Reviews

This was one of the more faithful adaptations of the Dumas novel.The costumes were definitely 17th century and the sets were up to par. The cast for the most part put on fine performances but most of the cast were in their early forties taken on the parts of twenty and thirty somethings.The liberties taken with the novel did not exactly hurt the story.This version is one of the few that has included the Lord de Winter character.The parts that stray from the novel is the D'Artagnan at the beginning of the story in the town of Meung in the movie has Milady de Winter in the carriage with Constance as her prisoner meeting Rochefort.Constance drops a handkerchief trying to get help and D'Artagnan thinks that the handkerchief belongs to Milady de Winter and that she is interested in him since the carriage incident at Meung.He pursues her becomes involved with her and then finds out that Constance was the one who dropped the handkerchief and after meeting Constance falls in love with her.Milady is definitely Rochefort's accomplice she is also involved in a second kidnapping of Constance.D'Artagnan towards the end of the film kills Rochefort.Milady being an accomplice of Rochefort and abductor of Constance is more than likely borrowed from the 1929 sequel to the 1921 Douglas Fairbanks silent Three Musketeers.This 1945 adaptation made Milady even more villainous.What I greatly appreciated about this version is how faithful to most of the story it is:Milady tries to get D'Artagnan to kill Lord de Winter.Athos who in most recent movie versions is still in love with his ex-wife Milady de Winter in this version like the book he hates her.Milady seduces Felton who kills Buckingham.Milady poisons Constance at the convent.Lord de Winter joins the Musketeers on the hunting down of his sister-in-law Milady de Winter after Constance's murder plus that Milady is responsible for John Felton killing the Duke of Buckingham and also the poison murder of his brother.The Executioner of Lille like in the novel reveals how he knows Milady de Winter and that he was responsible for branding her as a criminal because he also had to brand his brother her accomplice and his reasons for being more than willing to execute her-She destroyed his only brother and led him away from the priesthood to a life of crime and then he committed suicide when she left him for the Count de la Fere aka Athos.Kudos to Argentina/Uruguay for making this very close to faithful adaptation of the novel.This version has been mistakenly described as a comedy by many different sources.It certainly is not.This version has been mistaken with the Mexican Cantinflas version which is three years older than this.This version is a gem and anyone who loves true adaptations or full length adaptations needs to add this to their library.Armando Bo and Inda Ledesma are in their early thirties but they can pass for the young lovers D'Artagnan and Constance which is a lot more than can be said for the some of the other cast members.Roberto Airaldi's Athos the Count de le Fere had the noble bearing of Athos down pat.Iris Marga's Milady was well acted but she was unfortunately one of the less attractive actresses to play Milady de Winter.By the way another actress was cast in the part of Milady de Winter and had to back out.Iris Marga was second choice for the part.Like the 1936 MGM Romeo and Juliet most of the cast of this version were too old for their parts but the acting made up for that.Other faithful or near faithful versions to the novel are the French 1922 silent and 1933 talkie.The 1948 MGM,The 1954 and the1966 BBC version was so good it spawned to sequels that also followed the literary sequels.The 1959,1961 2 part adaptation 1969 3 part,1984 French/Italian tv productions.The Richard Lester UK/Panama productions that started in the 1970'sand ended in a1988 sequel.The Russian versions of 1978 which also had sequels that followed and 2013/2014 10 part series that was also released as an edited movie theatrically.The 1999 USA made for video stage play.The Spanish miniseries of the early 1970's with Sancho Gracia.All the above are worth the time to watch.I gave this Argentinian/Uruguayan version an 8 because of faithfulness to the novel.This was a long lost hidden gem.

I really enjoyed this Brazilian soap opera which was translated into Spanish for Spanish countries and the United States.I enjoyed the fleshed out characters of both the Hebrews and the Egyptians.I thought the costuming for the Egyptian Females could have been a little better especially the headdresses.This version covers pretty much all the main characters from the Books of Exodus,Leviticus,Numbers and Deuteronomy plus flashbacks from the Genesis period of Jacob and Joseph.Of course quite a bit of fiction added in especially with the Egyptian court.All the Hebrew characters are here in this remake and well represented.I appreciate that this version also shows an accurate portrayal of the Hebrews worship of God and the Egyptians worship of many Gods.This version is way better than some of the versions of Bible Based films that Hollywood and ABC TV have put out and which flopped Exodus:Gods and Kings (2014)Christian Bale did not like playing Moses and considered Moses a schizophrenic great casting job by Hollywood standards,Noah (2014) Russell Crowe played Noah as some kind of nut and the Nephilim who were bad guys in the Bible portrayed as good and the ABC series Of Kings and Prophets (2016)about King David was canceled after the third episode and we can Thank God and people of faith everywhere for that.The person who put out Kings and Prophets wanted to turn it into a Game of Thrones type series and you can't do that with the Bible.This Brazilian production I appreciate its reverence and kudos once again to Brazilian Television who in the past brought equally reverent TV series that did justice to the Bible like Joseph,Samson and Delilah,King David and the Story of Esther have once again put out a production worth watching!

I came across this early sixties TV movie gem while looking for other early sixties television movie musical remakes.Carol Burnett's version is almost word for word remake of Doris Day's 1953 film a little different ending but Calamity does still end up with Wild Bill.Carol does a fine job in the remake but she is no Doris Day and people need to remember that and the television production values were not up to par as they are today.Most of the cast with the exception of Carol Burnett and Cathryn Damon I have never heard of but they did a good job.The acting from some of these lesser known actors who were in minor parts some ways were better and some worse than the actors in the 1953 film.The actors playing Wild Bill,Katie Brown,Danny Gilmartin couldn't compete with the likes of Howard Keel,Alyn Ann McLerie and Phil Carey.Cathryn Damon in an early role did a good job as Adelaide Adams but she was no Gail Robbins.Good Entertainment I enjoyed it because today film and television is a big mess butchering classics and modern screenwriters adding their own material and deviating heavily from the original sources (remakes of the works of the Bible,Ben Hur,The Three Musketeers,Pompeii,Dracula)and some of the modern actors can't even act, sing or dance (remakes of Grease,Rocky Horror Picture Show and Footloose sort of prove that)! This television movie can be purchased online and can be viewed at some streaming sites.If you like Carol Burnett pre-Carol Burnett show watch it you might like it.

Very Entertaining prequel.This prequel deals with the early histories of Athos nee Oliver,the Count de le Fere,Porthos nee M.du Vallon Aramis nee Rene d'Herblay,Milady de Winter nee Anne de Breuil the Countess de le Fere and Bishop Richelieu later Cardinal Richelieu. Story starts out with a Athos becoming an alcoholic and joining up with two older Musketeers who served under the late King Henry IV the Father of the King Louis XIII.Athos and the two older seasoned musketeers (non-Dumas characters)meet Porthos who the older musketeers try to keep out of trouble and who know Porthos family.Later the two older musketeers and Athos meet up with the Duke de Luynes who wants to bring the Bishop de Richelieu back to Louis XIII's favor and the future courtesan Marion de Lorme (who physically and fashion wise reminds Athos a lot of his ex-wife Milady de Winter) and she is the accomplice of a psychotic type assassin known as the Pilgrim who is out to assassinate the Duke and the Bishop.At the last episode of the first season the two older musketeers and Athos and Aramis come to the rescue of a young man with a woman problem and that young man turns out to be Aramis.In the pre-D'Artagnan years in the Dumas novel Athos taught Porthos the finer art of fencing and Porthos passed that skill onto Aramis.Future alcoholic Athos throughout this prequel miniseries has flashbacks and nightmares of a blond Milady de Winter.The reason I emphasize blond is because the latest musketeer films have had everything but blonds playing Milady de Winter and I recommend the casting of Jessica Preddy as Milady de Winter her fair complexion and beautiful hypnotic like blue eyes are like the Milady de Winter of the novel.All the actors are turning in fine performances.The actor playing Porthos is doing a good job but physically speaking does not resemble the large burly character of the book.On the costumes lavish but could be a little more seventeenth century along with the hairstyles.Overall,job well done!!! I hope they continue to emphasize the individuality of the characters and I hope there will be more seasons of these prequels leading up to their meeting with the fourth musketeer D'Artagnan.I enjoy the BBC Musketeers but this is faithful to the characters and closer to the original Dumas book.A true to Dumas prequel should have been filmed years ago.I recommend anyone who is a fan of the Musketeer genre to watch this on you tube or a competitor site.I would have given this an eight or nine if it weren't for some of the hairstyles and costumes.Oh,before I forget Thank God they used some real French locales for the sets and scenery because that makes it more authentic.To All Musketeer fans - WATCH IT YOU WILL LOVE IT !!!!

The reason I gave this a seven out of ten is because of miscasting and adding unnecessary elements to the original story line .Sorry to say D'Artagnan and Constance were miscast physically but not as bad as the most recent American versions of The Three Musketeers.The acting of Rinal Mukhametov and Anna Starshenbaum was fine.Ekaterina Vilkova's Milady de Winter was well played.She was for the most part a classy Milady especially compared with the most recent portrayal by Milla Jovovich.Ekaterina Vilkova who is very attractive who physically is a mix between Michelle Pfeiffer and Calista Flockhart had one two many different hair colors in the movie.She was brunette in the carriage scene when D'Artagnan first sees her.A redhead or strawberry blonde in most scenes and a blond in her barnyard barn scene.When Athos played by Yuri Chursin pulls a gun on her she pulls a weapon to and after he steals her letter from the Cardinal she shoots at him from Dovecot Inn window.The King,Queen,Cardinal Richelieu and the Duke of Buckingham and Count de Rochefort were cast with actors approaching middle age and middle age but fine performances.The lovers Anne and the Duke of Buckingham were played by actors who resemble Jeremy Irons and Helen Mirren.Which is strange because Mariya Mironova looks like a brunette good looking younger version of Helen Mirren who I believes real last name is Mironova.Could this woman be a relative? Konstantin Lavronenko who plays the Duke of Buckingham bears a resemblance to English actor Jeremy Irons.What I appreciate in this story is all the characters except for the Musketeer lackeys are kept in the story.Milady de Winter's handsome antagonistic brother-in-law Lord de Winter played by Alexei Norobyov is in this version as are Madame de Coquenard,the lover of Porthos and her elderly husband Monsieur Coquenard and Aramis' mistress the Duchess de Chevreuse.Also on board Captain de Treville,Bernajoux,Kitty the Maid,O'Reilly the Jeweler of Buckingham and John Felton,the Puritanical fanatic a lover of Milady de Winter and assassin of the Duke of Buckingham and the Executioner of Lille.Ekaterina Vilkova and Yuri Chursin stole the show.The drunken Athos telling D'Artagnan about his marriage to a beautiful village girl and the sister of a priest.In this version First departure from the book and not in other versions Milady and John Felton were flirting with each other at the ball where she stole the studs from Buckingham.Second departure Athos goes looking for his wife and hears moaning from his stables and finds his wife having sex with an unknown to him ex-lover.He runs the lover through grabs her and hangs her from the tree.Before he hangs her she laughs at him.The adultery in the horse stables never happened in the book or in other versions.Third departure from the book Felton kills Buckingham's servant first right in front of Buckingham before murdering Buckingham.Fourth departure from the book the Duke of Buckingham's body is brought by boat propped up for Queen Anne to see and unknown to her a repentant Cardinal Richelieu and Count de Rochefort then decides its time to do away with Milady de Winter.Fifth departure Milady meets with Richelieu instead of Rochefort on the way to kill Constance.Sixth departure from the book Richelieu tells Rochefort they need to dispose of Milady after she instigates the death of the Duke of Buckingham and Milady overhears the conversation.Seventh departure from the book and other versions Rochefort comes to Athos his enemy to stop the now common enemy Milady de Winter.The murder scene of Milady by Constance has been used in other versions she is stabbed to death.Eighth departure after Milady kills Constance she goes back to Château de le Fere.Athos with D'Artagnan,Porthos,Aramis and Lord de Winter all go to Château de le Fere. Milady shocks the servants and village people by showing up at Château de le Fere.The servants uncomfortably serve her.Athos shows up Milady greets him.He goes in they sit at the table,talk old times and have a drink and still love each other.Departure nine from the novel and other versions after Milady and Athos drink.She allows herself to be judged and executed and is not ashamed of her crimes.Each Musketeer and Lord de Winter tell her her crimes and Milady is proud of herself she and Athos kiss and embrace and then goes proudly to her death even pulls back her hair for the executioner.From then on the story falls back into place.For people who love Athos/Milady story lines this is the version for you but it could have been better if they hadn't had the horse stable scene.Scenery,sets and costumes seventeenth century authentic and gorgeous.All in all a good version and fit for any Musketeer fan collection.Can't wait for the BBC 2014 Musketeers and U.K filmed in France 2014 Three Musketeer prequel The First Musketeer-The story of Athos,Porthos,Aramis,Milady before D'Artagnan and for Musketeer fans out there 31 countries are planning to remake the Three Musketeers since it is now public domain.Enjoy this version I sure did.Didn't agree with it but I did like it!

This is not a faithful adaptation of Dracula and Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker.Too many liberties taken with both stories.This adaptation has more in common with the Hammer Studio Dracula films.The actor playing Dracula is doing a better job on the new NBC miniseries Dracula as Van Helsing and that is not saying much since NBC has also taken too many liberties with the Stoker novel by adding in additional characters and subplots.Asia Argento is likable but lets face fact she is a little long in the tooth for the part of Lucy.Rutger Hauer's Van Helsing is a good portrayal.I didn't care for the staking of a child victim of Lucy's something that did not happen in the original novel.Dracula only has one bride in this version a peasant girl named Tanya whom he turned into a vampire in the guise of an owl instead of a bat.Dracula killing Lucy's father (she had a mother in the Stoker book) as a preying mantis.This version has Mina as the reincarnation of one of Dracula's royal wives a character from Dracula's Guest Countess Dolingen de Gratz.They never used reincarnation story lines in Dracula movies until 1973 when Dan Curtis had the Lucy character as an incarnation of Dracula's wife Maria and then you had Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 version Mina as an incarnation of Dracula's suicidal wife Elizabeta and now in the 2013 NBC you have Mina the incarnation of Dracula's murdered wife Ilona.Four things I appreciate about this version 1.I like the atmospheric quality it reminds me of the Hammer films I watched growing up.2.I appreciate that Dracula's Guest which was originally the lost chapter of Bram Stoker's Dracula has been incorporated into this version with some of it's characters.3. I appreciate that this version at least gives names of one of the brides of Dracula the brides names were never mentioned in the Stoker novel and actually in the historical Dracula only one of his wives was named because the names of his women his first wife a boyar's daughter and mistresses were lost to history.I hope that someone in the future can come up with a Dracula film that also could create some storyline for his wives.Like who were they to him (noble or royal wives or peasant girl mistresses).4.At least this version kept the Lucy,Jonathan,Mina,Van Helsing and Renfield characters.This film isn't the worse but it is far from the best! Best versions to see that follow the novel closely but not completely faithful the 1992 Gary Oldman ,1977 Louis Jourdan BBC version,the 1970 Christopher Lee version and to a lesser degree the 1973 Jack Palance version.If you want just good clean less faithful horror versions there is always the Hollywood Bela Lugosi 1931 and the 1958 Hammer films Christopher Lee version.

I enjoyed this miniseries from the beginning to the end.It followed the Biblical account.Examples: The rape of Dinah by Prince Shechem ,half-sister and also cousin of Joseph and Joseph's half-brother/cousin Reuben's affair with his father Jacob's concubine Bilhah and half-brother/cousin Judah who deceived in disguise by Tamar,his ex-daughter-in-law widow of Judah's two no good sons Er and Onan impregnates her with twin sons.Judah's wife by the way was a Canaanite woman who hated her Aramaic daughter-in-law Tamar.This version doesn't mention or other versions that Judah's wife wanted her sons married to Canaanite women and succeeded in marrying off her youngest Shelah to a Canaanite woman.She wasn't going to have her youngest surviving son end up like his brothers.She blamed Tamar for the deaths of Er and Onan.You will not see these Biblical stories in most of the movies about Joseph.Ted Turner did a wonderful version in the nineties that kept the Dinah and Tamar episodes.Some of the names picked for the wives of the sons of Jacob were incorrect as well as the nationalities with the exception of Asenath.Reuben did not marry a Canaanite woman named Naamah whom Levi and Simeon captured when they killed Prince Hamor and Prince Shechem and the men of their city in retaliation for the rape of their full sister Dinah.The Naamah character in this story's husband was killed in front of her and she was in early stages of pregnancy with the Mara character who later becomes Joseph's full brother Benjamin's wife.It was one of Zilpah's another concubine of Jacob's. One of she and Jacobs sons married a widow with a young daughter.My one disappointment with this story was too much time given to Joseph's four eldest half-brother & half sister/cousins (the sons of his mother Rachel's sister Leah,the first wife of Jacob) Reuben,Simeon,Levi,Judah and Dinah hardly any characterization or time given to Issachar and Zebulon the youngest sons of Jacob and Leah.Benjamin the full brother of Joseph and the youngest son of Jacob and his second and favorite wife Rachel he gets a lot of storyline,too.The sons of Jacob and his concubines (secondary wives) Bilhah,the mother of Naphtali and Dan and Gad and Asher the sons of Zilpah,the second concubine of Zilpah get hardly any storyline at all.The sets and costumes were great.Someone certainly did their homework on costume design and study of ancient history.The Egyptians,Canaanites,Ishmaelites,Midianites and Israelites were dressed as the ancient drawings portrayed them.This series treated all ancient peoples with dignity.Some of the previous adaptations of the Jacob and Joseph stories made the ancestors of today's Israelite and Jewish peoples look like unwashed bums.The Jews have always been a clean people and even in the worst of circumstances tried to dress decently.Jacob,his father Isaac and grandfather were made wealthy men thanks to their faith in God.This version portrays Jacob and his family as wealthy people which they were.I love this version would recommend it to anyone who likes films of faith or Bible epics.

I watched this from the beginning to the end. This compares favorably with the British/USA miniseries The Story of David from 1976 with Keith Mitchell,Timothy Bottoms,Jane Seymour and Susan Hampshire.This version is very faithful to the Biblical Story.This story had more Biblical characters in it than any story of King David I have ever seen.Some fictional elements were added in like a teenage shepherd David rescuing a beautiful teenage girl on her way to her wedding from an abductor. The girl later grows into the beautiful Bathsheba.Fictional element two General Joab David's nephew has had a crush on Mephibosheth's Prince Jonathan's son Mephibosheth's nurse Tirzah since back in days of King Saul and still has crush on her when he is reunited with her in middle age.Fictional element three jealous first wife Michal abducts baby Prince Solomon but returns him to David.Fictional element four the Witch of Endor is the wife of one of Saul's generals Doeg the Edomite and she is from Babylon and her name is Allat not only does she bring up Samuel from the dead.She also gives occultic advice to Saul's female relatives.Fictional element five Joab has a tomboy daughter Rachel who fights in battle and who is lusted after by her cousin Jonadab but she later marries Mephibosheth who tries to help him to learn how to walk with crutches it didn't work but the love did.Fictional element six Tirzah prostituted herself to help young lame Mephibosheth stay alive. Fictional element seven David's daughter Princess Tamar after she is raped by her half-brother Prince Amnon and after her brother Prince Absalom has been killed marries Hushai who steps down from his priestly duties to marry her.Fictional element eight Solomon takes over as King when he is still a child.What I appreciate about this version is it kept the majority of characters from the Biblical account.David's first four wives are in the story Michal,Prince Amnon's mother unnamed in the series(in the Bible she is named Ahinoam the Jezreelite so as not to be confused with King Saul's wife Ahinoam whose character is in the series.)Abigail,the widow of Nabal and the third wife of David whose son by David Chileab Daniel is not mentioned in the series and the fourth wife non-Jewish Princess Maachah,the mother of Prince Amnon and Princess Tamar after Tamar three other wives who are not mentioned in this version Wife five Haggith who should have been mentioned in this story she was the mother of the troublemaker the handsome Prince Adonijah and wives six and seven Abital and Eglah who also gave David sons.Wife eight Bathsheba she and her son Prince Solomon figure prominently in the series.Goliath wears a rams head helmet not a plumed helmet like the Philistine soldiers wore.The actors turned in fine performances physically speaking some didn't look middle eastern but the acting ability made up for that.The actor playing King David resembles Richard Gere (who played King David in 1985).The actress playing Bathsheba resembled the beautiful Mexican actress of the 1930's and 1940's Delores Del Rio and the actresses playing Princess Tamar,her mother Princess Maachah,Abigail and King Saul's older daughter Princess Merab and Rizpah,the concubine of King Saul were gorgeous women.The men who played Saul's son Prince Eshbaal Ishbosheth,Palti,Princess Michal's second husband,Prince Amnon and Prince Absalom and General Joab were also good looking in fact better looking than the actors playing David,King Saul and Prince Jonathan. In the Bible David,Saul and Jonathan were good looking but the acting performances made you forget the physical appearances.All in all this is a great version with fully fleshed out characters you could relate to and in my humble opinion it is tied with the 1976.Open up your Bibles and start reading the story of David you will be surprised how well this follows the pattern set in the Bible.Yes,a few fictional elements were added but it did not detract from the historical or spiritual aspects of the story.Anyone who collects Biblical epics needs to add this to their collection. If you missed it on the Mundofox network last month you can view this on Youtube per episode (Some episodes are dubbed in Spanish from the Brazilian and some episodes have English subtitles depending on who uploaded it to Youtube.).

I just viewed this Brazilian miniseries version dubbed in Spanish on Mundofox network. Pavao and Lisboa turned in fine performances as did most of the cast. Physically speaking four of the other women in the show were better looking than the Mel Lisboa who played Delilah.The actress who played Delilah's friend Jana played by Luli Miller resembles Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman she was way better looking than Miss Lisboa.The actress Thais Fersoza who played the Jewish Danite Samarra was also better looking as were the two women who played Samson's first wife and Delilah's chief courtesan rival.The actor who played the sociopath commandant of the Philistines did a great job but I think he would have been better playing Goliath with special affects in a King David miniseries or movie.He looked like a Brazilian version of American actor Ron Perlman of Hellboy,Beauty and the Beast,Sons of Anarchy and Blade fame.

The man playing the Suran (the Ruler of the Philistines) turned in a good performance but once again against physical type. The Philistine males were considered a tall people.They were a foot taller than people from the surrounding and neighboring nations such as the Egyptians.The gentleman who played the Ruler was a short little guy.As for Pavao's Samson not a bad looking man but he just wasn't muscular enough but still better cast than a Black British actor in the History Channel miniseries the Bible.The sets and scenery were good. Could have followed a little more detail on the Philistine military costumes the men in this story did not wear the plumed helmets.The Cecil B.DeMille and a few versions followed historical detail with the Philistine military wearing the plumed headdresses.The women's costumes were quite good for the Philistine women.They wore Canaanite dress which is fine because the Philistine men had intermarried with Canaanite women and the Philistine males who were originally from Aegean Greek Islands spoke a Greek dialect originally but when they intermarried with the Canaanite women they too adapted the Canaanite language and incorporated some of the Canaanite pantheon of Gods into the Philistine religion.I appreciated that the sex scenes in this version were toned down unlike Ted Turner's version of the 1990's with Eric Thal and Elizabeth Hurley which was also a decent version.I hope this version is out on video with English subtitles because it is a great addition to any Bible film lover's collection.If you speak Spanish,Portuguese or Brazilian this version will not bore you it is like a soap opera and it is a must see miniseries.

This rare Czech version just became available for purchase on DVD as well as Christopher Bernau's Passion of Dracula and Denholm Elliot's Count Dracula-What a treat! Unfortunately it is not dubbed in English but if you know Russian,Ukrainian or Polish you won't have much of a problem. This was a Czech TV movie and what a good one. It is relatively faithful to Stoker's novel more so than other foreign versions Dracula Istanbul,Dracula with Denholm Elliot. It has all the major characters Dracula,Van Helsing,Harker,Seward,Holmwood and Lucy and Mina.Renfield and Quincy unfortunately are left out but the diary is not.Ilja Racek is a very good choice for Dracula.Anyone who liked Christopher Lee's 1970 performance and Gary Oldman's 1992 will like Ilja Racek's .Ilja is a lot like pictures of Vlad Tepes. Hana Maciuchova is wonderful as Lucy Westenra.Scenery is great very atmospheric and the ride through the Carpathians quite gloomy and the indoor sets are okay for a TV production. All I can say is watch and enjoy!

This only played on Canadian TV once to my knowledge. U.S citizens near Canadian borders were able to view the film via antenna during the age of non-cable non-satellite television. This version followed very closely the book! As far as accuracy to the novel. This telefilm was right on. It is shame this had never been released on VHS or DVD. The film begins just like the book and ends just like the book. For fans of accuracy to the novel this sure beats the 1970's Richard Lester films and MGM's 1948 films which were pretty close to the novel. This also is more accurate than the 1999 direct to videc stageplay in fact this is superior and Bernard Borderie's 1961 two part French production and the Russian 1978 film. This compares favorably with the BBC 1966 Production and the French 1959 Les Trois Mousquetaires and 1969 French remake titled D'Artagnan ,1971 Spanish Los Tres Mosqueteros plus the 1921 French silent and 1933 French remake. Now about the film excellent sets,music and costumes. Leo Ciceri and Martha Henry excellent as Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.Martha Henry's Milady's performance was excellent.If you enjoyed the performances of Faye Dunaway and Mary Peach in the part then you would really enjoy Martha's. The Three Musketeers were wonderfully played especially Colin Fox as Aramis. Christopher Walken was perfect as John Felton the fanatical murderer of the Duke of Buckingham. The Duke of Buckingham was so-so but I've seen whole lot worse characterizations.Kenneth Welsh as D'Artagnan did a good job about as good as Jeremy Brett in the BBC production. Kenneth Welsh physically speaking didn't fit the part but his acting ability made up for that. Some of the actors in this production also were in a stage production a year earlier which this production was based on.This is classic Dumas not part Dumas like the 1921,1935,1939 U.S 1942,1945&1957 Spanish versions,1962,1964,1971,1991 Italian versions,1953,1974,1981 French and 1983 Mexican. This is also not like(and Thank God!) the most recent bastardizations of the novel 1993 Disney version (the villains were way better cast than the heroes),2001 The Musketeer (no Milady de Winter character and most of the cast members were in their forties,fifties and sixties only Justin Chambers(should never have bothered to accept the part)and Mena Suvari (big mistake right up there with June Allyson and Gabriella Wilde as one of the worst Constance's)were in the right age group and Tim Roth they should have not misused him and Catherine Deneuve would have been perfect as the Queen or Milady if they had a different screen writer and filmed this back in 1971!!!)2003 Dutch (a great musical but that was about it)and 2005 French miniseries D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers (released as 4 Musketeers,poor Emmanuelle Beart wonderfully cast though a little old for Milady de Winter and they turned her into a Satanist child sacrificing weirdo and Vincent Elbaz one of the worst D'Artagnan's these idiots left out Chevalier/Count de Rochefort but then the 2004 miniseries Milady kept the Rochefort character but changed his name)and we can't forget the 2011 The Three Musketeers in 3D! Someday I hope all will be able to view this treasure along with a very good Canadian fairly faithful version of Dracula that came out four years later.Well new versions of Snow White and a Dracula 3D are coming out and I just can't wait to see how screwed up they are from the original stories.

This isn't a faithful version in fact it is quite a departure from the Dumas novel. I have seen this movie twice once at the theaters and once online. I hope there is a sequel to tie up the storyline. Okay,for the purists like myself this adaptation is not up to par.You will not be pleased! Versions that will please you most and follow the book more closely are the U.S 1948 MGM,1954 British BBC series,1959 French version with Jean Paul Belmondo,1961 French Version with Gerard Barray,the 1966 British BBC series remake of the 1954 series,1969 series D'Artagnan,The 1971 Spanish TV film and the British 1973-1975 Richard Lester's Three and Four Musketeers (which also had sequels),the Russian/Ukrainian D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers(1978) and the direct to video 3 hour play The Three Musketeers (1999)and also recommended is Milady (2004)miniseries and the French/Italian production Milady and the Musketeers (1951)that deals with the secret past,marriages and execution of Milady doe Winter. The French version of D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers (2005) covers the book but departs greatly from the original story with Satanism,Human sacrifice and Martial Arts and Milady has a serpent on her shoulder instead of a Fleur-doe-lis but Milady is executed by the headsman (or is she? in this crazy version let the viewer be the judge). Versions that only follow part of the story are the: U.S versions of 1935,1939,1950,1960,1993 and 2001. The Italian versions of the 1960's and 1970's. The Hispanic versions of 1942,1945 and 1957.The French 1953 version which was great for a partial filming of the novel.The Dutch 2003 Musical.The 1935,1960,1993 and The Dutch 2003 Musical do leave in the death of Milady doe Winter but not by beheading she commits suicide in those versions. The best silent version of this story was the two part French 1921 version it followed the book and had great acting ,historically accurate costuming,sets and beautiful scenery. Now its United States competition of that year the 1921 Douglas Fairbanks film was not as accurate but it had the sets,scenery,great acting and historically accurate costumes. The only problem Milady and Rochefort didn't get there comeuppance for another eight years when the sequel came out. The 2011 version is in the category of partial filmings of the novel with added then some (non-Dumas writing like airships?,Musketeers stealing to make ends meet,bungee jumping stripping Milady doe Winter,sword wielding Cardinal Richelieu). The pluses of this version great historically accurate costumes,great action,great scenery and some good acting. Characterizations I thought Orlando Bloom was a very good Duke of Buckingham a little like Simon Ward's portrayal in the Richard Lester's 1970's films. The Musketeers were well played but not great. Madds Mikkelson's Count doe Rochefort to me was just as good as Michael Wincott's portrayal of Rochefort in Disney's 1993 film but neither can top Christopher Lee's 1973-1975 portrayal. Juno Temple's Queen Anne reminded me a lot of Geraldine Chaplin's portrayal of the character in the 1973-1975 films of Richard Lester in other words-Very Good! King Louis XIII Freddie Fox just as bad as the characterization in the 1993 Disney film. Christolph Walsh's Cardinal Richelieu good performance but not great. Milla Jovovich's Milady doe Winter. Milla had fun with the role and she put out a lot of effort but she definitely is not the Milady doe Winter of the book especially in the physical appearance department. Milady doe Winter was a natural curly haired blonde with blue eyes, beautiful face,statuesque,busty and well built woman. Now Milla Jovovich is a slim very attractive woman. In this 2011 version Milady doe Winter is sort of reddish haired or strawberry blonde. She is not the first film Milady not to have blonde hair the 1921 versions,1929,1942,1957,1953,1957,1959 and 2003 Dutch musical attest the facts. I liked Milla's take on the character and she was a butt-kicking Milady doe Winter as her co-star Logan Lerman described her. Now for Logan Lerman's portrayal of D'Artagnan. He in my opinion did a better job than Chris O'Donnell in Disney's 1993 version and better than Dana Young in the 1999 direct to video play. What he has in common with the D'Artagnan in the book and with Chris and Dana were that they were closer in age to the D'Artagnan in the book. Youth they have but acting ability and physical resemblance to the character in the book they do not have! All in all I enjoyed this movie but not in a literary sense and I would watch it again and I hope they do a Four Musketeers to wrap the story up.

Once again Bibliotecha di Studio Uno comically ruins a great work of classical literature. They ruined The Three Musketeers and other works. Whynot Gone with the Wind? This film is pretty faithful to the 1939 movie. It starts out with the slaves singing gospel. Then Scarlett(Rossela) finding out from the Tartleton brothers about Ashley Wilkes up and coming marriage to Melanie Hamilton.Then Gerald lectures his daughter on Ashley Wilkes.Then Scarlett's mother and sisters are introduced. Scarlet has three black mammies getting her ready for the Wilkes barbecue. The Wilkes Barbecue starts out with dancing to the theme Oklahoma and Ashley later on singing the theme from Wizard of Oz Somewhere Over the Rainbow to his cousin who is also his fiancée Melanie Wilkes. None of the actors in this spoof resemble the characters described in the book or physically resemble the actors of the 1939 film. The sets are definitely the Italian Golden Age of Television (other words not very good!). Scarlett or Rossella is a long in the tooth bleached blonde.Rhett is no Clark Gable.Melanie is far from a plain Jane.Ashley Wilkes is probably the best cast in this production.Charles Hamilton is the one of the most miscast of all short,little Mediterranean looking man and Gerald O'Hara is definitely not the stocky character of the book or 1939 film. For someone who is a fan of anything Gone with the Wind whether it be the book and or one its numerous non-Margaret Mitchell sequels or the 1939 Film or the 1990's Scarlett sequel.This is a keeper and if you happened to watch Carol Burnett's 1976 spoof of Gone with the Wind you might enjoy this!This can be viewed in several parts on YouTube. If you speak Italian or any of the Romance languages it is even more enjoyeable.