JasparLamarCrabb A real treat...if you're a masochist. Bekim Fehmiu is "Dax," the son of a counter-revolutionary from a fictional South American country who beds loose women, rich women, elderly women, and so on. All done in the name of keeping his homeland free from tyranny. In addition to Fehmiu, whose career seems to have evaporated, THE ADVENTURERS features the likes of Candice Bergen, Charles Aznavour, Olivia De Havilland, and Fernando Rey, all at their very worst. Ernest Borgnine, with jet-black hair and frito-bandito accent, plays Dax's bodyguard. Every lurid cliché in the book is assembled for this trashy adaptation of the Harold Robbins novel: murder, rape, assassination, lesbianism, miscarriage, adultery.

Jonathon Dabell Lewis Gilbert had some great films to his name (e.g You Only Live Twice, Alfie, Sink the Bismarck!) when he signed up for this three hour all-star epic. Alas, the director came completely unstuck trying to film this Harold Robbins novel, and a hugely talented cast also sank with him amid permissive sex and violence, soap opera-like dialogue, hopelessly over-busy plotting, and general excess. The Adventurers is a famous film, but for mainly the wrong reasons. And anyone wishing to see it for curiosity value (after all, don't we all guiltily enjoy seeing good actors in trouble?) needs to be warned: at nearly three hours, this doesn't even have the saving grace of being brief junk.The action centres around the fictitious South American country of Corteguay, where corruption and revolution seem to be high on the agenda. Dax Xenos (Bekim Fehmiu) grows up amid the chaotic history of his country, witnessing terrible atrocities from an early age, emerging into manhood as a wealthy and handsome playboy. He leaves behind his troubled past and lives a jet-set lifestyle in Europe, marrying the beautiful Sue Ann Daley (Candice Bergen). However, events conspire to bring him back to war-torn Corteguay - his wife miscarries a baby and eventually becomes a lesbian; his father is killed; yet another revolution brews. Dax returns to his troubled home nation and, amid carnage and combat, he seeks revenge on the man who raped and murdered his mother when Dax when just a boy.Gilbert the director is usually a tasteful and thoughtful film-maker, but here the sensationalism inherent in the story has got the better of him. The film is not memorable for its performances nor its story but for its unsavoury aspects. The violence, the nudity, the killings, the rape, the vengeance and the macho posturing dominate the story without developing it in any way. Fehmiu is too wooden an actor to hold the film together, and his limitations are cruelly exposed by the dazzling array of talent surrounding him. Ernest Borgnine, for instance, as the revolutionary bandit Fat Cat steals his scenes, and Candice Bergen is good in a difficult role, but Fehmiu sails through it all with barely a credible expression on his face. This might've won some fans as a misunderstood cult film if it were an hour briefer, but at virtually three hours it becomes an impossible task to enjoy it and an effort of willpower to sit through it.

frankfob I had read Harold Robbins' book "The Adventurers" on a cross-country flight when it first came out, and found it to be a bit more enjoyable than his usual trash--somewhat better written, a more interesting story than usual, different types of characters. So when the movie was released, I figured, "Ah, what the hell, I'll check it out." I must say that I enjoyed this film in spite of itself. The dialog is laughably inane, the acting by pretty much the entire cast is abysmal (star Bekim Fehmiu, a Yugoslav heartthrob, only made a few more films before he deservedly disappeared), if you expected Candace Bergen to do her usual embarrassingly inept job you won't be disappointed, Ernest Borgnine hams outrageously, and there are a host of cameos--none of them particularly noteworthy--by everyone from Olivia De Havilland to John Ireland, most of whom probably took the parts in order to get a free trip to Europe. The film does, however, have a few things going for it. One is the luminous Leigh Taylor-Young. She is absolutely exquisite; her part, though essential, doesn't call for a lot of screen time, but every time she does appear on-screen she lights it up. Also, the battle sequences are exciting, well staged and very convincing; they pick up the film's pace tremendously (the action scenes were shot in Colombia and the extras were Colombian soldiers, who knew a thing or two about what happens in battle). A lot of money was spent making this picture and, unlike many big-budget European co-productions made at the time, it shows on the screen. The photography is outstanding, the European scenery is beautiful, the jungle scenes in "Corteguay" (which were also shot in Colombia) are stunning and the costumes and production values are sumptuous. Besides, it IS an interesting story (the son of a man murdered by a corrupt and oppressive government returns to overthrow that government, only to find that the new government he's helped to install is just as corrupt and oppressive).All things considered, it's not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. The picture got savaged by reviewers when it first came out, but it's really not all that bad. It's somewhat overblown and overheated, but enjoyable nonetheless. Check it out.

bux I took my wife to see this one at the drive-in when it came out. I was only making $85 a week at the time, so three bucks to see a movie meant a lot. We left the theater about half way through this mess. Even the World News clips that they showed at intermission were better. My wife really loved the Robbins' novel, but had to admit that Wally Cox would have made a better Dax than the yahoo they had playing the part. The only reason we stayed half way through was because I wanted to see John Ireland...I reached for popcorn and missed his appearance in the film. This one is over-long, badly acted and bloody, extremely bloody considering when it came out. I was REALLY mad because I passed up "Vanishing Point"(1970) to see this klunker.