Amazingly enough, even with these two veteran scenery-chewers involved, this is a pretty darn good movie. The action is consistent, the battle scenes and costumes are good (Mr. Otter, aka Historian-On-A-Stick, had no complaints about the buttons or other small details) and they pretty much stick to the way things actually happened...the only two real deviations from historical fact are that Gordon and the Mahdi never met face to face (esp. as melodramatically as they meet here) and that the last scene, when Gordon is killed on the stairway, is actually taken from a very well-known drawing that appeared in London after the seige, and had no relation to where he actually was when he was killed.

But hey, those are pretty small points...and otherwise, it's quite fun to watch. Olivier has a wonderful time overacting, as usual, and for once the audience has a good time too (rather than just being embarrassed..."Oh for cryin' out loud, Larry, could you please just tone it down some?") and even Heston does a creditable job with a fairly complex character, shifting between insubordination, religious fervor, and sheer self-aggrandizement in turns.

Pop a beer, get a cat on your lap for scritch, and enjoy.