DVD : The Mask Of Zorro [1998]

Rating: - Behind the Mask
The first three times I saw this film (twice within a week; and the third a year later), I felt that it fulfilled its promise of being a first-rate, well-acted adventure thriller with delightfully comic overtones. The costumes and production values are also of the highest quality; and the music with its flamenco beats is truly exciting. I enjoyed each viewing immensely.

Anthony Hopkins portrays the elder Zorro with his usual elegant style; Antonio Banderas displays his considerable talent for comedy as Zorro's apprentice who learns (the hard way) to become a swashbuckling swordsman, and Catherine Zeta-Jones represents his perfect foil, in every sense of the term. She also does a smashing dance with Banderas that is both exciting and marvelous to behold.

Although I still enjoyed "Zorro" on my recent fourth viewing, I began to notice some of the flaws that because of the general excellent quality of the film, I chose to overlook during my previous viewings, but which I finally had to acknowledge marred an otherwise romantic adventure film that could be viewed by the entire family. One, of course, is the head in the jar, which, since I know when it is about to occur, I always manage to find something to do in the kitchen until the scene is over. The other is the "tonsil locking"--in the words of Alistair Cooke, former host of Masterpiece Theatre--that passes for kissing in some films nowadays. Even in the otherwise steamy Mexican telenovelas, the hero kisses the heroine in a manner that looks both romantic and artistic, and leaves something for the audience's imagination.

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Rating: - Fantastic!
This has to be in my top 5 films.It just entertains from start to finish.The swordplay is out of this world,every duel just kept me gripped with excitement.The swordmasters,and the stunt people deserve a medal for this.I enjoyed Catherine Zeta Jones' headstrong peformance,but still willing to play the damsel in distress.And of course,our two heroes,Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderos,ready to save the day.To me,its a timeless and fantastic film.

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Rating: - Strikingly entertaining
Strikingly entertaining and first-rate in most all cinematic categories, "The Mask of Zorro" is a smart action film that works due to a convincing titled character (Antonio Banderas), the almost unreal beauty of Catherine Zeta-Jones and the professionalism of Anthony Hopkins. Anthony Hopkins starts out as Zorro, but is caught by the evil Stuart Wilson shortly after a wild rescue of three men in the village. Wilson leaves the country and takes Hopkins' baby daughter with him. Fast-forward 20 years and Hopkins has escaped and he begins to teach Banderas (also seeking revenge after the murder of his brother) the way to be a fighter for truth and justice. The baby has grown up to become Zeta-Jones and thinks that she is really Wilson's daughter. A great film that works well due to an adequate screenplay, good characterization and solid direction. A near-perfect success.

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Rating: - Masked Marauder
This is one of those real feel-good movies - a real swashbuckler for those who like their swashes buckled. It's one of those ones you can watch over and over again too - I've seen it on TV, on a coach journey across Europe, through the window in TV shops...in other words, it's no deep, thoughtful cinematic classic, but it's a good way of killing an hour or two snuggled up with the person you love most.

Hopkins and Wilson are just made for each other - and so are Banderas and Zeta-Jones. The film maintains its pace admirably, and the pyrotechnics and final fight scenes are the best I've seen in a long time, eclipsing most other similar movies I've seen. The plot keeps you hanging on in there, and the subtle and rather tragic ending comes almost as no surprise - it's one for the "bright new hope" school of thought.

Definitely a must-rent, if only because it pops up so frequently that there is no need to buy the DVD - unless you need constant reassurance that good can triumph over evil.

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Rating: - There is a Zorro in all of us
A legend is a legend and it cannot be changed. Yet you can revisit it and modify some details without any risk. Zorro, this Californian Robin Hood, has to fight against the powerful and for the powerless. But Zorro ages and has to find and train a substitute, an heir. The tricky thing is that his wife was killed and his daughter stolen by the governor. Everything will turn OK and a new generation of the legend is ready to live, the next one already out of the oven. The film adds a couple of winks at other films, particularly Batman. The training room and living quarters are in a cave for example. Look for all allusions you can identify and the film will appear as a real patchwork of quotations and borrowings, in other words, with the good bees we have on the screen, perfect honey. And the powerful will be punished and the powerless saved. Zorro will manage to be on time.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU