Remember that Loren was hot (ldo) and that I liked it well enough.

Mann wastes his considerable talent with this unconvincing bunk. The pacing is fine (although sacrificing meaningful character arcs and motivations in its favor is questionable), I didn't even mind the length, but my main problem is the dialogue. Some genuine moments are ruined by some of the worst kind of forced sentimentality and bravado. The acting was alright, nothing special. Give me Spartacus over this any day.......geez, I'd even take Ben-Hur.

Probably the greatest epic film ever made; more palpably arrives at immortalizing its protagonist than any other film in its genre (what an ending!). Loren and Heston give some of their greatest performances, Mann proves he's one of Hollywood's most underrated directors with El Cid's incredible staging and blocking. The morality/religious overtones that permeate the text are also frighteningly poignant now...

epic, weak drama!

# 906

A truly epic movie with big stars and sets. In fact it is so gigantic and slow-moving that in gets boring quite soon (soon is relative term, with a movie running for 3+ hours). Story is typical rise from foot soldier to godlike symbol of country, with power struggles in royal family and grand love subplot. With things so big subjectivity is lost. And yes, I am not a big fan of big movies.

Hmm, Mann while trying to establish legendary status leans on religion too many times, uttering the word God/Allah. As a result El Cid succeeds to show how people disguises every personal benefit under false premises. Main coupling of the movie between Heston and Loren drags too much. To be honest I resorted to this movie for Loren's sake. She is depicted more beatiful than most of her homeland movies, but a character actress used as a ragdoll is such a waste. Extremely long.

Great epic scenes.

Passes the time.

One of the greatest medieval epics ever.