Don't believe the bandwagon, this is a great movie.

Believe it or not, the film actually follows the life story of Ghengis Khan (his birth name was "Temujin") pretty closely. The acting in this film is great, Wayne did a great job in the lead as did Susan Hayward as the love interest. The plot is entertaining, the action sequences are well done, the filming is excellent. It's easy to jump in and criticise this film because it has a history of being treated this way, but if you watch it with an open mind, you'll probably be surprised by how much you enjoy it.

Howard Hughes asked the Federal Government if it was safe to do the filming where they did (St. George, Utah) and was told there was no risk. This was despite what amounted to, basically, a prolonged nuclear war engaged against the Western states by the East Coast. The end result may have been that many of the actors and filming staff involved in the making of this movie wound up dying of various forms of cancer. Perhaps this has something to do with the way the movie's been discussed and put down; who knows what lengths the U.S. government at the time would go to in order to supress information about their misdeeds. It's been said that Howard Hughes bought up every print of the film and kept it out of circulation until it was bought from his estate after his death, perhaps he was coerced to do so by the powers in place at the time. We'll never know.

Regardless, give this movie a watch. I don't think you'll be disappointed.