Magnificent production (along with its immediate sequel THE FOUR MUSKETEERS) is well-nigh as perfect an entertainment as you will find. Seldom have the ingredients of an international blockbuster come together with such perfect skill and success (and never mind the brouhaha surrounding the Salkinds' allegedly duplicitous decision to release their production as two separate films!). Both movies provide adequate individual story lines on their own -- with the first being perhaps funnier, and the second more compelling and somber -- but there's no doubt that as a single four-hour saga this expert adaptation of Alexander Dumas' classic tale can't be beat.
For an 'all-star' cast, the actors seem pretty comfortable in their roles and there's not much showboating. (But there are definitely scene-stealers in the persons of Spike Milligan as Raquel Welch's better-part-of-valor husband, Monsieur Bonancieux, and director Richard Lester's favorite, Roy Kinnear, as Planchet, D'Artagnan's loyal manservant.) The Musketeers themselves are brought to vivid life by some real pros: a glowering Oliver Reed as Athos, dashing Richard Chamberlain as Aramis, and comic stalwart Frank Finlay as the blowhard Porthos. Not to mention the breezy way very young -- and very fit! -- Michael York pulls off D'Artagnan's metamorphosis from country bumpkin to skilled swordsman with an appealing mix of athleticism and charm. Also a pleasure are the villains, with smooth understated treachery personified by Christopher Lee as Rochefort and Faye Dunaway as the beautiful but deadly Milady de Winter. Even Charlton Heston, in a rare non-heroic turn, shows subtlety and nuance as the conniving Cardinal Richelieu.
I've always considered Lester an above-average talent who was often -- like many directors -- saddled with mediocre material, but this is where I think he was able to do his most completely realized work. After all, Dumas' story, here masterfully laid out in George MacDonald Fraser's humor-laced script, contains just about every kind of action, romance and intrigue known to fiction.
And the great thing is, Lester excels at all of them. His action blocking is superb, the swordfights and battle choreography done with exhilarating pace and realism. Many of these set pieces contain skillfully-timed slapstick gags that not only work in context but are truly funny to boot. Suspense is well-wrought throughout. Even the dialogue scenes convey volumes of information without ever being dull.
Obviously Lester's many collaborators contributed their own magic as well. Locations in Spain stand in beautifully for France and England. The overall production design is rich and detailed, full of wonderful bits such as the friar's blessing of the cannons, a Jules Verne-esqe submersible, and a canine chess game. Michel Legrand's music score is so exceptional in part one that Lalo Schifrin's work in part two can only suffer in comparison, but even that's a minor quibble. Overall, these two movies are a total delight that should be in every DVD library. (Make sure to get the Anchor Bay edition.)
For an 'all-star' cast, the actors seem pretty comfortable in their roles and there's not much showboating. (But there are definitely scene-stealers in the persons of Spike Milligan as Raquel Welch's better-part-of-valor husband, Monsieur Bonancieux, and director Richard Lester's favorite, Roy Kinnear, as Planchet, D'Artagnan's loyal manservant.) The Musketeers themselves are brought to vivid life by some real pros: a glowering Oliver Reed as Athos, dashing Richard Chamberlain as Aramis, and comic stalwart Frank Finlay as the blowhard Porthos. Not to mention the breezy way very young -- and very fit! -- Michael York pulls off D'Artagnan's metamorphosis from country bumpkin to skilled swordsman with an appealing mix of athleticism and charm. Also a pleasure are the villains, with smooth understated treachery personified by Christopher Lee as Rochefort and Faye Dunaway as the beautiful but deadly Milady de Winter. Even Charlton Heston, in a rare non-heroic turn, shows subtlety and nuance as the conniving Cardinal Richelieu.
I've always considered Lester an above-average talent who was often -- like many directors -- saddled with mediocre material, but this is where I think he was able to do his most completely realized work. After all, Dumas' story, here masterfully laid out in George MacDonald Fraser's humor-laced script, contains just about every kind of action, romance and intrigue known to fiction.
And the great thing is, Lester excels at all of them. His action blocking is superb, the swordfights and battle choreography done with exhilarating pace and realism. Many of these set pieces contain skillfully-timed slapstick gags that not only work in context but are truly funny to boot. Suspense is well-wrought throughout. Even the dialogue scenes convey volumes of information without ever being dull.
Obviously Lester's many collaborators contributed their own magic as well. Locations in Spain stand in beautifully for France and England. The overall production design is rich and detailed, full of wonderful bits such as the friar's blessing of the cannons, a Jules Verne-esqe submersible, and a canine chess game. Michel Legrand's music score is so exceptional in part one that Lalo Schifrin's work in part two can only suffer in comparison, but even that's a minor quibble. Overall, these two movies are a total delight that should be in every DVD library. (Make sure to get the Anchor Bay edition.)