ShootingShark In France, under the reign of Louis XIII, D'Artagnan is a young man with two goals in life - to join the King's Musketeers and to avenge the murder of his parents. But he soon finds that Paris is in turmoil, the royal court is in the grip of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu and the Musketeers have been outlawed ...I am a big fan of Alexandre Dumas' classic 1844 swashbuckler Les Trois Mousquetaires, and I particularly like the fact that almost all the movie versions of it are very good, including this latter-day one. Like all of them, it has its own particular style and in this case it's a big focus on action, with dazzling stuntwork by Xin Xin Xiong and several breathtaking set pieces, most notably an incredible scene where D'Artagnan scales a tall tower on a rope and fights off a bunch of henchmen whilst doing so. The main reason all the versions are good though is that it's just a great tale from start to finish - it's got adventure, intrigue, heroism, goofy antics, great characters, and it's a celebration of a bygone era of French history which is rich and romantic. This film is a looser adaptation than most - it takes out a lot of D'Artagnan's backstory (the purloined letter, the three duels) and replaces it with a childhood revenge plot, and it also removes my favourite character (Milady DeWinter) and replaces her with a villain called Febre who slashes his way through the cast (foe and ally alike) like a seventeenth century Fred Krueger. Roth is maybe a bit too obvious a heavy but he's sinister fun all the same, and the whole cast is good - Deneuve is striking as the Queen, Chambers acquits himself well in the lead, I particularly like Schofield as Rochefort, and Moran and Speirs are a good double act as Aramis and Porthos. It's a shame this movie isn't as well known as some of the previous versions because it really is pretty good, even if not quite as faithful as the others. With great editing by Terry Rawlings (Blade Runner, Goldeneye) and excellent photography by the director, shot in Luxembourg and the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. Dumas' story is timeless (as is his other masterpiece, The Count Of Monte Cristo) and if you haven't seen any of the big-screen adaptations of it then catch this one.

bkbirge I'm a huge Dumas fan and watch every one of the adaptations but I missed this one originally. Just caught it on netflix and it's nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be. Yes, the lead is a little off and there isn't much chemistry between him and Mena Suvari who isn't at her best either. The wire based fight scenes look dated and there are a few scene pacing problems.But overall this was quite fun. There *is* chemistry between the Queen and D'artagnan thanks to Catherine Deneuve who exudes star quality in every scene she's in. There are some nice performances from most of the character actors, the original 3 musketeers are great, and the humor if not the plot is very in keeping with the book. I first thought this was a made for TV movie because of the credits at the beginning so I wasn't really expecting much and this definitely beat my expectations. The movie looks good and aside from a few characters most of them seem fairly real, the balance between schtick and too- serious was handled well.Overall, too many faults to be a classic but definitely enough class and fun to be very entertaining. Recommended for fans of period movies and the tongue in cheek dramedy.

Desertman84 The Musketeer is a film very loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' classic novel The Three Musketeers.It stars Catherine Deneuve, Tim Roth, Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea, Nick Moran, Bill Treacher and Justin Chambers.The movie was directed by Peter Hyams.The Musketeer was set in 17th-century Paris.A dashing swordsman named D'Artagnan finds himself at odds with the powerful forces taking over France. He sets out to avenge the murder of his parents and finds his country cleaved by chaos and civil unrest. His heart softens only for Francesca, a fiery peasant girl who claims D'Artagnan's heart on sight. D'Artagnan, after witnessing his unarmed parents slain by the evil Febre ,grows up wanting to be a musketeer, one of King Louis XIII's loyal protectors. Upon arriving in Paris, however, he finds that the Musketeers have been disbanded by order of Cardinal Richelieu, who is usurping the king's authority with the help of his lethal henchman, Febre.Traveling to Paris, D'Artagnan verbally spars with witless quip- spouting musketeers Aramis, Athos and Porthos. D'Artagnan heads off guarding the queen, who is traveling incognito as a commoner on her way to meet Lord Buckingham. The evil Febre, his leash held loosely by the evil Cardinal Richilieu, wants to kill the Queen in order to sow unrest and war, which would create opportunities to profit, a war between France and England.The Musketeer is a film that relies mainly of cheesy action scenes mostly on cheesy and unrealistic swordplay.Aside from that,it also has poor story that makes minimized Dumas' classic into a forgettable novel. Acting is decent and the editing presents somewhat a confusing story.Overall,The Musketeer is a MUST MISS film.

silence_dais I'll be honest: this movie isn't' exactly a emmy winning movie of godhood. There are other movies that tell the same story but they either tell it better or worse depending on your point of taste. This movie is really just a good action flick, same thing goes for the movie Pathfinder.The plot of the movie is straight forward: D'art sees parents killed, friend of family teaches him how to be awesome with the sword, decides to join the legendary heroes of the age to find killer, and of course get the girl in between sword fights and political intrigue. If you were hoping for something a little more in-depth then I suggest you read the actual Dumas book because this movie carters to people like me who want more action and less plot.The stunts are just awesome, the dialogue has its moments, and the actors are well....a nice change from the normal ones you'd expect in movies like this.To sum it up this movie is like Pathfinder...a good time killer. If your not in the mood for something that has big namers, complicated story lines, or something that won an award for whatever made it popular, then pick this up and watch it. It's a nice rental and don't feel like it'll scar your collection if you own it.