The Chinese (played by Americans) clarify to the five colonial powers occupying Peking that they are no longer welcome. Drunk with power and greed, the colonial aristocrats whom we are to root for decide to stay, massacring wave after wave of faceless, nameless attacking freedom fighters. The colonialists alone seem to have children, and whiny sexist caricatures of women who are in charge of the melodrama. In the film's most profound, Heston muses that it is "sometimes" hard being a soldier.

A lost-cause battle epic in the vein of 'Zulu' with added drama that just doesn't fully mix with the real tension driving the plot. The historical significance of this event is probably lost to most and isn't fully conveyed in the film. The star power here is undeniable

There are some big whammies in this film, but not enough of them. Instead, the film is an oxymoron: a talky spectacle, of interest mainly to film buffs with an interest in imperialism, national stereotypes, parades, nifty uniforms, awesome fireworks, Charlton Heston, David Niven, Ava Gardner, and a slew of other actors who now exist only as ghosts on film.