It was Heston alright.
There's a thin gap between skepticism and cynicism

A beautifully shot scene no doubt, and the soundtrack just makes it. Funny thing too, is that if you watch carefully, you can see the rider's hands move as the horse and rider move out of frame. I don't know if it was Heston or a stunt rider (more than likely the latter), but still it's kind of fun to watch for it.

Saw a beautiful print of this in the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood a few years ago. The scene is incredible on a huge screen with the soundtrack thundering.

The director explained that SPARK shinning upon Heston's helmet was just AN ACCIDENT. Yet, the fact it appeared after opening the gates just felt like a glove, something mystical and mythical. Heston's skills as horserider were known for a long time. He really looked dead-still and pale. The subtitles in Spanish explain very well El id got out of the history to enter into another realm of legend.

I saw this in the theater when I was a kid and the ending blew me away. He wanted to beat those guys so badly. Although I was very young, I knew that he was dead and that they were using his "presence" to inspire the troops.

"A Great Scene,and a lot of the credit goes to Miklos Rozsa's score."
I saw this movie in the theater in 1961/62 when I was in the military. Since then I have worn out three(yes 3) soundtrack albums. Finally i caught up with technology and after I bought the last vinyl record I taped it. That music is both stirring and haunting at the same time. They just do not them like this any more.

Wow. What a great story. And i'm normally not a fan of Charleton Heston movies, but this one is right up there with Braveheart and Gladiator. In fact, this one had some of the best large scale combat scenes and the epic scale of it is probably tops of these three.

Yes just so bloody epic,you have got to love it,dont you.

Damn, this ending is longer then the one on my DVD I believe. The extra length just makes it better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5e1L5ocXUw
Check it out guys,wicked clip,sorry for the subtitles though.

Yups. The organ is very powerfull and it is one of the many hints that the Cid is dead at that moment (since it is never said; he died, lift him on his horse and off he goes)

A Great Scene,and a lot of the credit goes to Miklos Rozsa's score.