The Return of the Musketeers (1989)

In France in 1649, the services of the Four Musketeers are needed again, and they run into some old foes from twenty years before.

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

George MacDonald Fraser (screenplay) (as George Macdonald Fraser), Alexandre Dumas (book)

Stars:

Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael York	...	D'Artagnan
Oliver Reed	...	Athos
Frank Finlay	...	Porthos
C. Thomas Howell	...	Raoul
Kim Cattrall	...	Justine de Winter
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Queen Anne
Roy Kinnear	...	Planchet
Christopher Lee	...	Rochefort
Philippe Noiret	...	Cardinal Mazarin
Richard Chamberlain	...	Aramis
Eusebio Lázaro	...	Duke of Beaufort (as Eusebio Lazaro)
Alan Howard	...	Oliver Cromwell
David Birkin	...	Louis XIV
Bill Paterson	...	Charles I
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Cyrano de Bergerac (as Jean Pierre Cassel)

Storyline

It's 1649: Mazarin hires the impoverished D'Artagnan to find the other musketeers: Cromwell has overthrown the English king, so Mazarin fears revolt, particularly from the popular Beaufort. Porthos, bored with riches and wanting a title, signs on, but Aramis, an abbé, and Athos, a brawler raising an intellectual son, assist Beaufort in secret. When they fail to halt Beaufort's escape from prison, the musketeers are expendable, and Mazarin sends them to London to rescue Charles I. They are also pursued by Justine, the avenging daughter of Milady de Winter, their enemy 20 years ago. They must escape England, avoid Justine, serve the Queen, and secure Beauford's political reforms.

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Plot Keywords:

horseback chase | held at swordpoint | musketeer | old man | axe murder | 

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Taglines:

Swashbuckling action, comedy capers and rollicking adventures, bigger and better than ever. They're back... all for one and one for all!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK France Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1989 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Volta dos Mosqueteiros

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fildebroc, Ciné 5, Sofica Sofinergie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie takes place from January to February 1649.

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Goofs

Whilst ballooning to the finale castle, the fire keeps changing from lit in long shots to unlit in close up.

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Quotes

Justine de Winter: King Charles' death is inevitable, and France must not interfere. General Cromwell insists.
Cardinal Mazarin: Roundhead diplomacy. Does he think he can cut off a crowned head, even an English one, and royal France will stand by doing nothing?
Justine de Winter: What will France do?
Cardinal Mazarin: Stand by... protesting.

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Alternate Versions

The (2009) French DVD edition differs from the earlier UK VHS (and cinema) version. Both Philip Noiret and Jean Pierre Cassel had their voices re-dubbed in the VHS version, but here - on the English language option - their own voices are heard in English. Also several scenes are cut including the scene where D'Artangan gets his assignment from Mazarin to look up his old friends The Three Musketeers and the later scene where King Charles I is playing golf while being arrested by Oliver Cromwell's forces (likewise Michael York's narration of these scenes have been omitted).

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Connections

Version of The Man in the Iron Mask (1923)

User Reviews

A respectable installment.

Lester's musketeer films were some of the first films I ever saw in the movie theatre, and I was entranced. Disappointingly I also saw "The Fifth Musketeer" with a different set of actors, and a different production team. Fast forward ten to fifteen years after that, and I'm channel surfing one evening when I come across some kind of period piece that happens to looks like a musketeer film on WTBS.

And it is. Complete with Michael York and gang to reprise their roles.

Huh? Wha-? "Return of the Musketeers"? How is it that I never heard of this movie? Particularly when it came out a few years before airing on Ted Turner's Superstation?

Unfortunately I only caught the final twenty minutes or so, but I knew WTBS would reair it at some point, or it'd be available on VHS somewhere. Right?

Nope.

Just like the book upon which the film was based I had to wait twenty years to get a DVD of this film, and from where? France. Fitting, if somewhat ironic given the production team. As part of a three film set I had to repurchase the original 1970's films, but at least I finally have the full set of Richard Lester's renaissance tales.

But, to the film. I like it. It's not quite as extraordinary as the first two films, but it does manage to recapture some of the atmosphere set by the previous two films. We see the decadence of the privileged aristocracy, but we don't quite see the visual juxtaposition of what was filth ridden Europe at that point in history.

I have to admit that the film feels somewhat cobbled together, but I enjoyed it all the same. As you probably already know comedic actor Roy Kinnear's life was tragically cut short working on this production, and the film is appropriately dedicated to him.

I guess the one thing that really stands out in this film is the fact that it's a relatively low budget affair. When the first musketeer films were shot the film makers had the advantage of shooting under Franco's Spain, making the production a cheap affair for en epic scale production. I guess when democracy spreads the wealth it also spreads the demand for wealth, making things more expensive, therefore reducing the scale of the action and truncating any large battle scenes. You can tell that in spite of this being an expensive production that the money just wasn't there to do proper Richard Lester justice for this third installment of the musketeer movies.

All in all I enjoyed it. As I say the production values aren't quite there. Noticeably the one real critique that I had with the second film "The Four Musketeers" was the fact that Michael Legrand's adventurous score was absent. So it is with this film. Which is a shame, because an adventurous film needs an adventurous score. Oh well.

Like I say, it's not the best film in the series, but I'm glad to finally have it in my collection, albeit on Region 2 DVD. Give it a chance if you're new. If you remember the 70's musketeer films, then give this one a spin for a small bit of remembrance.