The best.....in all departments

Poseidon-3

Of the countless screen versions of this classic Dumas tale, this one (paired with the sequel "The Four Musketeers") comes closest to the vision and spirit and story of the novel. There are still some variations, but, for the most part, this succeeds very well, even improving on things occasionally. It retains the adventure and epic nature of the story, but has been sprinkled with delightfully subversive humor and occasional slpastick. It's a mystery as to why this sumptuous, heavily-detailed, dazzling film did not receive any Oscar recognition (especially for the magnificent, eye-popping costumes and the rousing score, spirited score which Legrand came up with in ten days!) The settings are perfect. The flavor and feel for the times is unusual and intriguing. A game, crackerjack cast is one of the best in history. York does a memorable job as D'Artagnan, all wide-eyed eagerness and full of dashing adventure. He is ably supported by the famed trio of musketeers, each with his own traits and look. Reed is a pure delight with his boozy, surly attitude and rough-hewn good looks (and those gorgeous eyes), Chamberlain is appropriately demure and chivalrous and Finlay is physically amusing and witty. Cassel is perfect as the self-involved King and Chaplin is surprisingly effective as Queen Anne. Welch does her most charming and effective work as the gorgeous and well-endowed klutz Constance. On the villainous side is the imperious, imposing Heston as Cardinal Richelieu and his henchman Rochefort played to perfection by Lee. Finally, the monumental Dunaway as the iciest, most profoundly wonderful Milady de Winter ever shown. The entire cast is excellent, but the one that lingers most in the memory is Dunaway (though her real showcase is the second film.) The film is peppered with a host of interesting British character actors and oddly amusing voice-overs to bring comedy to some of the more mundane moments. The film caused quite a stir when it was released because the actors had signed on to do one movie, but the producers decided to fill it out into two! A lawsuit finally resolved some of the financial issues of that, but the mess of having one great epic story divided into two halves remains. The films make so much more of an impact if viewed back-to-back, yet because they have each been padded with lengthy sword fights to each have an appropriate number of thrills, it becomes oppressively long that way. The best case scenario would be a reedited three hour version, but that isn't likely to happen. The previous versions and remakes all have certain flaws which keep them at a lower level of excellence. Though it was not in the book, the wrestling match between Dunaway and Welch and the entire sequence with the diamonds is a highlight. Just a glimpse of the set and costumes for the masquerade ball is worth the price of rental or purchase. This is a splendid, thoroughly enjoyable film.

score /10

Poseidon-3 24 April 2002

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0138745/