerusalem during the era of the Crusades in the 12th century. Balian rises from common man to knighthood while trying to protect the people from foreign invaders. During his quest, he serves a doomed king (Liam Neeson) and falls in love with an exotic, beautiful” queen (Eva Green).

Scott had worked briefly with Bloom four years ago in “Black Hawk Down,” developing a good rapport with the British actor.

“It kind of naturally fell into place when I started to think about who would be most appropriate for this role,” says Scott. “He has a kind of special quality.... It’s this very nice honesty and integrity which is real, which is built in.”

And those qualities, Scott says, are Balian’s core.

“This character is very much about doing the right thing, about fairness and chivalry. It’s an old-fashioned word, but it is really about what is good and fair behavior. There is a very strong subtext in this story just about that.”