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The Mask of Zorro (1998)
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins Director: Martin Campbell
A lusty and rousing adventure, this calls to mind those glorious costume dramas produced so capably by the old Hollywood studio
system -- hardly surprising, in that its title character, a de facto Robin Hood in Old California, provided starring vehicles for Douglas Fairbanks and Tyrone Power, the '50s TV hit, and dozens of serials and features.
The Mask of Zorro
- Zorro, a pop-fiction creation invented by Johnston McCulley in 1918, is given new blood in this fast-moving and engaging version, which actually works as a sequel to the story line in the Fairbanks-Power saga, The Mark of Zorro.
A self-assured Anthony Hopkins is Don Diego de la Vega, a Mexican freedom fighter captured and imprisoned just as Spain concedes California to Santa Ana.
Twenty years later, he escapes from prison to face down his mortal enemy, a land grabbing governor played with slimy spitefulness by Stuart Wilson.
Too old to save the local peasants on his own, he trains bandito Antonio Banderas to take his place.
Much swashbuckling ensues as Banderas woos Catherine Zeta-Jones, becomes a better human being, and saves the disenfranchised rabble.
Director Martin Campbell wisely instills a measure of frivolity into the deftly choreographed action sequences, while letting a serious tone creep in when appropriate.
This covers much ground under the banner of romantic-action-adventure, and it does so most excellently.
In this day of movies in which one can't tell whether the action was manufactured by computer generation or by a cookie cutter, The Mask of Zorro is a grand throwback.
It recalls and celebrates the fantasy workshop that Hollywood was and can be at its best.
It's an audience pleaser in the best sense of the word, combining great-looking performers with gorgeous vistas and production design, a story that is familiar yet never insults the viewer's intelligence, and plenty of eye-popping action.
The Mask of Zorro
(Superbit Deluxe Collection) (1998)
Encoding: Region 1 (US and Canada only) PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement
(RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on
RCE, click
here.
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound
Studio: Columbia Tristar Hom
Other Formats: VHS, VHS subtitled in Spanish, DVD
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