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Soldier of Fortune

Soldier of Fortune (Il soldato di ventura)

Movie · 1976 · 15 people

Pasquale Festa Campanile directed Il soldato di ventura, known in English as Soldier of Fortune, a 1976 Italian-French comedy. An adventure comedy, it was tailored to its lead, Bud Spencer, who plays the Italian folk hero Ettore Fieramosca. The film was shot in Italian and runs 95 minutes.

Its subject is the historic event known as the Challenge of Barletta, treated not as a sober war story but in a comic and grotesque spirit. Fieramosca and his companions fall into one odd adventure after another in defence of their honour. Alongside Spencer the cast includes Enzo Cannavale, Frédéric de Pasquale, Jacques Dufilho, Andréa Ferréol, Angelo Infanti, Philippe Leroy, Oreste Lionello, Eros Pagni, Renzo Palmer, Gino Pernice, Mario Pilar, Marc Porel and Mariano Rigillo.

Luigi Magni, Franco Castellano and Giuseppe Moccia wrote the screenplay. The film travelled under different names: La Grande Bagarre in France, Hector, der Ritter ohne Furcht und Tadel in Germany, and Cei 13 de la Barletta in Romania, where television also aired it as Cu foamea-n gât. In Iran it was dubbed and shown as “Mardan-e Mozdur” (“Mercenary Men”).

DirectorPasquale Festa Campanile

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Cast

Only cast members with a profile on this site are listed.

Jacques Dufilho Jacques Dufilho Actor · died at 91 Giovanni Cianfriglia Giovanni Cianfriglia Actor · died at 89 Bud Spencer Enzo Cannavale Frédéric de Pasquale Andréa Ferréol Angelo Infanti Philippe Leroy Oreste Lionello Antonio Orlando Eros Pagni Renzo Palmer Gino Pernice Mario Pilar Marc Porel

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Through different eyes

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Bud Spencer and a band of companions rushing from one adventure to the next for the sake of honour: an easy pick for a family evening. It has a war theme but is not a serious war film; events are played in a comic, exaggerated spirit. Some of the grotesque humour may not suit everyone. Teens and grown-ups can laugh together.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The Challenge of Barletta is a symbol of honour in Italian national memory, and Ettore Fieramosca a folk hero. That the film treats this real event in a comic, grotesque register rather than as a sober war story is an interesting example of how 1970s Italian cinema could take heroic myths lightly. It should be said, though, that viewers wanting the historical background will find little here: the film uses history as a starting point and chooses entertainment over explanation. The line between poking fun at a myth and making the myth itself disappear is a thin one.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

The film is designed from start to finish as a star vehicle, and that is both its strength and its limit. Fitting Bud Spencer's settled screen persona into the costume of a historical hero creates a mismatch that is the main source of the comedy. The screenplay by Luigi Magni with the Castellano and Moccia team is an intriguing mix, with historical irony and popular farce at the same table. The problem is structure: an episodic plot that moves from one odd adventure to the next feels more like a string of sketches than a dramatic build. Pleasant for the star's fans, loose for anyone after a well-built comedy.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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