It's a shame that factors such as Oliver Reed's death and the recent Leonardo di Caprio version have made it impossible for this to be made.
I think it would have been much better if they had filmed the last in the Musketeers saga (Man in The Iron Mask) with this cast.
Any thoughts?
"It is better to die once, than to live in constant fear of death."
That would have been wonderful!! Richard Chamberlain did an excellent made-for-tv movie of it....
shareThis movie has the worst acting I've ever seen in my entire life. Every element of this movie is terrible.
Man in the Iron Mask (beside leo's performance, but that was ok at least), was pretty darn good!
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I'll stick w/the Chamberlain TV version--w/Louis Jourdan(a Frenchman--how odd) as the mature D'Artagnan & Patrick McGoohan as the Machiavellian Fouquet.
Carpe Noctem
Absolutely right. Have you seen the sequel they made with this cast and director in the 80's, "Return of the Musketeers"? It is based on Duma's "20 Years After". The film is comparable in quality to the 3 and 4 Musketeers, includes the character of Athos' son, Raoul plus the daughter of Milady portrayed by Kim Catrall. Catrall's character appeared in the novel as a son rather than a daughter. The film was marred by the tragic death of Roy Kinnear in a horseriding accident during filming.
I understand the return of Richard Chamberlain was somewhat problematic for the sequel.
Still, it would have been wonderful to see this cast and crew film the entire D'Artagnan cycle.
"It's a shame that factors such as Oliver Reed's death and the recent Leonardo di Caprio version have made it impossible for this to be made.
I think it would have been much better if they had filmed the last in the Musketeers saga (Man in The Iron Mask) with this cast.
Any thoughts?"
I agree. Oliver Reed was magnificent as Athos and it would have been great to see him play the part again. He was certainly better in the role than John Malchovich (The Man in the Iron Mask) who seemed to deliver his lines one. word. at. a. time.
Well, I have recently re-watched Lester's movie as well as the "Man in the iron mask" and I have to tell I'm perfectly satisfied they HAVEN'T made Lester-like sequel. I didn't like particularly John Malkowich as Athos, but I liked even less Oliver Read in that part: non because I do not appreciate him as an actor, but because I didn't like see Athos, who is my favourite figure in the book, portrayed as a rather common and not-at-all aristocratic drunk guy. I have always longed for a serious adaptation of Dumas' and for some reason it seemed a dream impossible to come true, because virutally all directors like to turn the three musketeers into clowns (sooooooooooo boring), therefore I was really satisfied with Wallace's movie (even if it has some flaws, eventually).
shareall directors like to turn the three musketeers into clownsYes, they are turned into bumbling buffoons cause American(?) critics like it that way.
I suggest you take another look at Chapter 27 of The Three Musketeers where Athos locks himself in the cellar of an inn and drinks his way through the entire contents!
Reed's performance as Athos is the very epitome of Dumas' dark and tortured noble, particularly in his scenes with Faye Dunaway in The Four Musketeers.
I doubt that we'll ever get a full version of the final Musketeers novel 'Le Vicomte de Bragelonne' as it is so dark in tone and doesn't have the 'Hollywood' ending that every version of The Man in the Iron Mask has.
I think Lester could have made a superb version as he struck the right sort of melancholic tone needed for the piece in his film 'Robin & Marian'
"Tinkerty tonk," I said, and I meant it to sting.
Agreed that Le Vicomte de Bragelonne is essentially unfilmable as an adapation of the book. When you're sold something on the basis of the presense of D'Artagnan, Aramis, Parthos and Athos the last thing you expect is Hamlet without the happy ending.
shareLester and Fraiser were far more faithful in their adaptation of Dumas than Wallace. I would have loved to see their version, though filmed more when they were in their prime. Return works for the most part, and probably would have been better with a real feature budget and better casting in the younger roles, not to mention Kinnear's fatal accident.
I personally find both the Chamberlain ITC Iron Mask and The 5th Musketeer to be superior to the Wallace version.