Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

phil allen Guy Stockwell nailed the Norman knight characterization, and should have won nominations for it. Eleventh-century knighthood was not of the 'shining armor' sort. They were extra sons, trained for war but with plenty to do between battles. Basically, they were aristocratic bikers, arrogant and exceptional, often despoiling the countryside. Draco as an 'I want it now' bully perfectly captures this mentality. His character reflects that of an actual younger brother who really screwed up things. In 1066 Tosti Godwinson convinced the King of Norway, a 7' Viking, to attack England. He did and lost to King Harold, but Harold then lost to the Normans exemplified by Draco far more than Crysagon.

elcoat Like a goddess, she walked into my graduate class and sat down next to me, Summer 1972. She was tall, slim but with an unmistakable figure, blonde and blue-eyed, ladylike, and German-American. (She was quite like Rosemary Forsyth's Bronwyn in The War Lord, which I had seen and taken as my own, only this girl was even more beautiful.) I always had something prepared to ask and talk about with her, however briefly before class would start. She would always respond in friendly but careful fashion.Then one day, our ("visiting") instructor - a sharp-tongued young woman aggressively proud of her new doctorate in our field - just unloaded on this girl, for no conceivable reason other than jealousy. In shock, the girl quietly said (to me), "I was just trying to answer her." and in an also-barely-audible, consoling voice - but loud enough I hoped the instructor would hear and just *try* to take *me* on - I said "Maybe you try too hard." After that, whenever we were around each other outside class, and I would look at the girl, she would seem to become emotional and look away.It was just as well, I thought. Only a few days before the summer session had started, I had married a sweet young girl whom my family and I had long known, who adored me, and who was trying her best to be a good young wife in every way possible. I could not betray her.At the end of the summer session, my classmate came up to me in the departmental library. Emotionally, she said "Coatney, ...." and I cut her off, saying, "I *know*." Upset, she turned and left, and I felt horrible.Coming back from vacation for the regular academic year, I learned she had gotten married during that! It was one of the hardest emotional hits I have taken in my life, however unjustified.40-some years have passed, I recently found her on Facebook, and we have become friends. She is now a grandmother, still beautiful. She has there some photos of her in those years. Under the best, I have written "Unforgettably beautiful." Indeed.All the characters in The War Lord are - with the possible exception of the Frisian prince - prisoners of the Middle Ages' highly regimented social system and life, not free to follow their hearts without causing great disruption and grief.The criticism of Rosemary Forsyth's performance as being "wooden" is unjustified. Bronwyn is trying to control herself, but she and Chrysagon were lost to each other from the first moment they met, and she is being swept along, stunned, by feelings and events completely out of her control. Similarly, James Farentino is excellent for his role - young and idealistic, even admiring Chrysagon at first. (And maybe the previous priest had been Italian - who knows?) And as others have noted, the role of an imperious but all-too-human knight suited Charlton Heston completely.The film is a beautifully conceived medieval tragedy which belongs with the art of that age. Many of those works of art were composed long after the actual events, and 1965 is an elapse of only 1000 years, which - if the human race does somehow last another 20,000 years or so - will come to seem not so far after the fact either.The development of the characters and their respective places in those times is both full and educational. Their emotional interplay is as intense as it is fated.Anyone who follows ... or consciously decides not to ... their heart takes such powerful, lifelong feelings with us to the grave ... as Lord Chrysagon may have been soon to do.GREAT, historically important film, beautifully acted.

niutta-enrico A very detailed battle scene, a devastating passion, both depicted in a believable way. Amongst these, however, a repetitive confrontation among brothers, stereotyped characters and moral tenets (more pertaining to 1965 than to Middle Ages, I fear) which fatally influence the ending.Actors are outstanding: real stars. Charlton Heston fills the screen and makes all his scenes memorable. Rosemary Forsyth is such a beauty that it is not hard to believe that men could have fought for her. I wonder if you noticed: in movies from those years, girls are often incredibly attractive.

gpeevers A long serving Knight named Chrysagon (Charlton Heston) is sent by his Duke to safeguard a dismal coastal outpost of swamps and fens from a lone tower. Here he finds himself troubled by the Frisian raiders, his non-Christian nature worshiping subjects and his own growing desire for a peasant girl named Bronwyn (Rosemary Forsyth).Heston has some good scenes, but his character's seemingly irrational behavior and extreme mood swings seem somewhat forced and artificial. More impressive in their portrayals are both Maurice Evans as the local priest and Guy Stockwell as Draco, Chrysagon's sly younger brother. Rounding out the cast we have Richard Boone as Bors, Chrysagon's loyal right hand man. While the part may not be perfectly suited to Boone his imposing physical presence is quite effective in this role.The film has some reasonably good action sequences (at least for the era in which it was made), some intrigue, some romance and considerable drama, but the problem seems to be that the film makers couldn't decide what kind of story they were trying to tell. In particular the romantic aspect of the film is definitely undersold. While Bronwyn is obviously smitten by the Chrysagon, other than physical attraction we don't really know why she is drawn to him, perhaps because she is given so few lines of dialog. Also given very limited time is the local mysticism and how it balances with the priests Christianity.Director Franklin J. Shaffner (Patton) while not succeeding here would reunite four years later with both Charlton Heston and Maurice Evans for a much more successful film Planet of the Apes.While not as realistic as todays films, this movie took a big step in depicting the feudal lifestyle in a more gritty and realistic fashion. This included the beliefs and attitudes of both the peasants and the lords.The first time Heston appears on screen with his pageboy haircut it's somewhat difficult not to laugh out loud.