Classic Film | El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection)

Take this three-hour course in Movie Classics 101 | El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection) | Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren

DVDs:


	• El Cid (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (The Miriam Collection) Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren Miriam Collection, 2008 average customer review:based on 179 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Why isn't the whole movie on one disc?!

The movie is a classic and Heston does a great job. Plenty of extras with this edition but why didn't they put the entire movie on one disc?!?!The movie is split on two discs. Very annoying. That is the only reason I stopped short of 5 stars.

Classic Film

This is an old film but a good one. I have seen it three times, first when it was released in 1961, then at an "arts" theater in Houston, TX in about 1990 and just recently as I viewed the DVD version that I purchased on Amazon. I highly recommend this film, especially for those who remember and relish how movies were made a few decades ago.

Admittedly, I have not yet reviewed all of the bonus features on the second disc, so I won't comment on their quality at this time.

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Take this three-hour course in Movie Classics 101

Back in the 20th century, Hollywood used to make movies in which extravagant locations were actual locations, crowds of hundreds were hundreds of actual people, and the characters and events were actually interesting to watch. In the current CGI era, almost everything is fake (and looks it). Pop a copy of "Gladiator," "Troy," or "300" into your DVD player and you'll quickly feel like you're watching a Pixar cartoon or Japanese anime. If you want to see the real thing, however, watch "El Cid." The binge of historical and Biblical epics of the 1950s and 1960s had its share of stinkers (if you can sit through "Cleopatra," you deserve a Purple Heart), but when they were done right, they bordered on pure cinematic perfection. The stunning visuals, the booming music, and so on: all of it was real. In "El Cid," Charlton Heston was perfectly cast (he wasn't trying to overdo the "man as heroic myth" bit, as in "The Ten Commandments"), and the subject was, and definitely still is, topical (Islamic rulers trying to take over the world: sound familiar?). If your tastes lean toward CGI effects and computer games, you need to see "El Cid" in order to learn the definition of "great movie."

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VCR Summary

I love the movie but the VCR tape was not a quality tape. I don't believe it was a new product as stated when I ordered it.

Magnificent Picture and Sound, but No Spanish Language Soundtrack

When El Cid finally came out in DVD in the US (after having been available in various DVD editions in Europe for years), the quality of the picture and sound really did the film justice--both were outstanding. Unfortunately, although it says above that this version contains a Spanish-language soundtrack, it does not, and the producers really missed a bet here, in view of the enormous popularity of the legend of El Cid in the Spanish-speaking world. It is particularly unfortunate because there already exists an extremely good Spanish-language soundtrack on the 2004 Region 2 DVD issued by Divisa Home Video--but this was unfortunately coupled with one of the most awful prints of the film imaginable, and the Divisa print of the film is almost unwatchable, despite the absolutely beautiful and superbly refined Castilian Spanish on its soundtrack. There is also a (supposedly remastered) 2003 version with a Spanish language track available from Front Row Entertainment, but as I have not seen it I cannot vouch for either the picture quality or the quality of the Spanish language soundtrack. How long will we have to wait before the Miriam Collection reissues this magnificent version, with digitally remastered picture and sound, with a Spanish (and perhaps French) language soundtrack, so that it can be enjoyed in the language in which this epic was written? There is already a German-language Region 2 version of this digitally remastered version available in Europe, so it seems perverse that a version with Spanish, French, and possibly even a Portuguese language soundtrack is not yet available as an option to go with this marvelously clear and beautiful version. In any case, despite what it says above, this version does NOT have a Spanish language soundtrack, and the Spanish subtitles that are available on it are inferior to those in the otherwise poorly recorded 2004 Divisa Home Video version available in Region 2. So, for those who want to see the film in English (and have El Cid sound as if he lives in California, and Dona Jimena sound as if she lives in Naples, whereas both are supposedly from the same small area of Spain), this version is just fine--sound and picture are magnificent. For those who would prefer to hear the wonderful Castilian soundtrack available on the Divisa version, there are no good options, as the picture quality on that version is terrible, and the Spanish language soundtrack on the digitally remastered version is nonexistent.

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Anthony Mann masterfully directs this classic tale of the 11th-century hero (Heston) who fought to unite Spain. Known as history?s "compassionate warrior," the film follows El Cid?s remarkable journey from peace-broker accused of treason to the King?s fighting champion, and later from exiled hero to legendary martyr.