Before Braveheart and Kingdom of Heaven there was 1965's The War Lord. I saw this movie at the age of ten when it was released and it has stayed with me my entire life. One of the first "60's-no-good-guy-no-bad-guy-just people" character plays, the performances are perfect, especially those of Stockwell (great voice) and Boone. One of my childhood favorites.
shareI agree with you 100% - too bad I didn't realize when it came out in DVD - now I see where the studio has withdrawn it. Creeps! Vastly underrated and well acted.
shareAlso agree. I saw this on first release (sans parents who dropped a bunch of us kids off at the theater to entertain ourselves while they had dinner) and managed to get a grainy copy on VHS. The score remains one of the all-time greats.
Was this the first of the Heston flicks to feature him "unnecessarily" dying in the end (his trademark)?
Heston doesn't die at the end of THE WAR LORD. I think that it was with BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES that you start to get the Heston death scenes, that is if you don't count EL CID.
shareThat must be a matter of interpretation then. I always understood that Chrysagon is going to die at the end...!?
shareI must admit to being in absolute agreement that this is a vastly under-rated and sadly neglected movie. Here in the UK, where I reside, there has never been any video cassette or DVD release. I first saw this film in 1965 at my local cinema when I was eighteen. It impressed me then and still continues to do so now all these years later. It has been shown on TV over here but not very often.
The ending of the tale is deliberately ambiguous. We are never certain if Chrysagon will survive his wound or whether or not he will ever reach his destination, make peace with the Duke and "set right all I have set wrong here." We are in a region very similar to that of Romantic myth and legend. The wounded warrior hero rides away accompanied by his faithful henchman (is Bors a possible surrogate father figure?) and if he will ever return again none can tell. This is one of the movie's greatest achievements as a dramatic presentation, the unfolding of the contrasts and conflicts between human authority and the dark implacable forces of Nature, love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, passion and duty, darkness and light. Mythopoeic stuff indeeed!
I agree that this is a very good movie, and Heston, Stockwell, Evans and Boone are excellent in it. In response to Mr. Nicoll, I think that Bors definitely is a surrogate father figure. The real father of Chrysagon and Draco was defeated and broken as a man early in the sons' lives. Bors was assigned to watch over the brothers and teach them to be men, and it seems to me that Bors then developed a loving, fatherly relationship with them.
In addition, I think the movie has some other great strengths. The script is often very literate. And Jerome Morross's beautiful music and the nicely done scenery combine for a lot of good atmospherics. I first saw the movie as a boy, many years before VHS or DVD, yet many images haunted me until I finally got my hands on a video as an adult.
Also, there is a lot of authenticity in the costumes and scenery, compared to other movies. Similar armor and haircuts can be seen in a lot of Eleventh Century artwork, such as the Bayeaux Tapestry and some manuscripts in Italy that show Normans.
This movie has also stayed with me. In fact I found the soundtrack and purchased it. The love theme brought back SO much memory of the movie. For a long time I wanted to buy and live in a round turret castle-keep. Ok I waw young. But this movie was so good. I am surprised there has not been a remake. It seems no one can come up with much new so they just keep remaking
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Wow, caymandj, I'm jealous that you've got the soundtrack! :-) I'll have to look for that. I think that "The War Lord" music is amongst the most beautiful of all movie music.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to live in a turret. If I can find one I'll try to convince my fiancee that it would be the place to be! :-)
In my original post I forgot to mention Rosemary Forsythe. Holy crap, I had fantasies about her for decades!
shareJust caught with a UK tv showing. Wanted to echo the previous comments as regards:
what a terrific movie it is
Heston is superb
Stockwell and especially Richard Boone are fantastic in support
Rosemary Forsythe was just adorable
loved the score with its sublime main theme by Jerome Moross (who did the memorable score for The Big Country)
Did you know that England's group The Shadows ('Apache' etc) did a great guitar instrumental version of The War Lord (main theme?)
Yeap, its a great movie. For me what strikes me the most are the battle scenes, feeled very real almost implecable in execution.
share While I acknowledge that this is NOT the best movie ever made, I have claimed it as my favorite movie all my life.
Why?
Well, mainly because I was at just the right age when I saw it, and as the other posters here have attested, it has stuck with me. No one does the angst thing better than Heston and this movie has angst in droves.
And lets face it, the battle scenes are just incredible. It covers almost every form of tactical combat for that era, and does it well. Maces, great swords, boiling oil, siege towers, it has it all.
Oh, and the girl is hot too. What's not to like?
Now, about Boone being a father figure. Here I have to disagree. He was the equivalent of "platoon sgt.". In one scene Heston orders Boone to burn the bed, and we immediately see Boone hauling it off, literally. While we can all see the great respect these men have for each other Heston is clearly the Lord, and Boone is clearly an underling, albeit a valued one.
You don't order your father to do your chores.
While it is obvious Boone has some strong opinions about the goings on, he keeps them firmly to himself, at least verbally. Some lines you just don't cross. And he certainly had no compunction about liberating the prince from the dwarf.
I don't dispute that there was a closeness in the relationship, but it was mostly the trust and respect of armed comrades. Boone was a trusted and loyal servant.
I just now watched the last scene so I could answer the question about the ending. There is no doubt Boone loves Heston. Even so, I say ultimately he is an underling, and he is ok with that.
I also think it is very cool how these men display obvious warmth for one another and it does not even remotely seem homosexual or homophobic.
The Ending
My whole life I always thought he went off with the Vikings (don't yell, I know they are Frisians, but they sure did LOOK like Vikings to me as a kid, and how cool would that be, get the girl and get to go be a Viking). He sends his girl and I always just thought he would follow eventually.
But I just watched it again, and yes, the ending leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Actually, after watching that, and Boone's reactions to the situation, I think Heston is going to die in the saddle before he reaches the Duke, but clearly the Duke is the destination. You can actually see his head sinking as the credits start to come up and he is oozing blood. Boone declares the Duke will have them put to death anyway, so either way, it doesn't look good.
I like my childhood ending better.
One last thought
The mere presence of James Farentino in this movie almost ruined it for me once I got a copy as an adult. He was just so clearly a "TV actor" from that time that it really messed with my suspension of disbelief. He looked to American. The other Druids all seemed to fit, but he did not. I am sure this is more a personal perspective. I think anyone that did not grow up watching 60's TV wouldn't even notice and would really enjoy this movie.
Absolutely agree with you about this unjustly neglected film. It respected the mores of those times & that culture very well, put the viewer into their world, and conveyed the powerful sense of bleak fate that those times demanded of an honorable man. And the ambiguous ending is moving, as Chrysagon begins to slip into the mythic, as he goes to meet that fate.
Also agree about James Farentino—one of those actors who could be quite solid in contemporary roles, but just couldn't convince in period pieces. Richard Gere as Lancelot in First Knight (a bad movie all around, IMO) had the same problem.
I first saw this film in a theater in Urbana, Ohio during my freshman college year. I loved it and have seen it many times since. I was fortunate to obtain a widescreen DVD off ebay a few years back. It is so much better in widescreen format.
I have been something of a student of medieval warfare and appreciate the detailing that went into the production of this film. The battle tactics, weapons and how they were used, the armor, the tactics, even the horses was excellent.
Heston and the rest of the cast have never been better.
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup
On my must-see list. This seems right up Heston's alley.
"Now what kind of man are YOU dude?"
And still underrated. Great movie.
shareThere would be much I would give to see the original cut of this film. It was longer with Richard Boone reading a poem over the opening in his unforgettably rich voice. As delivered it was nearly an hour too long. It was cut to bits to make it fit the studio contract requirements. Heston was bitterly disappointed by the end product. He had a different vision in mind.
Charlton Heston waited years to make this film and Boone was always his choice for Bors. Bors had few lines but Boone stole his scenes.
Some things you just can't ride around...
One of my favourite movies. Chuck Heston playing roles he was born to play. Richard Boone always great. The film has a mystique about it, good action and at times quite moving. Stockwell is also good here and Rosemary Forsyth is very lovely.
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