Leader of the Path

The movie follows the era set in the late 12th Century, where the highly contested "Crusades" see-sawed between the forces of stalwart Muslim warriors of great character and erroneously driven Christian forces who came from far-away Europe to do battle over ideology, land and religion. At a crucial point in 1189 near Jerusalem, the courageous Saladin led his smaller army versus the opposition led by England's Richard the Lion-Hearted. Wise in strategy, Saladin desired fair-play in all aspects of battle, and was known to permit his opponents to "take a break" so that the fight would be at full-strength so as to test each other's will on an even keel. Their dogged pursuit to defeat one-another is the thrust of the story, as each of two men were both willing to fight to the bitter end, feeling deep in their hearts that the historic and fabled city of Jerusalem "belonged" to them alone. The tactics used by Saladin were highly inventive and his wisdom and justice during and AFTER the battles are legendary. Saladin's mastery of plotting his strategy and executing his battle plan is highlighted as the famous Battle-of-Hatim looms on the horizon as one of the most decisive battles of the Crusades.