Synopsis
This is a tale of the next generation of Musketeers (can we hear Alexandre Dumas spinningin his grave?). France and Spain are at war, and things are not going well for the French. Youngking Louis XIV is not mature enough to take on his responsibilities, and he is being manipulatedby Cardinal Mazarin (an incomprehensible Gérard Depardieu). Valentine (Susie Amy), daughterof D’Artagnan (Michael York) takes up her father’s sword to fight for the king and Franceagainst corruptio….
Cue the derring-do. 171 minutes of it, which is far too much, especially since not a singleline is uttered that isn’t a leaden cliché. The period settings and costumes look good, though. Butthe less said about the mangled language of the title, the better.
Audio
The 2.0 stereo track is limited to the front speakers — no surround whatsoever. For the mostpart the sound is clear, but now and then there is a bit of distortion on the dialogue. A thoroughlyunexciting track.
Video
The fullscreen image has nice colours, good flesh tones, and is untroubled by edgeenhancement. Most of the time the picture is sharp, though there are a couple of soft shots. Thereis also some minor ghosting, and visible grain.
Special Features
None.
Closing Thoughts
This might have been a passable time-waster at 90 minutes, but at almost three hours, it doestend to suck the joy out of life.
