In 1560, Spanish conquistadors, and a hundred Indian slaves, march down from the newly conquered Inca Empire in the Andes mountains into the jungles to the east, in search of the fabled country of El Dorado. Under the command of Gonzalo Pizarro, the men, clad in half armor, pull cannons down narrow mountainous paths and through dense jungle. The film creates a vision of madness and folly, counterpointed by the lush but unforgiving Amazonian jungle.