Review of El Cid (1961) by William R — 27 Jan 2009
A gorgeous period piece in the tradition of Cecil B. Demille. This is now one of my favorite Heston films and I feel it ranks with The Ten Commandments and comes close to matching Ben Hur. I was very impressed with the attention to detail, which is to be expected when the production is run by those Europeans who have more of a vested interest in portraying their own history than Hollywood.
Heston and the majority of the supporting cast were splendid. Loren was eh; I'm still trying to appreciate her acting style but I will say she looks genuinely scared shitless during the siege of Valencia.
I was also kind of disappointed in the send-off of the head Muslim bad guy. He acts like a total bad-ass for the whole movie and then gets run over by horses while looking like a puss?! C'mon, where's the big sword fight?! Overall, a great historical epic.
The ending was particularly poignant. With Heston riding off into the distance, I kept thinking "Shane! Come back, Shane!".
This review of El Cid (1961) was written by William R on 27 Jan 2009.
El Cid has generally received positive reviews.
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