Danger in the Distance
The ruler of Catalonia is killed by his scheming twin brother, who then takes over the throne. But the son of the murdered brother sets about raising an army to regain the birthright which is rightfully his.
I read something recently from one movie fan who was annoyed by a certain low budget studio making knock off versions of big blockbusters, capitalizing on a blockbuster release with one of their low budget movies which might feature a similar story and title. It made me think back to the 60s when it wasn't unusual for a foreign studio to come up with an unofficial sequel to a big screen movie and how annoyed this movie fan would have been if they were around then.
Anyway that brings me to the dull "The Sword of El Cid" which also goes by the names "La Spada del Cid" and "Las Hijas Del Cid" which is one of those unofficial sequels which came out of Europe during the 60s. I say dull because whilst we have scheming, double crossing and of course action none of it is interesting or that entertaining especially when it comes to the action which looks even more staged than what you see in a wrestling match and has been shot from distance to try and hide the staging. Unfortunately it doesn't even get to the point of being entertaining for being so cheesy. About the only sort of positive I can come up with is that Daniela Bianchi appears in the movie, a name which James Bond fans will know from "From Russia with Love".
What this all boils down to is that "The Sword of El Cid" is now one of those movies which is really for those looking to become movie buffs and so will watch anything. Watched for any other reason, especially to be entertained is an unsatisfying experience with everything about it being weak, staged and in truth uninteresting.
