Das Duell der Besten

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.