Die Abenteuer des Chevalier de Lagardère

Jean Piat is the quintessential masked justice-seeking swordsman - almost as if Zorro had been transposed to pre-Revolution France...!

Sacha Pistoëff makes for a devilish foe; as was his casting lot most of the time throughout his career...

And the supporting cast is way beyond adequate (more on that below!)

LAGARDÈRE is a mix of CYRANO, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, even THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME and ZORRO - and such witty repartee is exchanged too...!

Far better than the movie remake recently made starring Daniel Auteuil in the title role, THIS Lagardère truly delivers on all fronts

Note also the presence of JACQUES DUFILHO, a legendary stage actor who, in his comic turn here, proves he could have been as funny as the great LOUIS DE FUNÈS if he had so chosen!

''Si tu ne viens pas à Lagardère, Lagardère ira à toi!'' said the mantra spoken by the hero in full regalia - literally; ''if you do not come to Lagardère, Lagardère shall come to you!'' - it makes a poor advertisement for a movie or a DVD though...! The viewer might be tempted to take it literally indeed and wait for the darn thing to come to him on TV! But since that worked against the Auteuil film only in France, it is not a factor in North America or elsewhere in the world, I dare believe - if you want something as good as The Musketeer and Zorro, as literate as Cyrano and all-around thrilling, do not hesitate to ''go to'' LAGARDÈRE!