Weinstein's Limited Collector's Edition of El Cid looks stunning in a new enhanced transfer. Savant saw the film in its 1993 70mm restoration, and while DVD can't match 70mm for detail, the colors overall have been smoothed out considerably. Criterion released a pricey laserdisc in the middle 1990s. Even it showed considerable dirt and damage, but this new release seems to have corrected most of it. In only a few shots are the colors flat, and a couple of slightly out-of-focus angles may have always been that way. 5

The Weinstein Brothers have dedicated El Cid to their mother by inaugurating "The Miriam Collection", a branded line given prominence in logos and on the disc cover. The disc extras are definitely worth bringing home to mother. The Limited Collector's Edition comes in a handsome beige box. In it one finds the Two Disc Deluxe Edition, which contains the following attractions:

The commentary is with Samuel Bronston's son William, and Neal Rosendorf, a historian and author of a Bronston biography. It's naturally very long and discusses much more than the movie at hand. After a while, we do tire of the pair's endless superlatives for the movie, which is an excellent epic but not the pinnacle of 20th century art. The discussion keeps coming back to Bronston's dealings with Franco and DuPont, hinting at darker doings without connecting the dots.

Radio promo interviews from 1961 present Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren and Heston's wife Lydia answering questions about the historical background of the characters and their approach to their roles. Disc one finishes with text filmographies and a still gallery.

Disc two has the long-form featurettes, all of which are new. Hollywood Conquers Spain: The Making of An Epic (23:56) uses behind-the-scenes stills and film (much of it from other Bronston epics) to chart the massive production, described by C. O. Doc Erickson as 'leaking money in all directions.' The testimony pretty much indicts writer-dealmaker Philip Yordan and Associate Producer Michal Waszynski as using the Bronston shows to line their own pockets. Samuel Bronston: The Epic Journey of a Dreamer (52:20) retraces the producer's entire life, with input from his biographers Neal Rosendorf and Mel Martin, as well as Bronston's son, other relatives and Ben Barzman's widow Norma. The producer comes off as a sort of benign wheeler-dealer, dealing in huge amounts of money and never using his position to amass riches -- something that cannot be said about some of his closest confederates.

Behind The Camera: Anthony Mann and El Cid (17:22) is an okay look at a career that began in the cheapest studios in Hollywood and eventually led to two of the biggest productions ever assembled. Anthony Mann's previous work is only lightly sketched but viewers already familiar with the director will enjoy seeing excerpts from a rare TV interview made not long before his sudden death in 1967. Miklos Rozsa: Maestro of the Movies (30:11) presents an overview of one of the most respected film composers. It concludes with several inspirational and touching memories from John Mauceri about the elderly Rozsa. Preserving Our Legacy: Gerry Byrne on Film Preservation and Restoration (7:38) is less easy to pin down, as the charming Gerald Byrne isn't sufficiently identified. Besides describing his job of going through thousands of cans of film, we aren't even sure when he was doing this work -- for the 1993 restoration? Now? The DVD lists separate credits, which I believe are for these featurettes: Produced by Shannon McIntosh, Issa Mizrahi, David Rodriguez; Edited by Adam Bernardi.

The disc 2 features end with 1961 and 1993 trailers for El Cid. The only audio track is English Dolby 5.1 and the menus give a choice of subtitles in Spanish and English for the hearing-impaired.

The only paper extra for the 2-Disc Deluxe Edition is a heartfelt text intro by Martin Scorsese. The Limited Collector's Edition adds a handsomely published reproduction of the original souvenir program, a repro of the original Dell comic book (15 cents!) and a packet of six color stills printed on card stock.

Film legends Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston ignite the screen in this medieval tale of passion and chivalry. Heston plays the heroic Spanish knight, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, or, to his followers, "El Cid" - Moorish for "one who is both compassionate and a great warrior." Without compromising his strict sense of honor, he succeeds in driving the Moors from Spain and becomes a legend. Loren plays the mysterious Chimene, a Moorish princess torn between her desire for revenge against Heston -whom she blames for her father's death- and her developing love for him. Directed by the great Anthony Mann.

Originally Posted by jjcool
I do seem to remember something funny happening at the end, and the teacher getting upset at us for laughing