Das Blut der Templer (2004)

David was abandoned as a child outside a monastery and raised by monks. Otherwise, he seems like an entirely ordinary teenager. That changes when, shortly before his high school graduation exams, the 18-year-old goes to a party with his girlfriend, Stella. During an argument with Stella’s ex-boyfriend, he suddenly reveals extraordinary physical strength and easily defeats his opponent. When someone smashes a bottle over David’s head, the wound heals within minutes. At his girlfriend’s urging, David nevertheless goes to a doctor, who notices something unusual in his blood. The doctor immediately informs some mysterious employers. The monk Quentin, in whose care David grew up, hears about the incident. He knows what it means and immediately informs Robert von Metz, the current Grand Master of the legendary Knights Templar. The Order is locked in a bitter dispute with the Prieuré de Sion. This secret society split from the Templars in their earliest days. Its Grand Mistress, Lucrezia de Saintclair, is determined to get her hands on the Holy Grail and the other relics that make up the Templar treasure. Acting on the Grand Mistress’s orders, Ares and the assassin Shareef break into David’s room, but find only the young man David injured—the one who wanted revenge. They soon realize their mistake. Robert von Metz plans to take David out of the country, but at the airport he becomes embroiled in a sword fight with Ares and the assassin. David escapes from a van and, while fleeing, ends up in Lucrezia de Saintclair’s car. At the Prieuré’s headquarters, Lucrezia tells him he ought to know who she is. In a sword fight, Ares, Lucrezia’s brother, runs David through. But David soon heals again. The Grand Mistress tells him she is his biological mother. (Robert von Metz stole David from her at his baptism and had originally even intended to kill him.) But Lucrezia is far from sentimental. She only wants to use David to defeat her archenemies. Meanwhile, Robert von Metz and the Templars learn that David has been abducted. David is Robert’s rightful heir as Grand Master of the Templars, and is also Lucrezia de Saintclair’s son. Robert von Metz decides to eliminate David to prevent a union with the Prieuré. When David plans to meet his girlfriend Stella, the Prieuré decides to kill her. The Saintclairs also lure Robert von Metz to the meeting place so they can frame him for the murder of David’s girlfriend. Stella is struck from behind by an arrow fired by the assassin. Ares quickly takes David away from the scene. Robert von Metz takes the wounded Stella to the Templars’ castle. The young man continues to let his mother manipulate him and turn him against the Templars and Robert von Metz. His uncle Ares trains him in sword fighting. Ares also tells him that although his wounds heal quickly, he is not immortal. If his artery is cut or vital organs such as his heart are injured, he will lose too much blood. The Prieuré de Sion’s mission is to preserve the bloodline said to have been founded by Christ and Mary Magdalene. Before long, David is ready for the great battle against the Templars. He and the members of the Prieuré break into the Templars’ headquarters. After fighting several Templars, David reaches the tomb of the Templar masters. There he faces Robert von Metz in a one-on-one duel. But just before he is about to stab the Templars’ Grand Master, his girlfriend Stella tells him that Robert is his biological father. His parents are the leaders of the two warring groups. David switches sides and joins his father. David, Stella, and Robert escape the castle through a secret passage; all the other Templars have been killed. Lucrezia arrives and sees that she has gained nothing. She demotes her brother Ares and gives command to Shareef. David, his father, and Stella hide in an abandoned multi-storey parking garage. Lucrezia and Shareef inspect the tomb of the Templar masters. At her command, the Templar master Anjou is exhumed. Lucrezia is after the former Templar master’s ring. It bears the inscription “in hoc signo vinces” and is said to have belonged to Emperor Constantine. Meanwhile, Ares tracks David using a chain his mother gave him that emits radio signals. Ares and the assassin Shareef chase Stella, Robert von Metz, and David through the parking garage in a car, but the three manage to escape. David’s father gives him a Swiss passport and credit cards. The three decide to steal the Shroud, which is kept at the Prieuré de Sion’s headquarters and is an important key in the search for the Grail. Ares and Shareef catch them in the act. Robert is separated from David and Stella by a metal grating, and falls into Lucrezia’s hands. Before he dies, Robert manages to throw his sword through the grating to his son. David takes it and flees with Stella while Lucrezia’s henchmen murder his father. Disguised as monks, David and Stella find refuge in a monastery. There they meet the monk Quentin again. Ares sets out to find David. As the monks sit silently at the table, including David, Stella, and Quentin, Ares appears at the monastery. While the monks hold Ares off, the three escape. Ares pursues them. David confronts him as he speeds toward them in a car, and slashes the vehicle open with his sword. The car plunges into the lake, and Ares gets himself out. But David, his girlfriend, and Quentin have escaped him once again. After several attempts, David discovers that the hollow sword hilt can be detached. Inside, he finds the tip of the Holy Lance of Longinus. The Shroud bears a plan of the catacombs of Rome, and the route to the Holy Grail can be determined by looking through notches in the lance tip. After arriving at the Vatican, Quentin, Stella, and David search for the way through the catacombs. Lucrezia, Shareef, and Ares are also in Rome and follow them. At last, Lucrezia and Shareef catch up with the trio in front of Emperor Constantine’s tomb, which can be opened using the lance tip. When Lucrezia enters the tomb with David, Shareef and Ares remain outside with the monk and Stella. Ares sees his chance to claim the Grail for himself. He stabs Shareef in the back and sneaks after Lucrezia and David. In the final fight, Ares and David face off. Quentin and Stella arrive and try to stop Ares. The monk is wounded, and Stella throws her boyfriend his sword, giving him the advantage over Ares. Ares dies when David thrusts his sword precisely into his chest. David smashes the container holding the Grail—a stone basin said to have caught Christ’s blood. Lucrezia takes David’s hand, wounded in the fight, and lets his blood drip into the basin, where it multiplies. Lucrezia drinks from it to become immortal, but blood pours from every pore of her body. She collapses, saying, “I suppose it wasn’t meant for me,” and dies. David covers the Grail again with the banner of the Knights Templar. After closing the tomb by removing the lance tip from the stone, Quentin, Stella, and David leave the catacombs.