The Man in the Iron Mask

Last month I bought a cheap DVD-box with 10 different movies. One of them was "The man in the iron mask". According to the info on the box it was the version with Richard Chamberlain and Ian Holm from 1977. Two great actors so I became very interested. During the movie I became more and more disappointed. Such a lame attempt to tell such a great story. And above all ... which version did I have bought. Production-year 1977 could be right, but no sign of Richard C. and Ian H.. So I went searching on IMDb: Not the 1985-version? Maybe 1968? No way I suspected this movie was made in the late 90's. Unbelievable!! How is it possible, that people actually put money in such a production. It seemed like the filmmakers tried to make the movie look bad.

So ... avoid this one!! ... and watch carefully when buying cheap DVD-boxes.

Of the four Man in the Iron Mask adaptations seen, this one is by far and large the worst. Edward Albert brings dignity and cool energy to Athos and Timothy Bottoms is adequately menacing as Fouquet, but when it comes to redeeming merits that's where this adaptation ends. Apart from Albert and Bottoms, the actors look really uninterested in their roles with Nick Richert being the least convincing and cruel Louis you'd find in any adaptation of the classic story. The film does look cheap with a real lack of authenticity in sound and detail and the production has a lot of dull colours and lighting. Adding to the tedium are a screenplay that lacks snap and pace(the underwritten dialogue and stiff line delivery not helping), action that is undercooked(in utilisation and how it translates to film) and wholly unexciting and characters that you learn and care little about, which is not the case with the actual story. The story here starts slowly and never recovers sadly, it did get confused narratively especially in the middle and the rouse, thrills, tension and fun are next to nowhere in sight. The direction is borderline erratic and the pacing makes the film further unengaging. Overall, very bad and as a standalone too, there is the details here but the spirit isn't. It is sad to see Dumas and a great story being done this badly, Albert and Bottoms only just about save it from it not seeing the time of day ever again. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Of all of the Muskateer, Man in the Iron Mask movies that I have seen, this version is the worst. It has very slow moving partaking of the characters participation in this movie. Very little action and the action that is in this movie leaves very little excitement. The actors/actresses in this movie act as if they are reading from a card instead of memory. And the costumes in this movie as way out of date, infact, it seems as if the costume designer cannot figure out what century this movie takes place in. Even the wigs worn by the charactors look rediculas and out of style. I was very dissapointed in this film and I give it a 2.

An interesting combination of history , fiction and romance blended together by Writer /director and actor William Richert make for an interesting plot. Of particular interest is the fact that this movie is an extremely low budget film(less than $500,00) and shows you that a good movie need not be a big budget picture to be intertaining and good.

Quite amazing is how many actors appear in the film. You will recognize many big name stars like Meg ter( Cagney and Lacey) and James Gammon( Nash Bridges). among others. An interesting note is that River Phoenix was going to play the part of the twin brothers Phillippe and Louie.

In a few places the sound could have been better and a few actors are a bit weak in their characterization, but that is more than made up by very strong performances from Edward albert, Timothy Bottom and William Richert.

The costumes, make up and background sets are quite spectacular considering it was filmed at present day locations. I understand a second version may soon be released with some added special effects and actually an 'appearence' by the original writer of the plot, A lexandre Dumas. It is a fun , romantic, swash buckling, and entertaining movie.