The Mask of Zorro **** (1998, Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones) – Classic Movie Review 2316

Director Martin Campbell’s 1998  American swashbuckler movie The Mask of Zorro is a brilliant, old-style adventure entertainment that proves they could still make them like they used to. It is based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley, from his 1919 short story The Curse of Capistrano.

Anthony Hopkins, replacing Sean Connery, enjoys one of his best roles as Don Diego de la Vega, a man once known as Zorro when he fought the Spaniards in Alta California.

Now Diego must embark on a new quest to find a successor because the brutal Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) is planning to buy California from the Mexican president. Salvation comes in the form of Alejandro Murieta (Antonio Banderas), a young bandit who becomes Zorro under Hopkins’s tuition – and romances his illustrious predecessor’s lovely, feisty daughter Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

The Mask of Zorro is a thrilling swashbuckling adventure in the vintage Hollywood style, made and performed with all the zest and brio of the good old days. Banderas and Zeta-Jones are stupendous, too, and there’s also a stonking pace (admittedly over a long running time of 137 minutes), stunning cinematography (by Phil Méheux) and a fabulous production, mostly shot at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City.

Also in the cast are Matt Letscher, Maury Chaykin, Tony Amendola and Pedro Armendâriz Jr.

Sequel: The Legend  of Zorro (2005).

The other famous Zorro films are: The Mark of Zorro (1920), Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925), The Mark of Zorro (1940), The Mark of Zorro (1974), and Zorro, The Gay Blade (1981)

It is executive produced for Amblin Entertainment by Steven Spielberg who developed the film for TriStar Pictures with director Mikael Salomon, who cast Andy García and Sean Connery, but dropped out, and then director Robert Rodriguez, who cast Banderas while Sean Connery was replaced with Hopkins.

Then Rodriguez pulled out of the film in June 1996 over difficulties agreeing with TriStar on a budget, and Campbell signed on in 1996, turning down the chance to direct Tomorrow Never Dies, and The Mask of Zorro finally began filming on 27 January 1997 at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City, Mexico.

Ironically, while TriStar wanted a $35 million budget and Rodriguez wanted $45 million, and failed to agree, the shoot started on a $60 million budget. However, the troubled production caused it to go another $10 million above its budget, and ended up costing $95 million.

[Spoiler alert] Spielberg and Campbell decided that Diego’s death in the arms of his daughter was too much of a downer, so a new ending with Alejandro and Eléna happily married with an infant son, was added three months later.

The screenplay is by John Eskow, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, based on a story by Elliott, Rossio, and Randall Jahnson.

The film was released in the US on 17 July 1998 and was a hit, grossing $250 million on its $95 million budget.

James Horner was hired to compose the score in September 1997.

The cast are Antonio Banderas as Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro, José María de Tavira as young Alejandro Murrieta, Anthony Hopkins as Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena Montero, María and Mónica Fernández Cruz portray Elena de la Vega (infant), Stuart Wilson as Don Rafael Montero, Matt Letscher as Captain Harrison Love, Tony Amendola as Don Luiz, Pedro Armendáriz Jr as Don Pedro, Victor Rivers as Joaquin Murrieta, Diego Sieres as Young Joaquín Murrieta, William Marquez as Fray Felipe, L. Q. Jones as Three-fingered Jack, Julieta Rosen as Esperanza De La Vega, Maury Chaykin as Prison Warden.

On 3 April 2001, US District Judge Collins decided that since the copyrights in Johnson McCulley’s 1919 short story The Curse of Capistrano and the 1920 movie The Mark of Zorro lapsed in 1995 or before, the character Zorro is in the public domain.

Zorro films: The Mark of Zorro (1920), Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925), The Bold Caballero (1936), Zorro Rides Again (1937), Zorro’s Fighting Legion (1939), The Mark of Zorro (1940), Zorro’s Black Whip (1944), Son of Zorro (1947), Ghost of Zorro (1949), The Dream of Zorro (1952), The Shadow of Zorro (1962), Zorro in the Court of Spain (1963), Duel at the Rio Grande (1963), Zorro and the Three Musketeers (1963), Behind the Mask of Zorro (1965), The Nephews of Zorro (1968), Zorro in the Court of England (1969), The Avenger, Zorro (1972), Man with the Golden Winchester (1973), The Mark of Zorro (1974), Mark of Zorro (1975), Il Sogno di Zorro (1975), Zorro (1975), The Great Adventure of Zorro (1976), Zorro, The Gay Blade (1981), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and The Legend of Zorro (2005).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2316

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