A movie I've seen several times when I was a kid, I was only 9 years old, I liked it very much then, I nearly wept when they put Letitia (Joanna Shimkus) dead in the diving suit, and let it drop to the seabed, the scene is impressive even now (May 2016). All the underwater filming is cool. Delon? He appears in the famous trench, with dark glasses, like in Le Samouraï but is not at the same height of the character Jef Costello. Anyway, it's not bad. Ventura is natural as ever. Shimkus is tidy and nice. Serge Reggiani he's credible too. The music of François de Roubaix, as usual impressive, increases the dramatic value. Robert Enrico, who gave us the Boulevard du Rhum(1971)(with the same Lino Ventura) and Le vieux fusil(1975), two other good movies, is a honorable film director. Not outdone José Giovanni, another heavy of the French cinema, here the author of the script and dialogues, after his own novel.

If you wish to know -or, to remember- that our world was once upon a time a beautiful and healthy one, please, would you like to taste -again- this excellent masterpiece... Alain Delon, that Apollon of the Seventh Art, is in one of the best actings and appearances; he is simply wonderful again. Lino Ventura is just the man needed for this masterpiece. Joanna Shimkus -Laetitia- will remain, forever, in your mind after this masterpiece. The soundtrack is too unforgettable. You can be sure that you will always hear in your soul the Song of Laetitia. And, though Robert Enrico is not a very celebrated director,you will see also that he should be. 10 bright stars for Les Aventuriers...

...the first one being the unsurpassed "Au Coeur De La Vie"Released when the nouvelle vague was à la mode and when critics did not care for the others (=who were not part of the Godard clique),"les adventurers " has stood the test of time remarkably well,so well that (God preserve us) some producers could think of a remake.Robert Enrico had already directed "les grandes gueules" (1963) which enhanced male friendships in a Vosges Mountains sawmill and is still watchable today thanks to its good cast(Bourvil,Lino Ventura,Marie Dubois),and Enrico's effective directing.But nothing could have predicted "les adventurers" ,which seems today stronger than yesterday,when so many nouvelle vague "oeuvres " are reserved for highbrows and make too many people take to their heels when they hear about French cinema."Les adventurers" was based on the first part of a Jose Giovanni novel(who had written Becker's "le trou";Giovanni himself transferred the second part to the screen as "la loi du survivant").When it was released ,it was a huge popular success,but the critics were a bit condescending.The Delon/Ventura/Shimkus threesome shines .They are true raiders ,in a way Indiana Jones is not:they have something to lose ,and they are human beings of flesh and blood.Enrico used the film sets with stunning results.He makes the scrap heap where Leatitia looks for waste material as poetic as the fort surrounded by the sea where the tragedy is resolved.François de Roubaix's extraordinary score enhances the scenes as few musicians can do.The burial at sea is the most beautiful sequence of the sixties French cinema.I cannot think of a more haunting scene :anybody who has seen it never forgets it.Robert Enrico,who is not regarded as an "important" director in France has nothing to be jealous of his peers here.A work to rival the best of Huston.

I saw this movie in Viet Nam in the open air. It impressed me because of the beautiful scenery, photography and story line. I followed this picture from compound to compound and saw it several times . It was an island, a bit of paradise in an otherwise brutal setting. I will never forget this movie even though I have not seen it in over 30 years.