Mihai Toma In a France ruled with tyranny by King Louis XIV, the three legendary ex-musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, decide to take action against their ruler after Athos' son gets killed on the battlefield. Knowing that Louis has an exiled brother, hidden in a remote prison, they conceive an ingenious plan to exchange them. Their plan will prove to be much harder than expected but they are determined to pull it off.A great movie which presents a classic story with great actors in a beautiful but dramatic way. It has some great sword fights and a very interesting plot which guarantee to keep your attention till its glorious ending. I enjoyed this movie numerous times so I definitely recommend this one to everyone looking for a great classic story, greatly implemented.

longcooljolie Back in the days of Douglas Fairbanks, people took historical drama/adventure movies much more seriously. There was a lot more reading going on and people were more familiar with Dumas' grand epic tales, such as "The Man in the Iron Mask." With this in mind, the director and producers of "Iron Mask" start their movie out slow in getting late 20th century viewers familiar with all the characters. This was the first role for Leonardo DiCaprio post Titanic, and possibly the greatest collection of actors ever assembled to portray the Three Musketeers (Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, and Gerard Depardieu). Of them all, Gabriel Byrne stands out as D'Artagnan and portrays his fierce loyalty to the wicked King Louis 14 and the Queen Mother with quiet passion. He also looks great in the period costumes, long hair style and thin mustache.Leonardo DiCaprio plays a dual role of both the wicked king and the title character. The plot focuses on a scheme by the Three Musketeers to spring the man in the Iron Mask from prison and replace the evil king with him. The implausible way they do it and install Philippe on the throne gunks up the movie a little at the midpoint. Script rewrite, anyone? On the other hand, the scene where Philippe is unmasked is one of the best in the movie.While some moviegoers (even girls and young women still gaga over Leo from "Titanic") thought that he looked too "girly" in the movie Leo manages to get viewers to hate Louis 14 and love Philippe. And of course the queen mother knows right away and you can see the realization in her eyes (authentic French actress Anne Perillaud plays the role beautifully). Besides that, here's a little-known historical fact: the real King Louis 14 was girly. He used to pluck his facial hair and bloodlet to give his face a more vulnerable, feminine appearance. The Man in the Iron Mask ends satisfyingly and there is even some good swashbuckling action for fans of that sort of thing. Leonardo DiCaprio's image changed radically not long after the movie, when he hooked up with Martin Scorsese for a string of tough guy roles. But he should still be proud of his performance in "Iron Mask" and it is a fine movie.

SnoopyStyle The french people are starving and the country is at war. King Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an uncaring ruler with a secret. He sends Raoul (Peter Sarsgaard) away to the front to steal his fiancée Christine. Raoul's father Athos (John Malkovich) is angered. D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne) tries to plead to the king for the starving people and Raoul. When Raoul is reported kill, the King takes Christine to bed. The King orders Aramis (Jeremy Irons) to kill the leader of the Jesuits who oppose his war. Only Aramis is secretly the actual leader of the Jesuits and tries reunite the musketeers to take on the king. Athos and Porthos (Gérard Depardieu) agree, but D'Artagnan refuses. It turns out that the king has imprisoned his twin Philippe in an Iron Mask.The story is complicated. There are too many lead characters. They need to pick one character to lead the story. The great actors just get into each other's way. The action isn't there. This is an overly complicated costume drama where there are too many accents and not enough excitement.

aclair-1 I watch it over and over again. All actors are well chosen. The director didn't waste the story - on the contrary, he turned it out in a beautiful film, which I watch with pleasure. I was afraid first that Dumas' novel won't come up well on film. But the film turned out to be better than the book. So powerful and impressive performance. Excellent work, the staff didn't miss any detail and didn't ruin the classic story. I am glad Randall Wallace did his job so well and professionally. More historic films would fill our entertainment with more pleasure and I think, would change the values of the young people of our days. Excellent!