EL CID-BD - MOVIE [Blu-ray] [1961]

Before this film the history of El Cid was virtually unknown outside Spain where he is a national hero.This, surely, was the film made for Charlton Heston as Rodrigo Diaz of Bivar (Vivar in the song or poem of the Cid). From his first scene shot to the last you get this sense of his great presence that other actors don’t seem to have. It was said that Charlton Heston was unhappy with the script that he was presented with and so did his own research into the character, in order get into the soul of the man he had to play in to eleventh century Spain. A true professional. The skill of all these actors have in an era before CGI is nothing short of superb. CGI of this era would have been painstakingly painted on each frame!The film itself draws mainly from the Poem of the Cid which is very long and from the Historia Roderici.From the opening scene in which we see Rodrigo clearing the cross of Christ of arrows at the end of a battle in which he captured four Muslim Emirs, and was asked to give them up for execution, but instead Rodrigo lets them go, after assurances, with one of the Emirs Lord Moutamin announcing ‘...in my culture a man with the wisdom and courage to do what you are about to do we call Al-sied’ (El Cid) we knew we were in for a real treat! A must see film! The sword fights and battle scenes are so well choreographed that you believe they are real. The atmosphere produced, at times, by the battle drumming and sheer numbers of the Moorish enemy is electric. In one scene The Cid fought off thirteen others in order to release their prisoner Alfonso to which Alfonso declares ‘...what kind of a man are you?’ but remember this man by this time is the Kings champion and history records him as having never lost a battle - unequalled across Europe at the time, and probably now. Now to the end battle and ‘...the gates of history into legend’ – well, I’m not going to spoil it for you, you will just have to see the film. However, history records that it might be, in part, true. Only Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops in Spain would know when they desecrated his (El Cid) tomb.This film truly is - the best epic ever screened!The only down side is that although it is on Blu-ray in wide screen format, unlike previous versions, it is a German import and auto starts the film in German. The way out is to press ‘disk menu’ button, or equivalent – this gets you to the main menu in German. There are three options choose the third (extreme right of screen) – then choose the second option (this looks like English) press OK. There is no acknowledgement – press back to main menu (still in German) – restart film. Now in English.

I just wanted El Cid on DVD for my Dad. Only Amazon seemed to have it, but a search brought up nearly 100 versions! Impossible to know what to get. I went for this one as it was near the top. It's fine I guess. The packaging is in Dutch and the disc defaults to Dutch subtitles, but these can be turned off easily enough. The main audio track is the original one so that's OK. Dad was happy, which is the main thing.

An epic film which takes you back to times of valour, chivalry, and honour. I love this film! Probably one of Heston’s greatest roles. El Cid won’t disappoint in my opinion. The film portrays Spain’s fight against the invading Moors and it’s internal struggle with regional Monarchy. He fights for God, his King...and for Spain. Brilliant, a must see!

Star rating is for the movie but not the transfer which is hardly better than the DVD. This movie deserves a really proper 8k restoration and transfer from 70mm source material if possible. King of Kings from Bronson got a wonderful transfer. If only somebody would give the same attention to El CID and that other epic THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

It's the kind of movie they don't make anymore - an epic historical drama where battles aren't a CGI claret-fest, romances are conducted with clothes on and the villains can show their evilness without doing torture scenes that would make Hannibal Lector's eyes water. While it takes a few liberties with historical facts, it's a very watchable movie carried by a quality cast including Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, and Herbert Lom (although it's running time means you'll probably need to pause it for a bathroom break at some point).

This is one of my favourite moviesI’ve seen it.....well I’ve don’t recall how many times!An epic from the days in Hollywood when there was no CGI and they knew how to make a blockbuster!

Sadly had to return as the sound quality on the Blu Ray version I received is abysmal. Managed to watch for about 10 minutes, but then gave up. This version has no subtitles.

This DVD advert does not actually state that the cover is in Italian and has to be converted into English to play.It however did not play on my DVD player in any case.