The War Lord (1965)
Charlton Heston plays a knight who takes over a tower on the Normandy coast and is told by his duke to hold it in order to strengthen the duke's authority in the area. All goes well until Heston falls for local villager Rosemary Forsyth and uses the local Pagan laws in order to keep her for himself much to the anger of the locals.
The first hour is more melodrama as it explores the clashes between the church and crown and Pagan ritual and lore that consumes the villages of the time and examines the social breakdown between Lords and peasants.
However the second hour is a full on medieval assault on the castle tower by the locals aided by previously defeated Frisian raiders. It's gritty, exciting stuff as an assortment of catapults, battering rams... basically everything you can think of when it comes to a brutal medieval siege. Imagine Peter Jackson's The Two Towers but done without any CGI and you have The War Lord.
Director Franklin Schaffner (Who seemingly plucked half his Planet of the Apes cast from this film) handles the action brilliantly - top quality stunt performers too including Richard Farnsworth and Buddy Van Horn - which is helped no end by the ease at which he allows the build up to capture the viewers imagination via some colourful characters and fine interplay between Heston, Richard Boone and Guy Stockwell.
The film is gorgeous to look at thanks to Eureka's beautiful high definition print. Highly recommended.
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