mortycausa A combination adventure/comedy/romance, it is simply superb. It has flair and it moves fast. Everyone is good in it, even, surprisingly, Racquel. There's more than a touch of parody and self-parody. It's like they all watched too many swashbuckling movies. To wit: D'Artagnan (York) tries to extinguish a candle with a flourish of his sword across the flame. It doesn't work; he shakes his head, removes his gauntlet; and puts it out with his finger and thumb. Racquel's husband, Spike Milligan, keeps trying to arrange to have sex with her, but something always goes wrong, including and especially the interference of the Cardinal Richelieu and his henchmen. And Heston is superb as Richelieu. Great turn as villain. Great because he plays it straight. That's what makes him so effective. He and Christopher Lee play off each other brilliantly. (He walks into his torture chamber, talking to either Spike or Chistoperher Lee (I forget which), and one of the victims hanging from within one of the cages says very respectfully, "And how are you, Your grace." The fey king who has his courtyard lawn manicured like a chessboard plays the game with live dogs. He is perfect, too. The swordplay, of which there is plenty, is brilliantly choreographed. They actually had to learn to fight with swords. Lee almost was killed. If there is a hero, it's D'Artagnan's man-servant. When I saw it as a young man when it came out, the audience cheered loudly when the guys came to the rescue at the end.

MissSimonetta Let me begin by expressing how refreshing it feels to watch a series of action scenes without wretched shaky cam! After seeing Guardians of the Galaxy and the new Ninja Turtles movies at the cinema recently, I had almost forgotten what it was like to have a comprehensible fight sequence.This 1973 version of The Three Musketeers is the best version of the story I have ever seen, even better than the over-praised Gene Kelly adaptation. It's athletic, earthy, and light-hearted, paired with one of the most perfect casts ever brought together for a movie and Michel Legrand's amazing score which proves adventurous and heart-achingly romantic in equal turns.If you love action and comedy, then I cannot recommend this enough. I never wanted it to end and cannot wait to watch the sequel.

Lee Eisenberg First, I should admit that I've never read Alexandre Dumas's novel. But if Richard Lester's movie version of "The Three Musketeers" is any indication, then it must be a fun read. Or maybe Lester simply decided to add a lot of humor. But either way, there's not a dull moment in this version of the tale.Playing the title characters are Oliver Reed as Athos, Frank Finlay as Porthos and Richard Chamberlain as Aramis, with Michael York as D'Artagnan trying to become a musketeer. At first, D'Artagnan is sort of a hapless klutz, but he wastes no effort in helping the trio in their efforts to stop Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) from gaining more power. Along the way, D'Artagnan falls for Constance Bonancieux (Raquel Welch), while the slimy Count Rochefort (Christopher Lee) and the enigmatic Lady De Winter (Faye Dunaway) abet Richelieu. It's a great time from beginning to end! Also starring Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simon Ward, Georges Wilson, Spike Milligan and Roy Kinnear (Algernon in "Help!").I wonder how this movie would have come out had it starred the Beatles, as Lester originally planned.

Framescourer An opulent farce constructed with a long roster of super Hollywood heavyweights. Filmed on the loveliest of locations the character of the film, peculiarly, comes from it being almost entirely overdubbed. This gives it a surreal feeling, with inserted jokes, in cultured English asides.This doesn't detract from the performances. Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway are both lovely, the former scatty, the latter catty. Michael Yorke is the green adventure-seeker, the d'Artangnan torn between the two. Richard Chamberlain and Frank Finlay are wonderful amigos but cannot compete with the blasting, hell-for-leather presence of Oliver Reed, so charm their way through their roles. Charlton Heston and Christopher Lee are united as elegant baddies, and Roy Kinnear makes something more than toilet humour of the peasant end of the fun.And then there's the music... ah, the music. Michel Legrand's score might not be the greatest score in cinema but it just happens to be my favourite. 8/10