It does, of course, make for very expensive home viewing, to whit; one widescreen television (28 inch minimum); one set of surround-sound speakers; one good quality DVD player. But after that though, just sit down and sit back.
Because every penny that's been invested in a Home Cinema set-up will earn its keep -- just as every dime that went into the making of this movie likewise pays back many times over.
Mann didn't invent the epic. But with 'El Cid', he took it to heights it had rarely reached before. And has never attained since. An astonishing achievement for its era, the passage of time has done little to diminish its scale or its power -- indeed it seems, in a curious way, to have gained in stature, in dignity, and in sheer, blissful watchability.
Heston was never better than this. Nor was Loren. And as for those closing seconds, whilst intimations of legend take wing upon the thunderous organ coda of Miklos Rosza's finest score. . . Words really do fail, now as then.
10 out of 10 -- but remember: this is cinema at its best; watch this at home on a set-up that's anything less than that spelt out at the beginning of this review, and you're not doing yourself, or the film, any favours.
After all, every masterpiece deserves a decent frame.
Because every penny that's been invested in a Home Cinema set-up will earn its keep -- just as every dime that went into the making of this movie likewise pays back many times over.
Mann didn't invent the epic. But with 'El Cid', he took it to heights it had rarely reached before. And has never attained since. An astonishing achievement for its era, the passage of time has done little to diminish its scale or its power -- indeed it seems, in a curious way, to have gained in stature, in dignity, and in sheer, blissful watchability.
Heston was never better than this. Nor was Loren. And as for those closing seconds, whilst intimations of legend take wing upon the thunderous organ coda of Miklos Rosza's finest score. . . Words really do fail, now as then.
10 out of 10 -- but remember: this is cinema at its best; watch this at home on a set-up that's anything less than that spelt out at the beginning of this review, and you're not doing yourself, or the film, any favours.
After all, every masterpiece deserves a decent frame.