The Four Musketeers

I am not a great fan of Dick Lester's films, because there are not my cup of tea, but I must admit that he has hos own trade mark. I could easily recognize any of his movies any time. my favourite is ROBIN AND MARIAN, which is also one of his darkest. and in this film, FOUR MUSKETEERS, you have many elements in common with ROBIN AND MARIAN. Visual and directing effects that are Lester's touch. I would have imagined him directing DON QUICHOTTE as Terry Gillima did. At last for him !!!! Yes I could say hat Richard Lester are quite similar in style directors.

Continues pretty much immediately from where 'The Three Musketeers' left things. This focuses on the need of milady - nasty Faye Dunaway - to get revenge on D'Artagnan (Michael York) and girlfriend Constance (Raquel Welch).

Darker than its predecessor and possibly not as much fun, this is still as good as the first film giving the principals more time to concentrate on character rather than the origins elements. This results in wonderful turns from Finlay, Reed and especially Heston and Lee who seem to have more to do and appear to be enjoying themselves immensely.

A bit more of the wonderful Roy Kinnear would have been nice - he seems to have been thrown in front of the camera for the occasional comedy scene and as quickly removed. Overall, great fun though.

A disappointing sequel followed some year later.

This film is part two of the movie "Three and Four Musketeers".

This film is somewhat more serious in tone as is warranted by the events described in the book. Not quite as fun as the first movie but true to the classic story writen by Dumas back in 1850.

(additional comments are duplicate comments made about the Three Musketeers)

This set of films (3 and 4 Musketeers were filmed at the same time and released 8 months apart) ranks right up there with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Robin Hood" (with Erol Flynn) as one of the best in its genre (action/adventure). As an historian, I enjoyed the small touches of historical accuracy in the film. As far as I can tell, everything is just about bang-on: the costumes, the settings, the weapons, the street life, and the musketeers themselves (and yes I know the story is not "true"). The two films are quite faithful to the classic book by Alexander Dumas given some small and reasonable changes.

The sword-play in the film is the greatest! The initial duel against the Cardinal's men in the Convent is a masterpiece of choreographed combat. The battle that takes place early in the second film is hysterically funny as our heroes try to eat lunch in the middle of a war.

The actors and actresses are all wonderful, especially Michael York, Oliver Reed, Faye Dunaway, and Charlton Heston. One small weakness in the film is that it does not have the time or interest in describing how Milady de Winter seduces her jailor. I suggest reading the book to get a full understanding of that sequence of events.

Be warned, prolonged exposure to this film is likely to result in a desire for fencing lessons and historical reenactments.

Bottom line: A great film.

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan are back; or more precisely, are still here; for the second half of the Dumas novel. As I'm sure most fans know, this was meant to be part of the complete Three Musketeers, before the Salkinds split it into two films. This led to much litigation and the creation of the "Salkind clause" in movie contracts.

Spoliers-The film takes up where the first part left off; D'Artagnan and the Musketeers have saved the Queen from embarassment and confounded the evil Cardinal Richelieu. D'Artagnan is now a full fledged Musketeer (although, in the novel, he was still just a guardsman).

Now the Cardinal hatches a new plot to persuade the Duke of Buckingham from joining the protestant Huguenot rebels at the city of La Rochelle. Milady is sent to persuade him to change his mind or kill him. Although Buckingham imprisons her, he underestimates the power of her charms. The Duke meets a tragic end and Milady returns to France to seek her revenge on D'Artagnan.

Meanwhile, D'Artagnan rescues his mistress Constance and places her in safekeeping. He learns the true identity of Milady and the mystery behind Athos' melancholy.

The Musketeers are sent to fight at La Rochelle and uncover the Cardinal's plot to kill Buckingham. Although the other Musketeers care little, D'Artagnan owes a debt to Buckingham and tries to stop the plot.

D'Artagnan pays a terrible price for his efforts, but emerges as a lieutenant of the Musketeers. He has taken his place as the leader of the group, but will find little solace in his promotion.

As with the first film, the performances are spot on. Everything is the same, as it was filmed at the same time. It is best viewed as a whole with the Three Musketeers.

Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, Michael York, Geraldine Chaplin, Faye Dunaway, Charlton Heston, boy oh boy what a shining list of major stars of the 70's. The movie attracts my attention first because of the most-read French story, second the cast is absolutely another one. The chivalry tale is always the love of the directors and we have about 20 productions bearing the same name within the short movie history. The Spanish setting e.g. the fight in the old church is marvellous, I guess filming in Spain at that time didn't cost too much. Just look at the scheming and wicked black female spider Faye Dunaway is already a pure and high entertainment, and Michael York then looked really innocent and like loverboy.