History Film / TheWarLord1965

* DepravedDwarf: Downplayed with Flea, but he enslaves the Frisian Prince's son and later sends Marc to call the Frisians for help, betraying the Normans. Draco [[AssholeVictim shoots an arrow in his back]] as a punishment for this betrayal.

* BadassBeard: Bors is bearded, and he's an OldSoldier who kicks ass left and right, most often with [[CarryABigStick clubs or things improvised as such]].

* OldSoldier: Bors has accompanied Chrysagon's father and Chrysagon himself in all of their military campaigns.

* TheBigGuy: Bors. He's the strongest and tallest of Chrysagon's men (he has the least trouble lifting stones to throw at the Frisians from the top of the tower) and prefers [[CarryABigStick blunt weapons or things imrovised as such]].

* TheBigGuy: Bors. He's the strongest and tallest of Chrysagon's men (he has the least trouble lifting stones to throw at the Frisians from the top of the tower) and prefers [[CarryABigStick blunt weapons]].

* PeltsOfTheBarbarian: Bors wears a fur cape, which gives him a barbarian look.

* TheBigGuy: Bors. He's the strongest and tallest of Chrysagon's men and prefers [[CarryABigStick blunt weapons]].

* HostageSituation: The son of the Frisian prince is detained by Chrysagon and his men, and they find themselves besieged as a consequence. Although, Chrysagon never had any intent of killing the boy nor wants a ransom, it's Draco who threatens to do the former and suggests the latter.

* HornyVikings: The Frisians are more or less portrayed like Vikings. The only things lacking are (precisely) horns on their helmets and longships.

** Chrysagon taking Bronwyn from him hasn't exactly done wonders for [(CrazyJealousGuy Marc]]'s sanity. By the end, he jumps on Chrysagon to try killing him with a sickle ''and'' tries rushing Bronwyn to possibly kill her as well, only to be impaled on a spiked tree branch by Bors.

* BrokenPedestal: Marc was initially impressed by the tales of Chrysagon's battles and thinks he'll do a great feudal lord... until the day Chrysagon uses his DroitDuSeigneur to steal his fiancée.
* CainAndAbel: Draco eventually tries to kill Chrysagon out of all the years of being TheUnFavourite and being in his brother's shadow, even if he has technically been put in charge of his brother's domain by the Duke when searching for reinforcements. He also shows himself much less prone to be a fair overlord than his brother.

* HostageSituation: On the protagonists' side this time. The son of the Frisian prince is taken hostage by Chrysagon and his men, and they find themselves besieged as a consequence. Although, Chrysagon never had any intent of killing the boy, it's Draco who threatens to.

* WouldntHurtAChild: Unlike Draco, Chrysagon is increasingly uneasy with the idea of demanding a ransom for the son of the Frisian Prince and orders that no harm shall be done to him. This serves him ''very well'' at the end when he simply decides to bring the son back to his people.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Chrysagon entrusts Rainault with lordship of the village and tower for as long as he will be away as he departs to see the Duke.

* OlderSidekick: Bors is Chrysagon's trusted companion, who saw him grow up and served his father before him.

* WarriorPrince: The Frisian's chief is called their "prince", and goes on expeditions and to battle with them.

* CainAndAbel: Draco eventually tries to kill Chrysagon out of all the years of being TheUnfavorite and being in his brother's shadow, even if he has technically been put in charge of his brother's domain by the Duke when searching for reinforcements. He also shows himself much less prone to be a fair overlord than his brother.

* HornyVikings: The Frisians are more or less portrayed like Vikings. The only thing lacking is precisely horns on their helmets.

Up until this film, most Hollywood representations of feudal life were [[YeGoodeOldeDays glamorized]], with bright and clean colors, [[TheParagon Paragons]] and [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights in Shining Armors]] aplenty, with the issue of religion rarely brought upon. ''The War Lord'' attempts to portray the late 11th century in a more accurate fashion as dirty, [[DarkAgeEurope violent, and ruled by brute force]] or pragmatism, and shows how Christianity dealt with local paganisms. It also shows how the social stratification imposed by feudalism governed every human relationship, with power devolving from the duke, to the knight, to his men at arms, the church and the peasantry at the very bottom.

In the 11th century, Chrysagon de la Cruex (Heston) is a knight in the service of the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy Duke of Normandy]]. He is sent with his brother Draco (Stockwell) and Bors (Boone), an old warrior who served Chrysagon's father and swore to protect him, to a coastal village where the previous lord was killed in his tower by Frisian raiders. He battles the Frisians, captures the son of their chief and begins to rebuild the Duke's authority over the pagan villagers. He falls in love with Bronwyn (Forsyth), one of the local women, and decides to keep her for himself, which angries both her fiancé Marc (Farentino) and the other villagers. Chrysagon then finds himself betrayed by the villagers, who call the Frisian raiders to help them besiege the tower to get both Bronwyn and the young Frisian prince back.

In the 11th century, Chrysagon de la Cruex (Heston) is a knight in the service of the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy Duke of Normandy]]. He is sent with his brother Draco (Stockwell) and Bors (Boone), an old warrior who swore to protect him, to a coastal village where the previous lord was killed in his tower by Frisian raiders. He battles the Frisians, captures the son of their chief and begins to rebuild the Duke's authority over the pagan villagers. He falls in love with Bronwyn (Forsyth), one of the local women, and decides to keep her for himself, which angries both her fiancé Marc (Farentino) and the other villagers. Chrysagon then finds himself betrayed by the villagers, who call the Frisian raiders to help them besiege the tower to get both Bronwyn and the young Frisian prince back.

''The War Lord'' is a 1965 film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the 1956 Broadway play ''The Lovers''. It stars Creator/CharltonHeston, Richard Boone, Rosemary Forsyth, Guy Stockwell, Creator/MauriceEvans, James Farentino, [=Niall MacGinnis=] and Henry Wilcoxon. Schaffner, Heston and Evans later collaborated on ''Film/{{Planet of the Apes|1968}}''.

* TheBigGuy: Bors. He's the strongest of Chrysagon's men.

* CarryABigStick: Bors is often seen using a club or whatever piece of wood he can bash enemies with.

* TheUnFavorite: The father of Chrysagon and Draco has always favored the former, something the latter has always deeply resented.

* YouAreInCommandNow: Chrysagon entrusts Rainault with lordship of the village and tower as he departs to see the Duke.

** Chrysagon taking Bronwyn from him hasn't exactly done wonders for Marc's sanity. By the end, he jumps on Chrysagon to try killing him with a sickle ''and'' tries rushing Bronwyn to possibly kill her as well, only to be impaled on a spiked tree branch by Bors.

* FullFrontalAssault: Chrysagon wears only a loincloth when he confronts the first Frisian assault on the tower. He had no time to put his mail armor on.

** Towards the end, Draco madly wants to kill his brother out of the jealousy-fuelled years he spent in his shadow.

** Chrysagon taking Bronwyn from him hasn't exactly done wonders for Marc's sanity. By the end, he jumps on Chrysagon to try kill him with a scythe ''and'' tries rushing Bronwyn to possibly kill her as well, only to be impaled on a spiked tree branch by Bors.

* AxCrazy: Towards the end, Draco madly wants to kill his brother out of the jealousy-fuelled years he spent in his shadow.