Hearts and Armour (I paladini: storia d'armi e d'amori)

The tales of the paladins, above all Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso, loosely inspire Hearts and Armour (Italian: I Paladini: Storia d'armi e d'amori), which is also known under the alternative title Orlando furioso. Giacomo Battiato directed this 1983 Italian fantasy and adventure film, set in a medieval world, from a script he wrote with Luciano Vincenzoni and Sergio Donati; it runs about 100 minutes and was shot in English.

The cast includes Zeudi Araya, Barbara De Rossi, Tanya Roberts, Ronn Moss, Leigh McCloskey, Maurizio Nichetti, Lina Sastri, Giovanni Visentin, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Ottaviano Dell'Acqua, Tony Vogel and Al Cliver.

Critics were generally harsh on the film when it came out, though they admired how it looked. The Sydney Morning Herald called the sets sensational and the costumes magnificent, while finding the story almost nonexistent. That visual side won it the David di Donatello for best costumes. It travelled under different names abroad: Le Choix des seigneurs in France and Duell der Besten in German-speaking countries, where it was first shown on November 11, 1983.