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The Three Musketeers
Any movie that starts with Tim Curry as the villain has a lot of potential. Throw in a large number of swordfights, a couple of horse chases and an uncomplicated plot, and you’ve got a great film, even if it isn’t quite as dodgy as I would normally like.
The plot is nice and straightforward, the cardinal wants to kill the king and the heroic youngster (Chris O’Donnel) has to prevent this from happening. Of course, the film wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining if he didn’t have help in the form of Athos (Keifer Sutherland), Porthos (Oliver Platt) and Aramic (Charlie Sheen). To be fair the movie is stolen by Oliver Platt and Tim Curry. Fortunately there aren’t a lot of scenes with them both in, allowing more scenes to include one or the other of them to the benefit of the film.
My only complaint about this film comes in the fight between D’Artagnan and Rochefort. I fail to understand what this need the hero has to engage the villain in a fair fight. Rochefort was disarmed and at D’Artagnan’s mercy, and what does the fool do, he throws him a sword, almost resulting in D’Artagnan’s death. The only reason is that Rochefort takes the time to deliver a monologue, albeit a short one.
Dodginess
Without the presence of Tim Curry, this film would have rated a fairly average 3 Stay Puft Marshmallow Men. However, Tim Curry being one twirled moustache short of tying the queen to a railroad track managed to pull this one up to a 4 on the Stay Puft Marshallow Man scale. Despite this, he is not involved in the dodgiest moment of the film. That honour goes to Porthos the pirate. Any fight scene that gets people to run away at the mere sight of the hero. In this case it was made better because they all leapt off the ship.
Rewatchability Rating
I found myself unable to give this film more than a 3 on the rewatchability index. The main reason for this is the lack of a half rating. I do enjoy watching this film, but only tend to watch it twice a year or so.
Most Memorable Quote
While the dodgiest moment went to Oliver Platt, the most memorable quote belongs to Tim Curry, and really sums up the character he plays. After the musketeers have escaped to intercept the treaty, he sends his men after them with the line “1000 gold pieces on each of their heads, dead or alive…. I’d prefer dead!”
Final Thoughts
Because the movies a little old, you’ve probably all seen it already. If not you should watch it for the first time, and if you have, you should watch it again. You might be pleasantly surprised.