Hearts and Armour (1983)

What a waste of my time!!!

Too much of everything

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Awesome Movie

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!

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.

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.

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.