Good and dramatic film about a great Spanish conqueror , Francisco Pizarro , who led a risked adventure to conquer the Incan Empire . He captured Incan Emperor Athahualpa and claimed the Peru lands for king Charles I of Spain. Here retracing Pizarro' career , his steps through Spain and Portugal , besides , it explores the particular relationship between captor Pizarro and captive Atahualpa.Based on a play by Peter Shaffer , it has a dramatic style with a lot of interior scenarios , but also displays some battle scenes and sword-play . Main cast gives nice acting such as Robert Shaw as the brave Pizarro and Christopher Plummer provides overacting as a strange Atahualpa who puts faces, grimaces and says rare words and sounds ; Plummer played Pizarro in 1965 Off-Broadway . Support cast is frankly good such as Andrew Keir, Michael Craig , James Donald , Percy Herbert , Leonard Whiting as Martin and special mention for Nigel Davenport as Hernando de Soto . The motion picture finely written by Philip Yordan was well directed by Irving Lerner who made some acceptable films as Cry battle, Murder by contract , City of fear , Edge of fury . This was Lerner's fourth collaboration with writer/producer Philip Yordan in less than 10 years. Others three were Studs Lonigan , Captain Apache and A town called Bastard.The picture is based on historical events : Pizarro commands an expedition into the heart of the Inca Empire governed by Emperor Atahualpa , as he proceeded with his conquest accompanied by 200 men on 24 Sept 1532 . Following the defeat of his brother Huascar , Atahualpa arrived in Cajamarca on 15 november , there Pizarro had a force of just 110 foot soldiers 67 cavalry 3 arquebuses and 2 falconets . He sent Hernando Pizarro and De Soto to meet him in his camp . Athaulpa agreed to meet in his plaza fortress the next day . Fray Vicente Valverde and a native interpreter approached to him and Atahualpa said : "I will be no man's tributary" . There is a battle and the Spanish were successful . Francisco captures the Incan emperor , the god chief Atahualpa and promises to free him upon the delivery of a hoard of gold . Later on , Pizarro executed his 12-man honor guard and taking the Inca captive at the so-called Ransom Room . Despite fullfilling his promise of filling one room with gold and two with silver , Atahualpa was convicted of 12 charges including killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro and his troops . He was executed by garrote on 29 August 1533. Francisco and De Soto were opposed to execution but Pizarro consented to the trial due to the great agitation among soldiers particularly by Almagro . After that , Pizarro advanced with his army of 500 Spaniards toward Cuzco that was conquered.Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 which he considered to be one of the most important things he had created in his life . A dispute ocurred between Pizarro and Almagro respecting the limits of Cuzco jurisdiction . This led to confrontations and Almagro was eventually defeated during the battle of Salinas . In Lima 1541 a group of 20 heavily armed of Diego Almagro the younger stormed Pizarro's palace assassinating him, he painted a cross in his own blood and cried for Jesus Christ . Diego Almagro Jr was caught and executed the following year after losing the battle of Chupas .

Yes, Christopher Plummer's accent and antics are, to the the least of it, peculiar, but trying to see this as a historically accurate epic seems to be missing the point. The original play was by Peter Shaffer - he of Amadeus and Equus, and this film follows the same themes - the conflict and tension between between (according to interpretation) real and apparent power, or between ability and genius. The tension between Atahualpa and Pisarro is along the same lines as between Mozart and Salieri, or the Boy and the Psychiatrist. One has the trappings of power and success, but who really has the raw power? Seeing it as a historical epic is a mistake - just as "Becket" is a very modern take on a different battle of wills.

I wanted to like "The Royal Hunt of the Sun", but it begs comparison to a far superior film, and fails to entertain. Religious clap trap may have gone a long way towards sinking the movie. I have no problem with Robert Shaw or Christopher Plummer's acting. It is the lack of movement that drags the film down. There simply isn't enough meaningful dialog, unless you are into blasphemy, to maintain interest. Ultimately you will wish you had watched something else. "Aguirre the Wrath of God". had much the same theme, searching for gold, while spreading "God's word", and Aguirre is a far better film. I cannot recommend "The Royal Hunt of the Sun", but do recommend "Aguirre the Wrath of God". - MERK

I'm very lucky: I actually got to view the Scimitar DVD before buying it, and I can't believe how truly awful the product! In my not-so-humble opinion, this is one of the best movies ever made. I know, I know -- pretty talky. But so are many of the best movies ever made. And how this company managed to turn the glorious film I once treasured on BETA format into this scratchy, garbled mess, I have no idea.So back to my summary: Will anyone ever rescue this fine old film and offer it to us?Probably not. And that is sad, considering the dreck offered almost on a daily basis.