Saladino

One of the greatest Egyptian and Arab movies of all time. It is a beautiful portrayal that is worthy of Salah al-Din. It shows Salah al-Din as the man he was, one of the greatest leaders of all time, a man at all times humble, who was able to unite a fragmented Arab world, and free it from its invaders. It is an enlightening film for most Westerners who only learn of the Crusades through traditional Orientalist views. It does a great job in eliminating typical stereotypes of the Arab world at the time, but is fair in its representation of both sides. The film shows the aggressiveness of the Catholic armies, but also the treachery and deceit that plagued the Arab world. It also treats Richard the Lion-Hearted with the respect he deserves, and the most spectacular scene is a split screen comparison of Salah al-Din and Richard, that shows how the men were so alike, but caught on opposite sides of a war. Fantastic film, a must see.

The movie accurately demonstrates the true story behind the crusades and their attacks on the middle east. Salah El-Din leads the Egyptian armies to face the 3rd Crusade and recapture Palestine for the Arabs.

The good thing about this movie is its decent fighting sequences and special effects bearing in mind that it was produced in 1963. It also gives a good insight about Salah El Din who is known to the west as one of history's most noble kings. In the movie, the plot shows that Salah El Din too had a great deal of respect for Richard Lionheart of England.

One more interesting point is that the movie shows that Arab Christians were in fact suffering from the crusades and some of them fought side-by-side with the Muslims to defeat the crusaders; this is actually historically documented.

El Nasser Salah ElDine is the true story about Saladdin, It reveals how Saladdin was one of the greatest leaders of all time.

Saladdin battled in order to gain Bayt El Makdes (Jerusalem), and he did not prevent the christians from visiting it at any time.

But false news is told to King Richard -Lion Heart- that Saladdin is torturing the christians and that he is preventing them from entering Bayt ElMakdes.

Then King Richard along with King of France and several other countries form a very vast army, that aims to free Bayt El Makdes from the rule of Saladdin. What will happen next.........You better see the movie.

Excellent performance by Ahmed Mazhar (Saladdin) and Hamdi Geiss (Richard Lion Heart) and very good directing by Yussef Chahine.

This movie is a must see.

Unfortunately the times when these great historic movies where done in Egypt are long gone. Elnaser Salah el-Dine is one of those rare movies that were made with these production values in the Arab world and in the hands of Youssef Chahine has became sort of a legendary film at least in where it came from. Despite the fact that it relatively flopped in theaters partly because of how huge the production is and how little the theaters these days in the Arab world can cause profit it became one of the most loved and respected movies and watched by everyone when aired on television. Historically it didn't bring everything about the hero, that's not why it was made.... it depicted a certain section in the history of the crusades without looking at the roots of the characters because there's only so much you can show in a limited time motion picture. Anyways, the movie showed the nobility of the leader, the power of his faith, his distinguished skill in warship, and most of all his human side. There's a real reason for why he is seen as one of history's legendary warriors in the east and such a respected figure in the west as well..The movie did him justice there, and didn't drift away from being very entertaining. Frankly not many movies or series in the middle east can make you feel the period that it's supposed to be in, but this one doesn't distract you in thinking about that manner because it seemed so real, the way it should be. And on the other hand Chahine being a Christian himself diminishes the idea of the movie being biased against Christianity. An amazing movie I enthusiastically recommend to anyone...

Not only an extraordinary piece of epic filming, but also, in typical Youssef Chahine vein, a very humane view of territorial struggles and religious warfare. A remarkably pacifist outlook for 1963, preaching tolerance and honest diplomacy, decrying the crude pursuit of Glory at the expense of the lives of humble soldiers.