'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Four Musketeers'. One novel! One story! And a new DVD release under the title "The Complete Musketeers" contains a pristine widescreen transfer (and choice of pan & scan in the same package) for both films that does justice to THE definitive version to the Alexander Dumas novel.
It's a shame that many people don't realize that (similar to the approach to filming the 'Lord of the Rings') 'Three Musketeers' only covers the first half of Dumas' novel. 'Four Musketeers' covers the 2nd half. It is really one movie that clocks in at about 3 hours and 35 minutes and that's the way it was filmed. Only a late(?)decision prompted the producers to split one long movie into two shorter ones (a move the same producers repeated for 'Superman' and 'Superman II'...Hhmmmm...while trying to deprive the participants payment for the 2nd movie). Doesn't matter, because the end result is top quality entertainment.
I was lucky to have seen both films on the big screen as a double feature back in 1976...the way it's meant to be experienced. Fifteen years later, I read the novel (a modern translation that eased the pain of reading 19th century writing without losing any of the story's scope). And the cast of the movie is so perfect, that it was a no brainer to visualize the actors as the characters. Many lines in the film were lifted from the book; and those that weren't, were in total sync to the way the characters behaved.
Unlike all other Hollywood interpretations, this FEELS like someone just plopped the camera into the middle of 17th century Europe. It's rich, detailed; and gives an uncompromising view of royalty, power and unscrupulous behavior that is a riot.
And there are so many subtleties that demand repeat viewings. Sorry...but you won't find spoon-fed information on class conflicts, prejudice against gascons or society customs; they're all there, but the casual viewer will miss it the first time. And no overly cute one liners that plagued the inferior 1993 version (which I couldn't finish watching...mis-cast and too short to do the book properly).
(Minor spoilers) One scene begins with a close-up of a fancy dish of delicacies being nibbled by French royalty; you assume they're out enjoying a royal picnic until, way in the background, you see three figures dangling from a hangman's noose under a giant oak tree while the women are all giggles and gaiety in the foreground. Another scene shows a pail of brown slop being dumped out of a 2nd story window onto the head of an unsuspecting villager sitting on a bench...then you realize the contents of the slop (bathrooms weren't the same back then). These scenes come fast and they're gone before you know it.
You'll also be rewarded with the background dialogue delivered by the extras, so you'll have to split your attention from what you're seeing to what you're listening to...and it's well worth it. Sometimes it's all too tempting to flick on the close caption on your TV to fully appreciate the rich dialogue.
Director Richard Lester deserves high praise for his irreverent approach that succeeds at slapstick comedy in one scene and jolts the viewer back to the deadly dilemma in the next.
And that all-star cast! They ARE the characters.
Minimal special effects! What you see is what you get...and what you get is phenomenal!
This deserves to be in almost everyone's DVD library. NOTE: Be sure it's the recent release of BOTH 'The Three Musketeers' & 'The Four Musketeers' that's in ONE dvd package (unlike the 2 separate dvd releases from 4 years ago that had no bonus material). This has enough extras to satisfy. Also, I found this totally by accident because the retail store listed it in the 'Comedy' section (instead of Action/Adventure) and listed it under 'C' for the title 'The Complete Musketeers' that's at the top of the package. Go figure!
9 out of 10! This rating is for BOTH films.
And don't miss Oliver Reed's (foretelling) philosophy on how to make the future look 'rosier' (after his "All for one and one for all!" division of their newly acquired bag of money from the Cardinal's guards).
It's a shame that many people don't realize that (similar to the approach to filming the 'Lord of the Rings') 'Three Musketeers' only covers the first half of Dumas' novel. 'Four Musketeers' covers the 2nd half. It is really one movie that clocks in at about 3 hours and 35 minutes and that's the way it was filmed. Only a late(?)decision prompted the producers to split one long movie into two shorter ones (a move the same producers repeated for 'Superman' and 'Superman II'...Hhmmmm...while trying to deprive the participants payment for the 2nd movie). Doesn't matter, because the end result is top quality entertainment.
I was lucky to have seen both films on the big screen as a double feature back in 1976...the way it's meant to be experienced. Fifteen years later, I read the novel (a modern translation that eased the pain of reading 19th century writing without losing any of the story's scope). And the cast of the movie is so perfect, that it was a no brainer to visualize the actors as the characters. Many lines in the film were lifted from the book; and those that weren't, were in total sync to the way the characters behaved.
Unlike all other Hollywood interpretations, this FEELS like someone just plopped the camera into the middle of 17th century Europe. It's rich, detailed; and gives an uncompromising view of royalty, power and unscrupulous behavior that is a riot.
And there are so many subtleties that demand repeat viewings. Sorry...but you won't find spoon-fed information on class conflicts, prejudice against gascons or society customs; they're all there, but the casual viewer will miss it the first time. And no overly cute one liners that plagued the inferior 1993 version (which I couldn't finish watching...mis-cast and too short to do the book properly).
(Minor spoilers) One scene begins with a close-up of a fancy dish of delicacies being nibbled by French royalty; you assume they're out enjoying a royal picnic until, way in the background, you see three figures dangling from a hangman's noose under a giant oak tree while the women are all giggles and gaiety in the foreground. Another scene shows a pail of brown slop being dumped out of a 2nd story window onto the head of an unsuspecting villager sitting on a bench...then you realize the contents of the slop (bathrooms weren't the same back then). These scenes come fast and they're gone before you know it.
You'll also be rewarded with the background dialogue delivered by the extras, so you'll have to split your attention from what you're seeing to what you're listening to...and it's well worth it. Sometimes it's all too tempting to flick on the close caption on your TV to fully appreciate the rich dialogue.
Director Richard Lester deserves high praise for his irreverent approach that succeeds at slapstick comedy in one scene and jolts the viewer back to the deadly dilemma in the next.
And that all-star cast! They ARE the characters.
Minimal special effects! What you see is what you get...and what you get is phenomenal!
This deserves to be in almost everyone's DVD library. NOTE: Be sure it's the recent release of BOTH 'The Three Musketeers' & 'The Four Musketeers' that's in ONE dvd package (unlike the 2 separate dvd releases from 4 years ago that had no bonus material). This has enough extras to satisfy. Also, I found this totally by accident because the retail store listed it in the 'Comedy' section (instead of Action/Adventure) and listed it under 'C' for the title 'The Complete Musketeers' that's at the top of the package. Go figure!
9 out of 10! This rating is for BOTH films.
And don't miss Oliver Reed's (foretelling) philosophy on how to make the future look 'rosier' (after his "All for one and one for all!" division of their newly acquired bag of money from the Cardinal's guards).