The Cid survived capture, heartbreak, loss, wounds, and war to bring peace to a whole nation of people. I got out of bed to go to the bathroom today. In my eyes, we are both driven and historic men.

To be honest, I'm severely disappointed with this film. I wanted another grand epic like <i>Ben-Hur</i> and whilst this is nothing short of a massive cinematic achievement, this story was not told in the best way. I found myself bored and times and wanting a scene to just end long before it did. I can't give this film a bad score because like I said, there is so much great here. I just wish I was more entertained.

The Cid survived capture, heartbreak, loss, wounds, and war to bring peace to a whole nation of people. I got out of bed to go to the bathroom today. In my eyes, we are both driven and historic men.

To be honest, I'm severely disappointed with this film. I wanted another grand epic like <i>Ben-Hur</i> and whilst this is nothing short of a massive cinematic achievement, this story was not told in the best way. I found myself bored and times and wanting a scene to just end long before it did. I can't give this film a bad score because like I said, there is so much great here. I just wish I was more entertained.

This was actually way better than I expected. The story is actually super interesting especially to me because it was one of those rare films which depicted Muslims. And this film is very complex in it's depiction of Muslims admittedly. Complex in this case means good and bad. I mean you get figures like Ben Yusuf, who in this film is completely barbaric. While I don't know much about the history of this era to confirm whether that Ben Yusuf was indeed a barbarian, I do genuinely feel that his character has traces of stereotypes that the west have had about Muslims that they are violent, uncivilised and barbaric. On the other hand you get characters like Al-Mu'tamin who is very honourable and noble and helps El Cid fight a foreign invader. El Cid also (again idk if he was genuinely like this) seems like a very interesting character as he is very secular in his approach for his humility and ability to forgive. Even his king Alfonso VI is tyrannical in some aspects like killing his own brother. So while I do appreciate this film to an extent making some of the characters very honourable and chivalrous I still feel like some of the other Muslim characters are steeped in orientalism and stereotypes but admittedly I don't expect a film from 1961 to be progressive so I'm not gonna be surprised or shocked. This film did remind me of Kingdom of Heaven, however that film has more of a better depiction of the historical relationship between Christian and Muslim people albeit set in the Crusades. I do think this film did surprise me a lot more but like I said it is not perfect for it's time. Anyways this film was shot really good I can't lie and actually is one of the most underrated epic films ever. Charlton Heston was actually really made for this genre, I've seen The Ten Commandments and he truly led that film and this one on his shoulders so I have to hand it to him. Sophia Loren was a nice addition to the cast, again she's stunning but we all know that. Also the sheer scale and production design is amazing from Medieval architecture to islamic architecture it was amazing to see and some of the battle scenes were impeccably choreographed and staged so amazingly. Definitely liked this a lot more than I expected! It's not perfect but it's something!

This was actually way better than I expected. The story is actually super interesting especially to me because it was one of those rare films which depicted Muslims. And this film is very complex in it's depiction of Muslims admittedly. Complex in this case means good and bad. I mean you get figures like Ben Yusuf, who in this film is completely barbaric. While I don't know much about the history of this era to confirm whether that Ben Yusuf was indeed a barbarian, I do genuinely feel that his character has traces of stereotypes that the west have had about Muslims that they are violent, uncivilised and barbaric. On the other hand you get characters like Al-Mu'tamin who is very honourable and noble and helps El Cid fight a foreign invader. El Cid also (again idk if he was genuinely like this) seems like a very interesting character as he is very secular in his approach for his humility and ability to forgive. Even his king Alfonso VI is tyrannical in some aspects like killing his own brother. So while I do appreciate this film to an extent making some of the characters very honourable and chivalrous I still feel like some of the other Muslim characters are steeped in orientalism and stereotypes but admittedly I don't expect a film from 1961 to be progressive so I'm not gonna be surprised or shocked. This film did remind me of Kingdom of Heaven, however that film has more of a better depiction of the historical relationship between Christian and Muslim people albeit set in the Crusades. I do think this film did surprise me a lot more but like I said it is not perfect for it's time. Anyways this film was shot really good I can't lie and actually is one of the most underrated epic films ever. Charlton Heston was actually really made for this genre, I've seen The Ten Commandments and he truly led that film and this one on his shoulders so I have to hand it to him. Sophia Loren was a nice addition to the cast, again she's stunning but we all know that. Also the sheer scale and production design is amazing from Medieval architecture to islamic architecture it was amazing to see and some of the battle scenes were impeccably choreographed and staged so amazingly. Definitely liked this a lot more than I expected! It's not perfect but it's something!

Give me all the medieval vibesss!!!😂😍🙌

Okay Charlton Heston was THE leading man! He was amazing in yet another demanding role. I also read that he and Sophia Loren didn't get along on set which surprised me because their chemistry on screen was really good. By the way this was my first Sophia Loren film and except from the fact that she was gorgeous her stare was implacable.

In general the film was grand, magnificent and epic but I did feel it's runtime, the fighting scenes went on for too long and some of the characters decisions seemed very odd. The amount of extras in this film was crazy! Lastly I have to talk about THAT ending scene....👀 It felt very macabre...

Give me all the medieval vibesss!!!😂😍🙌

Okay Charlton Heston was THE leading man! He was amazing in yet another demanding role. I also read that he and Sophia Loren didn't get along on set which surprised me because their chemistry on screen was really good. By the way this was my first Sophia Loren film and except from the fact that she was gorgeous her stare was implacable.

In general the film was grand, magnificent and epic but I did feel it's runtime, the fighting scenes went on for too long and some of the characters decisions seemed very odd. The amount of extras in this film was crazy! Lastly I have to talk about THAT ending scene....👀 It felt very macabre...

they ratatouilled that man to the horse

they ratatouilled that man to the horse

No idea if any of this is accurate, but it's good

No idea if any of this is accurate, but it's good