Hearts and Armour (1983)

6/10

skallisjr7 May 2009

When I first rented a copy of the film, I thought it would just be another Medieval oater, but was pleasantly surprised to discover it had classic roots. It's a retelling of the Song of Roland. As Excalibur was the best incarnation of Le Morte d'Arthur, and Dark Kingdom was an incarnation of the Nordic Nibelungen Ring Cycle, the roots of this go back to the legends of Charlemagne, most specifically, Ariosto's Orlando Furioso.

Naturally, the story is abbreviated from the original, and there are a few changes, possibly for simplicity.

Probably because of its Italian origins, the film features some really artistically designed armor.

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6/10

Interesting, albeit muddled story of love and gallantry

HaemovoreRex18 June 2005

The movie reviewed here was ostensibly edited down into it's present form from a much longer TV mini series.

In fact after viewing the movie, it is very easy and indeed very tempting for one to imagine the source material contained within as a far more expansive, stirring epic of forbidden love and chivalry.

Sadly however, it has to be said, that due to the aforementioned editing/condensing, much of the stories coherence appears to have been inevitably lost, rendering the movie with a distinctly rushed and overall muddled feel.

This is a particular shame in fact, as aside from this, the film really does shine.

Take for instance the look of the film: It boasts some truly stunning location shooting ranging from beautiful Autumn woodland to desolate tide swept beaches. The costumes here are also a particular standout with some truly innovative armour designs that rival even those found in John Boorman's far higher budgeted Excaliber. The fight choreography to, is particularly well executed here with some truly ferocious clashes between knights (and a healthy splattering of gore!)

I would love to view this in its original series format, which I have a suspicion would have been rather better than what we are in fact left with here.

However, having said this, what is indeed left is still very much worthy of viewing if you, as I am, happen to be a fan of films such as the aforementioned Excaliber and sword and sorcery genre movies in general.

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5/10

Renaissance armor so stunning you would want to steal them.

Deusvolt29 January 2006

This was shown in a first run theatre in the Philippines under the title Hearts and Armour.

Now that I know from the other reviewers that this was originally a TV series, I begin to understand why the plot was so disjointed and somewhat incoherent when I saw it on its movie run.

It is the time of the crusades when knights from the Christian and Muslim sides sought to outdo one another in chivalrous single combat.

The dramatic acting was "over" especially of the women but the fight scenes were great. The photography and the scenic landscapes are treats to the artistic eye.

The ornate Italian Renaissance armors are gems. Never mind that by the time such armors were made, the Crusades against the Moors were over.

I saw a Manila jeepney (a public conveyance in the Philippines), known for their ornate decorations, on which motifs from the film were used and even displaying the English title Hearts and Armor. There was also an embossed shield. A Manila jeepney driver who fantasizes about being an Italian knight? Who says blue collar workers are prosaic and pedestrian? It would be helpful if a DVD version of the entire series is released so we can better appreciate the story and critique it with justice. By the way, there are Mexican film versions of the book on which it was based.

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Just a query?

Pooch-128 July 1999

I have managed to locate this film on video, but according to Leonard Maltin, it was originally made as a TV mini-series. Does anyone know any information about the length of this particular version, how many parts, etc, and whether it was made for the US or Italy. If you liked this a little, try looking for Giacomo Battiato's BLOOD TIES. The 98 minute version is good, but try to hunt for the original 4-part 4 hour mini-series. A much better story and a damn good film to boot!

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7/10

Slushy pseudo-fantasy aided by a fun supporting cast

Aylmer18 February 2019

From the 1970's to 1990's, the Italians managed to crank out a low budget copy of practically every successful American film (barring Ghostbusters I think as comedy and big budget effects were beyond their capabilities). Here we get the Italian exploitation version of EXCALIBUR with lots of beautiful people in glistening armor mashing weapons into each other. While competently directed and acted, the pacing feels much more sluggish than usual owing to some drab fall filming locations, noticeable lack of extras or population to the universe, droning Casio keyboard music, claustrophobic cinematography, and (worst of all) a thoroughly non-compelling story!

Most baffling of all to me is the decision to cast the Moors as anything but North Africans and Middle Easterners. As we get, Bobby Rhodes is the only Moorish mercenary who looks anything like one. Ronn Moss maybe works if we squint hard enough, but blonde bombshell Tanya Roberts as a Moor? Really? Was the casting department really that colorblind? Likely they just cast whichever bankable names they could find and hoped that us as the audience would be too stupid to know who the Moors were.

As with the John Boorman classic, this film exists somewhere between the historic and fantasy worlds. There's an odd sorceress who fades into nothingness, an animated suit of armor, and a pervy magician who renders himself invisible LORD OF THE RINGS-style, but no dragons or creatures who would have required make-up and money. Oh and what's with all the rape scenes? Poor Barbara De Rossi and Tanya Roberts seem to get pounced upon by every male they encounter, which may be a more accurate depiction of the lawless medieval European countryside than we've gotten in other films. It does give this otherwise lightweight and juvenile fable a strangely grim atmosphere, probably because the filmmakers either just didn't take the idea of sexual assault too seriously, or just wanted some breasts on screen.

Compared to other Italian exploitation films from the same time, this one seems to try to pass itself off the most like a serious drama or art film, but they ain't fooling anyone. Scratch the surface and it's every bit the same B-movie as something like ENDGAME (which also featured Al Cliver, Bobby Rhodes, Al Yamanouchi, and a Dell'Acqua brother), only with its money spent on horses rather than motorcycles.

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4/10

Charlemagne

BandSAboutMovies29 June 2022

Warning: Spoilers

Loosely based on the stories of the Paladins - the twelve fictional knights of legend who were the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century - especially the epic poem Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, Paladins is less Conan than most Italian sword and sorcery movies.

Like Yor Hunter from the Future, this was an Italian TV miniseries edited down into a movie for U. S. audiences and by that, I mean people like me staying up at 3 AM and watching HBO.

Bradamante (Barbara De Rossi) is a woman with an invincible suit of armor that comes to save her - like literally, it rides in, a haunted suit of armor, after she's nearly assaulted in a waterfall which proves that yes, this is an Italian movie.

She gets caught between the Christians like Orlando (Rick Edwards) and the Moors, which include Isabella (Tonya Roberts), Ruggero (Ronn Moss, Rowdy Abilene from Hard Ticket to Hawaii) and Ferrau (Tony Vogel).

Now, Moors are supposed to be the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta. Let me tell you, in no way does the Bronx-born Roberts seem like she fits in. Moss is also as blonde as it gets, so...yeah.

How else do you know this is Italian? Just look at the supporting cast: Bobby Rhodes as a mercenary. Leigh McCloskey from Inferno. Al Cliver. Hal Yamanouchi as a samurai. Famous Zombi zombie Ottaviano Dell'Acqua listed in the credits as rapist.

Yes, it sure is an Italian movie.

Director Giacomo Battiato usually stayed away from the kind of movies I watch, so this is the first time I've encountered his work. I am frankly shocked that this wasn't a Cannon movie, because this feels like something they'd pick up.

There are some great costumes in this, like Ferrau's bird-themed armor. It's pretty much less hearts and more swords, non-stop combat as if it wanted to be Excalibur instead of Ator. It also looks like a big movie thanks to Dante Spinotti, who would leave Italian exploitation behind and make Hollywood magic in films like Manhunter, The Quick and the Dead and L. A. Confidential.

Trigger warning: this has five attempted rapes, including one by a wizard, one by an invisible man and the other avoided by Ferrau's bird-shaped codpiece is too rusty to come off.

As far as I know, this has never come out in the U. S. on disk. You can find it on YouTube but if you're the kind of viewer that needs a perfect print, I got really bad news for you.

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6/10

Swords and Fantasy

gregberne114 March 2019

This was a decent 1980s fantasy show, pretty dated now obviously. Lots of sword fights. Good looking women. Acting average. The costumes are actually pretty cool.

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5/10

decent Italian stitched together mid-carder

r-c-s22 March 2007

Warning: Spoilers

This movie is a decent, although stitched together mid-carder. The cast ought to tell it all. By an Italian perspective we have a couple soap opera junkies ( Ron Moss & Tanya Roberts ) and back then the Italian population loved soap operas, a then emerging cutie ( Barbara de Rossi ) with a terrible accent more worth of a lady trying to sell you smuggled cigarettes in southern Italy then else, plus some other mr. no-name. Some pompous shots, like Christian knights talking to their king, have been surpassed or equalled by TV ads of a liquor, go figure. It is not a terrible movie, but it is not what one might suppose it is, either. It is the typical early 80s Italian low budget "hommage" movie, that is a movie that "borrows" heavily from other movies, whether plot, devices or settings. Light years from EL CID and the cryptic and dark Excalibur. Character development is close to zero; acting is rather cardboard; action is good and scenes too.

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9/10

Knight's movie of rare excellence

Macholic8 June 2008

If you see Hearts And Armour you'll encounter a strikingly beautiful knight's tale with excellent cinematography of Dante Spinotti. Fantastic score by Cooper And Hughes, I wish it was available on CD. 3 women becomes knights to fight for love and fight for what they believe in, played by the beautiful Tanya Roberts, Barbara De Rossi and Zeudi Araya. It takes place during the moors invasion in Italy. There is quite a lot of magic involved. And gruesome sights of people broken on the wheel. Strikingly beautiful Italian landscapes form the background to this drama. Sometimes confusing, always deeply rewarding. The quest for king and honor and in spite of all, the search for peace. The beautiful end will stay with you.

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7/10

Absolutely Awesome Medieval-Fantasy Film

cyguration9 May 2022

We don't get many medieval-fantasy films these days, especially ones with beautiful women, gore, realistic fight scenes, and some of the best crafted armor from the dark ages.

The glorious part about Hearts and Armor is that it absolutely does live up to its name. The tale is themed around love, but the most visually striking thing about the film is the awesome armor.

I know I'm throwing around the word "awesome" a lot, but that's because there's really nothing like this film out there. I don't even remember how I came across it but I'm glad I did and it was well worth the watch.

Keep in mind that this isn't a fancy Hollywood flick, so the choreography is perfectly applicable to the period and fairly realistic in the tactics the combatants use to fight.

One thing I really like about the film is that unarmored foes are dispatched pretty easily here. Piercing, slashing, and thrusting attacks result in usually fairly quick and gory results. Even with armor it's not always a safe bet the combatants will escape unscathed.

The thing that impressed me the most was how throughout the film (and the fights) the armor gets dinged, dented, and systematically destroyed. This film is kind of bizarre insofar that it has some fantasy elements but also tries to keep a lot of the combat encounters grounded and fairly realistic.

It's a difficult movie to rate, because the plot is a little incoherent, or rather non-linear. It doesn't have a typical Point-A to Point-B plot line, but the theme stays consistent and that's part of what helps draw viewers in.

It's also somewhat unpredictable in a way. You can't always tell how the fights will go. The thing that impressed me most, though, was HOW the weapons were used. They have a lot of clever but realistic weapons from that era and you get to see how clawed weapons are used to strip away armor, how ridged weapons are used to break swords, and how long weapons can be used to dismount horse riders. I was really impressed with the broad range of weapons on display. Also, the fact they included hammers as being used to break bones and disable limbs of foes was quite unique, given that we rarely ever actually see that in films.

It's not perfect, and you probably won't be able to get your hands on a quality HD print, but my gosh any fan of medieval-fantasy films owe it to themselves to give this one a watch. Absolutely fantastic entertainment.

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5/10

Romeos and Juliets in armour

olivierlarouche728 April 2020

This is like a medieval Romeo and Juliet, but with two pairs of star-crossed lovers and the Montagues and Capulets are instead the Christians and the Moors. Sounds like a great setup doesn't it? Unfortunately, as opposed to Shakespeare's classic tale, this movie lacks a story line and any kind of character development. Despite that there are several wonderfully filmed duels between knights with brilliantly designed costumes, in the end you just don't care which of them survive.

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8/10

Awesome fights, chivalrous knights, and gorgeous damsels.

Kastore4 March 2003

Most impressive and engrossing Italian sword-and-sorcery film from the early 80s. "Hearts and Armour" has it all. Christian and Moorish warriors who travel the countryside in a valiant quest to kill each other. Barbara De Rossi as the central heroine who inherits an impenetrable suit of armor from a magical spirit. She then grapples with her internal conflict to either kill or fall in love with her enemy, in the traditional romantic tragedy premise. This short wizard guy with an annoying voice and a suit of feathers who tries to warn the star-crossed lovers of their inevitable doom together. Tanya Roberts looking hotter than ever, especially in that blue dress. No wonder even the staunchest celibacy-sworn men fall from honor at the sight of her. Invisibility stones, dirty sexual references, even dirtier fighting tricks. Oh, and about the fights. The fights in this movie are some of the best I've seen. Blood, bodies, and dismemberments abound, and a variety of unique weapons are presented in the final confrontation between the four best warriors of each side. I've especially always sort of wanted to see two men in full medieval armor have a straight fistfight with each other, and thanks to this movie I finally have.

This is again a case where I'm surprised I had never heard of this movie before watching it. It's unfortunately a bit hard to find, and due to the story's Crusade-based action, a DVD release is not likely in the near future. But if you're one who enjoys movies loaded with ye olde chivalrous characters and dialogue (as I do), peppered with the occasional violent swordfight (as I also do), then this is worth tracking down.

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2/10

Very bad close to none narrative, but very beautiful women..

ruthan-631-1018229 January 2020

There is almost no story, or sense of it.. Combat scenes are very bad and long, dialog is empty.

Only good thing in this are beautiful women.. especially Barbbara de Rosi in Armor..

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Yeah, it's cheesy, and a stupid movie.

Blueghost20 November 2003

Most likely this film was thrown together to ride the coat tails of John Boorman's "Excalibur." There's much in the way of imitation or homage paid to Boorman in terms of feel, and of course the knights.

The problems with this film are various. One of the things that leaps out is the mediocre cinematography. Again, there's a whole hearted attempt to "pay homage" to Boorman, but the long shots are either misplaced or not set far enough away. There're some interesting scenes of bleak forests and wastelands, again like Boorman's work, but the shots are ill conceived with little in the way of thoughtful composition. I'll also add that there's an excessive number of slow motion shots.

The story was a little difficult to follow, and the fact that the Moors in the film are depicted as caucasian (men with 1980's shoulder length feathered hair no less) doesn't help either visual or story aspect. And therein lies a tale because the acting is below average, hammy, boring and otherwise nearly talentless. Slow motion can only cover up so many sins. Sub par talent isn't one of them.

One of the real drawbacks is a lack of cast. By that I mean warm bodys or extras. There're precious few people inhabiting this world, and it seems as though all the fighting is done by a little over half dozen folks (the main characters). There's money in the budget to build a Moor encampment, but no money hire the extras to bring it to life.

Still, for all it's flaws, and even though I laughed out loud at a number of the more ridiculous parts (mostly the actors), I could appreciate it for what it is (that, and my buddy loaned me his copy, and I'd hate to tell him I disliked a film he really likes :)). It's a B-movie striving for an A. But striving for an A on money that's little more than a shoestring budget.

Some nudity, a good amount of violence, the film was meant for an adult crowd, but if you took away the bare breasts and blood you'd have a film fit for kids. As it is it's designed for adult consumption, but unless you're a fan of the knight genre (by that I mean you really go overboard for all medieval themed films) I wouldn't recommend it.

Fun but flawed. Don't bother unless you need some sword play on your TV screen, because it truly is a stupid film.

*EDIT* The man who loaned me his tape is actually a private security type as well as an investigator for the Department of Justice. A real jerk.

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3/10

80's cheese fest

nightroses9 July 2020

The armour looks pretty good, and the scenery is stunning. That's basically all that I liked about it. The story is very weak. Eighties fantasy films are always really weird and filled with cheese and silly hairstyles. The wizard served no purpose to the plot. They put in naked boobs for the audience.

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8/10

A very, very good knights movie. In fact it´s excellent.

Alcaminhante25 August 1999

I didn´t knew this was made as a television series. If it was, certainly doesn´t show, at least in the version i have on video. I don´t know what editing was done here, but it certainly works just fine.

This might look like a B movie, (and most certain it is), but in my view this story didn´t needed any more production values to be told. If this would look more produced, certainly it would have lost all his authentic look and feel and it would look like another knights movie, (or should i say, unrealistic adventures with knights, american movie)

PALADINI is just fine the way it looks, because it manages to create a very accurate depiction of the days it tries to portrait. And i live in the exact same area of the globe where those types of events occurred, 700 years ago more or less. The type of situations depicted in PALADINI are a part of the History in my country Portugal, (more exactly in the region where i live the Algarve), as well as they are part of Spain and the south of France.

I really like the story in PALADINI. It seems taken out of one of the many legends and historical events that i know from my History classes back in high school. True it´s a simple story, but many times these are the best, and this movie didn´t needed more to be a good depiction of those days of the Arabic invasions to the south of Europe a long time ago.

As a knights movie is probably my favorite ever. I liked EXCALIBUR for example (and it´s truly a superior movie), but it always feels a bit artificial. Specially when compared to the looks in PALADINI, which couldn´t feel more historically correct.

So, i don´t know, how many versions of PALADINI are out there, but the one i have is certainly very good, and it doesn´t feels like a television work at all.

Maybe people are mistaking the lack of an american style in this, for a bad B movie, wich it isn´t. It´s just European comercial cinema. And a very good one.

My version runs for about 100 minutes, by the way and i advise everyone to find it, if you want to finaly see a movie in which knights are depicted with a realistic feel. There aren´t even good guys and bad guys in this movie. just persons who live in a dangerous time.

An excellent movie.

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8/10

I really like this movie

saksd6 November 2006

Yes it is low budget but the music is enchanting and the costumes are excellent. The storyline was hard to follow the first time i watched it but since i like the movie so much I didn't mind watching it over and over to figure out all the stuff going on in it. I think Rugerro is so handsome and the scenery is really quite perfect for the storyline. By far though the music really made the movie for me. I have been looking for this movie to add to my collection and am glad to have found it again. I can highly recommend this film to those of you that like the knights and damsels in distress genre. It has been said to be a poor imitation of Excaliber but I think in many ways it is its equal. Yes the acting is a bit lacking in places but what is good in the film more than makes up for that little flaw.

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10/10

Negotiate for I Paladini

berberian00-276-6908515 August 2013

I don't see what else we could do about this movie except to negotiate. But first I must mark out that its a damn good movie, maybe the best paragon for "knight movies" from the 20th century and much better than the contemporary movies of crusades and chivalry - so to say, exploited themes from novels of Sir Walter Scot, King Arthur and Robin Hood mythology, etc. The parsimony and envy for those long gone times precludes further talking.

I watched this movie recently on a badly shaped VHS rip-off and understand that there is no DVD or Blue-ray release yet. This is no good because the movie was highly popular in the 1980s and owned it in perfect VHS quality made from a laser disk matrix. The colors were brighter, the original soundtrack was in English and not in displaced Italian; and it is hard to believe that a mini-series version existed as someone mentioned that Leonard Maltin had said. This could be easily verified if you ask the actors Ronn Moss and Rick Edwards, who are really stars from popular TV serials.

The next thing to negotiate is the costume design. At my times in the 1980s this was the most fashionable action movie I have watched which coupled with the electronic music score made an unforgettable impression. I was impressed by the special forms of the knights helmets, each depicting a different symbols, and the masks of the mercenaries which were supposed to be Moors. If all those credits are attributed to Nanà Cecchi and not to Giorgio Armani this would be a pity failure.

Anyway the whole blot about this movie continues. Actors and producers may be forgotten but the battle between Warner Bros. and other distributing bodies still persist. Thank you!

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Cheesy film but I loved it! *Spoiler inside* - not of the ending, but information about middle and beginning

davidikeda6 March 2001

Warning: Spoilers

This movie is really cheesy. It seems to even sort of aim for comedy value with the slightly excessive gore scenes. There's a girl in the movie that keeps getting her dress torn more and more and practically everyone tries to rape her, even a priest and one of her own soldiers along with a group of bandits. In the beginning, the group of bandits try to rape another girl, and a knight comes in and chops off some of their limbs and cripples most of them and rescues the girl. It seems the bandits never learn, because they try again, in their crippled state with missing limbs to try to rape a girl again, and then again they are scared off by a knight. It was hilarious.

Still, the movie had some great fantasy elements. The wacky and bizarre costumes I really liked, even though they weren't realistic at all and kind of cheesy. Reminded me more of superhero knights.

I like the story - sort of a Romeo & Juliet set in the medieval ages.

The music was great. It's one of my favorite soundtracks besides the Neverending Story - very "80s"-like. The scenes and music combined sort of reminded me of video games.

I think it's a very fun movie, even though it's cheesy and doesn't fit out standards or expectations of a good movie at all. It's actually one of my favorites. However, I don't expect too many others to like it. I would recommend giving this a try, however, if you're like me and want to watch all the medieval/medieval fantasy movies you can get your hands on.

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10/10

An Interesting mix of period romance and fantasy action.

kragshot8 January 2002

I enjoyed this film for several reasons. The characters were quite alive and it was very easy for you to feel sympathy for them. The fight scenes were enjoyable and the costuming, while not quite accurate, was very eye-catching.

I would like to see this film in the original Italian with subtitles, to see what the translators missed (they almost always miss something).

Just because a film doesn't quite mesh with American attitudes or ideals, foreign films often catch a lot of heat and disdain from people who aren't open to such things.

This film can easily stand on its own merits and be enjoyed by both fans of fantasy romance and sword action.

BTW, why is it that whenever a foreign film is released into the American market, it is deemed either bad or a "B" movie, if it isn't an "art house" type of movie? I do own a copy of this film and have given it as a gift to friends and they too, have thanked me many times for the movie. I'm not out to damn anyone for their opinion, but as a fan international film, I sometimes find that my fellow Americans can be a bit too harsh on cinematic works from other cultures.

This film should be given a chance by any fan of medieval fantasy.

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B film all the way!

Brett-913 December 1998

This is the classic B film with bad acting, no story, no accuracy. All I saw was weak attempts at a love story in tin foil costumes and gratuitous nudity attempts. Not for those interested in good film.

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