[3] Though Maharlika was completed by 1970,[2] the film was banned by Marcos' wife Imelda from theatrical exhibition in 1971 due to Beams alleging that she had an affair with the president.
[5][4] After the Marcoses were deposed in 1986 through the People Power Revolution, the film was publicly exhibited for the first time at the Rizal Theater in Makati on February 20, 1987.
[6][7] Critic Ernie M. Hizon of the Manila Standard gave the film an extremely negative review for its unremarkable quality and white savior narrative.
Ernie M. Hizon of the Manila Standard gave Maharlika an extremely negative review, calling it an "inert, grade D movie" that is "bereft of any aesthetic and historical value".
Hizon was also critical of the casting of Dovie Beams, an American, in the role of an innocent native Filipina, while he considered the film's white savior narrative to be its worst issue.