It hasn't improved with time. In fact, when I saw it again on the Japanese DVD, I cringed. It's easily J. Lee Thompson's worst picture. Even "Taras Bulba" stands above this. Bernstein's score is a mess. He obviously didn't care much about the project after spotting it for music. The script is awful, the dialog unspeakable, and the performances uniformly bad. The costumes are corny and the actors look and obviously feel ridiculous in them. Watch Brad Dexter's walk throughout. It's as if he's trying to balance that over-sized helmet on his head! I've heard Walter Mirisch is embarrassed by it and keeps it out of release. The Mirisch Corporation's 85 or so other pictures generate enough income without this turkey. I believe it's the only epic of the pre-Columbian Americas ever filmed. So it's a real shame that about $3,000,000. was wasted on this story. A few more months in scripting and it might have been worth the expenditure. You get the feeling this one was written on AeroMexico on the way down.
Review of Kings of the Sun
