100 Horsemen (1964)
Genre : Comedy, Action, Adventure
Runtime : 1H 55M
Director : Vittorio Cottafavi
Writer : Vittorio Cottafavi, José María Otero, Giorgio Prosperi, Enrico Ribulsi
Synopsis
Don Fernando, the son of El Cid, rallies peasants and townspeople to overthrow Moorish occupiers in medieval Spain.
Around the year 1000 AD warlike people, the so-called "tjuder", roam in northern Scandinavia. As they brutally kill a family in a remote area, including the parents and their little daughter, the family's teenage son, Aigin, observes the slaughter. He manages to flee from these killers and reaches a camp with other Lapps whose inhabitants are worried if he has been able to hide his track. Afraid of the murderous people, they decide to flee to the coast. The boy stays alone to avenge his family's murder. Unfortunately, they get him before he can do anything and force him to lead them to the other Lapps. He guides them but has a plan to destroy the barbarous people before reaching the camp.
Scotland, 11th century. Driven by the twisted prophecy of three witches and the ruthless ambition of his wife, warlord Macbeth, bold and brave, but also weak and hesitant, betrays his good king and his brothers in arms and sinks into the bloody mud of a path with no return, sown with crime and suspicion.
In medieval Japan, a woman and his children journey to find the family's patriarch, who was exiled years before.
When Rudy, an artifacts smuggler, goes to Jerusalem to rescue his kidnapped archeologist father, he faces deportation by a scheming police chief. Now, to find his dad and recover a sacred scroll, he'll have to outwit officials and a ruthless sect. With the help of a beautiful Israeli cop, Rudy battles a faction of religious zealots determined to see a holy war at all costs.
Epic film of the legendary Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz ("El Cid" to his followers), who, without compromising his strict sense of honour, still succeeds in taking the initiative and driving the Moors from Spain.
The evil Iago pretends to be friend of Othello in order to manipulate him to serve his own end in the film version of this Shakespeare classic.
A Scottish warlord and his wife murder their way to a pair of crowns.
Towards the end of the eleventh century, Pope Urban II announces a crusade against the Saracens, who have occupied the holy city of Jerusalem. Three young friends Richard, Peter and Andrew set off to join the crusading army.
An 11th-century Viking prince sails to America to find his father, who on a previous voyage had been captured by Indians.
1099 A.D.: A battle-weary knight leads his men home from the Holy Land after years of fighting. But the supposedly holy relic he’s carrying bears a terrible curse…
A knight in the service of a duke goes to a coastal village where an earlier attempt to build a defensive castle has failed. He begins to rebuild the duke's authority in the face of the barbarians at the border and is making progress until he falls in love with one of the local women.
General Othello's marriage is destroyed when vengeful Ensign Iago convinces him that his new wife has been unfaithful.
A brother who loves books and a sister who loves swords must face a yellow-robed warrior, the Red Python, a sinuous snake-charmer, and a silk-masked beauty (who must kill or wed the first man to see her face) before they can bring peace to their battle-addled family.
Fictionalized account of events leading up the famous nude ride (alas, her hair covers everything) of the militant Saxon lady.
Verdi’s monumental score is fully the equal of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy—and both demand great actors. This is one performance where both playwright and composer are well served. Plácido Domingo’s Otello is one of the glories of the operatic world, beautifully sung and so commandingly acted that audiences are devastated by the end. Renée Fleming’s ravishingly beautiful Desdemona is deeply moving, and as Iago, James Morris is as beguiling as he is menacing. Under James Levine’s conducting the Met orchestra and chorus are vital characters in the drama.
Iago and a comrade-in-arms are outside the Venice home of Desdemona's father, who does not yet know that she has eloped with Othello. Iago confides to his friend -- who had hoped to marry Desdemona -- that he serves Othello to further his own ends. Venice needs Othello to protect its commercial interests in Cyprus where the Turkish fleet is headed. Desdemona insists on going to Cyprus, too. In Cyprus, Iago plots to convince Othello that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio. A lot more than political ambition seems to be motivating Iago.
This is a very theatrical version, full of sound & fury, histrionics and big arm movements. Cynical audiences might not buy into it, but if you were to go back to the early 1600s this is probably the way you'd see it. The plot of Macbeth, if you were snoozing during high school English class, is about an 11th century Scottish warrior who hatches a dubious plan to steal the throne. Spurred on by his wife Lady Macbeth, who wears the pants in the household, he finds himself swiftly slipping down the path of evil.
Also released as Valley of the Swords, this lugubrious US/Spanish co-production features the usual mid-1960s "tax shelter" international cast. Broderick Crawford plays a despotic 10th century Spanish king who, in cahoots with the invading Moors, has banished handsome Castilian nobleman Spartaco Santoni. With the surreptitious aid of Crawford's daughter Teresa Velasquez, Santoni assembles an army to march against the Moors. In keeping with the 13th century epic poem from which this film was derived ("El Poema de Fernan Gonzales") Santoni's path is smoothed by the celestial intervention of patron saints Milan and Santiago. Among the big names picking up a few tax-free dollars in The Castilian are Cesar Romero, Linda Darnell, Alida Valli and Fernando Rey.
England, 1021. Rob Cole, a boy born in a miserable mining town, swears to become a physician and vanquish disease and death. His harsh path of many years, a quest for knowledge besieged by countless challenges and sacrifices, leads him to the remote Isfahan, in Persia, where he meets Ibn Sina, the greatest healer of his time.