Orlando's epic return

Five thousand fans turned out in the West End to greet Orlando Bloom, star of the crusader epic Kingdom Of Heaven. "Welcome home Orlando" said the fans' banners as the Lord Of The Rings actor returned to Britain for the premiere of Sir Ridley Scott's new film.

Bloom is relieved to put his feet up after a tour of duty that's included Middle Earth and 12th century Jerusalem. But his co-star, French actress Eva Green, was clearly still footsore. She yanked her high-heeled sandals off and waved them about her head.

Bloom said: "I'm thrilled to be back in London. I've been away for quite a long time and it's great to be home."

Adoring fans handed him rings - a reference to his starring role as Legolas in the Tolkien fantasy.

A busy schedule has meant Bloom, aged 28, has not returned home to London for almost a year. Kingdom Of Heaven is a £75m epic set in the 12th century and depicts the bloody war of the crusades between Muslims and Christians.

Sir Ridley, the director, is the man who made swords and sandals fashionable again with Gladiator and turned Russell Crowe into the world's officially greatest living hunk.

But Kingdom Of Heaven has come under attack for its politics. Islamic leaders have denounced it as anti-Islamic and likely to offend Muslims in its depiction of the warrior leader Saladin, with one US academic saying: "I believe this movie teaches people to hate Muslims."

Sir Ridley defended the film's politics. "[It's] a very good discussion and balance on those tricky subjects politics and religion," he said.

Referring to the critics, he said: "They have not seen the bloody movie. They keep going on about how offensive it is but that's absolute rubbish."