79
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- It leaves the facts wounded and strewn haphazardly across the battlefield, but El Cid remains a flat-out terrific movie.
- 90Los Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonLos Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonIt's an ode to heroism, idealism and romance that still sweeps us away.
- 90The New York TimesBosley CrowtherThe New York TimesBosley CrowtherIt is hard to remember a picture in which the sheer pictorial punch was greater than it is in this three-hour exhibition of kings and warriors in medieval Spain.
- 89Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleA surprisingly effective adventure, El Cid begins well enough but if you stick with the story 'til the end, in CinemaScope, it becomes breathtaking.
- El Cid remains a visually sumptuous film graced with a passionate score by Miklos Rozsa.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliEl Cid is about as self-important as a motion picture can be. Regardless, there are still moments of breathtaking, almost transcendant splendor, when the film makers attain the grand aspirations they strive for.
- 75Slant MagazineSlant MagazineThere’s no denying El Cid‘s lucid grandeur as it reaches its famous climax, a simultaneously triumphant and tragic portrait of the warrior as corpse that, like the best of Mann’s work, never neglects the human toll of heroism.
- 63Washington PostRichard HarringtonWashington PostRichard HarringtonIt's overly long and it's overly melodramatic, but it's also a perfect example of the kind of film they just don't make anymore, because they can't.
- 60EmpireIan NathanEmpireIan NathanOne of Heston's best work, this shows our lead at his most macho and heroic, inspiring a whole army while also managing to woo the stunning Loren in this romantic war epic.
- 58The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsIt's tough to dismiss a film that succeeds so well at producing spectacle, and it's hard to miss the contemporary parallels in its simple, tortuously protracted story.