El hombre de la máscara de hierro

In 1993 we got "The Three Musketeers," a story full of levity about three members of the royal French guard who vowed to save the king of France. In 1998 we got "The Man in the Iron Mask" which is about three musketeers who are seeking to depose the corrupt young king of France.

The story was riveting. Leonardo Di Caprio played King Louis the 14th who very much reminded me of a Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones. That alone made me want to see him taken down, and taken down hard. France was at war, the people were starving, and all the young king could think to do was sleep with another man's fiance.

Aramis (Jeremy Irons), Athos (John Malkovich), and Pathos (Gerard Depardieu), three ex-musketeers, desired a revolution--bloodless if possible. They could get the king they wanted on the throne if they could switch King Louis with his wrongfully imprisoned twin brother Phillipe.

The plot was a fascinating one because there was a loathsome king and those who would oppose him. It was complicated by the king's chief guard D'artagnan (Gabriel Byrne) having an allegiance to both his king and his fellow former musketeers, Aramis, Athos, and Pathos. The acting by all was delightful and the production itself was top quality. There were very few downsides to this film.

The picture is a new version of Alexandre Dumas novel and is set in 17th century French court , where two twins , one evil monarch , Louis XIV (DiCaprio) of France , and the other , Phillippe , (DiCaprio in a dual role) is imprisoned in the Bastilla as an incarcerated inmate , number 6943800 , that hides his identity wearing an iron mask . Both of whom are sons of the Queen Mother Anne (Anne Parillaud) . The King falls for a beautiful girl (Judith Godreche) and while Athos (Peter Sarsgaard) leads to the summit of the dreary musketeers , thus : the brave Dartagnan (Gabriel Byrne) ; the responsible father Athos (John Malkovich) ; the joker (though with flatulence) Portos(Gerard Depardieu) and the Priest Aramis (Jeremy Irons). They join forces for the royal vengeance with the shout : ¨One for all and all for one¨ . They are planning a twisted plot , involving substitution of the villain King by his lookalike brother.

It's a good adaptation with big budget , a moving rendition of the classic tale with derring-do , intrigue , romance , action and exciting swordplay . An excellent casting and lavish production shot in France make for a fairly amusement swashbuckler . Glimmer and watchable cinematography by Peter Suschizsky who reflects stunningly French palaces (Versalles), gardens and interior-exterior scenarios . Besides , the atmospheric and spectacular music score by Nick Glennie Smith . ¨Three Musketeers¨ remade numerous times for big screen and television . Thus : 1929 silent retelling by Alan Dawn with Douglas Fairbanks , 1939 by James Whale with Louis Hayward , 1977 TV rendition with Richard Chamberlain . The film is well realized by usual screenwriter (Braveheart) and first-time director Randal Wallace . The motion picture will appeal to costume drama enthusiastic and DiCaprio fans.

Without it being the best movie I have ever seen, I actually liked this film. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, and I didn't get that. Instead I got a fun film, with flaws, but it was enjoyable enough.

Starting with the many good things, the cinematography is superb, as is the lavish scenery and costumes. The music is very rousing and moving, and the sword play is energetic. Also I thought the direction was fine, same with the acting. Gabriel Byrne is surprisingly good as D'Artagnan(much more suited to the part than Chris O'Donnell-the worst D'Artagnan, though I actually liked the movie- was). Even better were Jeremy Irons and Gerard Depardieu as Aramis and Porthos. John Malkovich was good too, if perhaps a little too fey to start with. Leonardo DiCaprio was somewhat uneven in his performance but he was good on the whole, personally I felt he was better as Phillippe in alternative to Louis, he never quite convinced me playing an arrogant king whereas he succeeded with Phillippe because of that spontaneous boyish charm he has.

However, the film is a little too long and the pacing is also uneven, I felt the film dragged in the middle and then it felt a tad rushed at the end. While the story is solid enough and sticks relatively faithful to the story, which is brilliant on a side note to those not familiar with it, it can get implausible with one or two soap-opera-ish qualities about it. Finally, the script does have one too many weak spots, one or two parts are a little too cheesy for my liking.

On the whole though, this is an above average and fun film. Maybe not the best for those who adore the book, but as an introduction to the story it is good enough. 7/10 Bethany Cox

When this film started playing in theaters in March 1998, I thought: this is going to be another overrated film that Leo Di Caprio is in...so I avoided going to see it. But I decided to rent it yesterday, since I was in the mood to watch a period film. Was I surprised! I really enjoyed watching this film. Although it did have a few flaws here and there, it is still a very worthwhile and enjoyable film. The costumes were nice, yes, but the sets were even better. The cinematography was outstanding. Who cares if it "was not true" to the Alexandre Dumas novel--film adaptions of famous novels never are true to the books. This film didn't do so well at the box office because it started playing in theaters at a time when all of the Titanic hype was still taking place. Perhaps The Man in the Iron Mask should've been released in the fall of 98--I bet more people would've gone to see it in theaters. If you haven't seen this film, rent it. It's both an enjoyable story and a visual wonder. See it at least twice!

I only first watched it a year ago, and wasn't sure I would like it at all. Although it had some of my favorite actors (John M. Gabriel B. ..and so on) it also held some of my least favorite actors (Leonardo D. ..and that's it). I watched it, and loved it! There is comedy, romance, adventure, drama, some educational value, and it holds the oh-so-fine Jeremy Irons. I found it captivating enough, interesting so to speak. It doesn't have any of those "Is it over yet? Should I wake my legs now?" scenes. I don't recommend it for little kids, though.