El Cid (1961)

That was an excellent one.

Sorry, this movie sucks

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The teardrop of Sofia Loren is the hallmark of the movie. No man uses Agua Brava aftershave anymore but boy it was OK then. In our post post era we could take this away from the movie that good storytelling will never be outdated. A role model pur sang for people that have need for deepness in their lives.

Don Rodrigo (Charlton Heston) captures two of the Emirs of Valencia. He releases them and they proclaim him El Cid. Don Rodrigo is accused of treason which leads to a duel with Jimena (Sophia Loren)'s father Count Gormaz. This leads to revenge and backstabbing. King Ferdinand dies. The older Prince Sancho ascends to the throne. The younger Prince Alfonso (John Fraser) and Princess Urraca (Geneviève Page) has Sancho assassinated. Alfonso takes over the throne and El Cid is banished joined by Jimena. General Ibn Yusuf (Herbert Lom) of the Almoravid dynasty is landing from North Africa. Rodrigo does not join the king, but allies with friendly Emirs to conquer Valencia from Yusuf's allie Emir Al-Kadir.This is without a doubt an old-fashion Hollywood epic. The sets are massive and the cast number in the thousands. The back and forth with the multitude of characters can get confusing. The political intrigue in the first half drags a bit. The second half has more big epic battles. It does get a bit weird with the Almoravids running in fear of El Cid's dead body.

I loved it now as well as I loved it first time, when I saw it in the early sixties. Maybe more. It is an epic, perhaps not very accurate historically, still appealing. You see interesting director's solutions, attention to details. Heston and Loren are gorgeous and inspiring. Mass scenes would be quite cost prohibitive nowadays and be substituted by animations. Yes, it is long. But somehow I do not get tired. The dialogs, the music, the costumes, the scenery, the makeup - they used to take their time to do all of these things back in the day. I think El Cid can hold its own against any contemporary epic, without an exception.

Charlton Heston's most underrated movie. This is not only a great medieval movie, but a great war movie as well. The story takes place during the tumultuous Reconquista (Reconquest) era in Spain. A civil war has broken out between the Christians and the Moores, and who better to save the day than another epic hero played by Charlton Heston. This time he plays the legendary warrior El Cid, and yes, this is a 3+ hour movie. My only complaint is its length, because the story is superb and action-packed battles abound. There's also a really good one-on-one medieval combat scene that is awesomely choreographed. More people need to see this epic action movie, which is a pretty even mix of "Ben Hur" and "Kingdom of Heaven." It's a shame it has gone under the radar for so long. 3.5 out of 5 action rating