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List Price: $19.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 75701
Released: September 25, 2001 |
| Our Price: $1.45 |
| Used Price: $0.02 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A lusty and rousing adventure, this calls to mind those glorious costume dramas produced so capably by the old Hollywood studio system--hardly surprising, in that its title character, a de facto Robin Hood in Old California, provided starring vehicles for Douglas Fairbanks and Tyrone Power, the '50s TV hit, and dozens of serials and features. Zorro, a pop-fiction creation invented by Johnston McCulley in 1918, is given new blood in this fast-moving and engaging version, which actually works as a sequel to the story line in the Fairbanks-Power saga, The Mark of Zorro. A self-assured Anthony Hopkins is Don Diego de la Vega, a Mexican freedom fighter captured and imprisoned just as Spain concedes California to Santa Ana. Twenty years later, he escapes from prison to face down his mortal enemy, a land grabbing governor played with slimy spitefulness by Stuart Wilson. Too old to save the local peasants on his own, he trains bandito Antonio Banderas to take his place. Much swashbuckling ensues as Banderas woos Catherine Zeta-Jones, becomes a better human being, and saves the disenfranchised rabble. Director Martin Campbell wisely instills a measure of frivolity into the deftly choreographed action sequences, while letting a serious tone creep in when appropriate. This covers much ground under the banner of romantic-action-adventure, and it does so most excellently. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Description of The Mask of Zorro (Special Edition):
In this day of movies in which one can't tell whether the action was manufactured by computer generation or by a cookie cutter, The Mask of Zorro is a grand throwback. It recalls and celebrates the fantasy workshop that Hollywood was and can be at its best. It's an audience pleaser in the best sense of the word, combining great-looking performers with gorgeous vistas and production design, a story that is familiar yet never insults the viewer's intelligence, and plenty of eye-popping action.
Anthony Hopkins stars as the original Zorro, a masked vigilante protecting his people from official corruption in Mexico and what will become California (from Hannibal Lecter to Merchant-Ivory to action hero--is there nothing this man cannot do?). He's imprisoned for his troubles, and upon his release, mentors an impetuous pupil (Antonio Banderas, more suave than ever) in the fine arts of swordplay and triumphing over evil. Catherine Zeta-Jones capably portrays the beauty linked to both men--Zorro I's daughter, Zorro II's object of desire.
The plotting contains few surprises, but the interplay between the three leads is always winning, and the winks to the swashbuckling genre are playful without ever being heavy-handed or campy. --David Kronke
The Mask of Zorro (Special Edition) Reviews:
Mask of Zorro 
2008-11-16 - I can't believe how quickly I received by product. Excellent. Would definately purchase from this seller again.
Superbit Deluxe release: Stunning anamorphic video & surround sound 
2008-09-23 - "The Mask of Zorro", released in 1998, was the first of two "new" Zorrro movies, the later entry being "The Legend of Zorro". Not only is the "Mask" highly entertaining--how could you go wrong with a cast that includes Anthony Hopkins (who plays the 'first' Zorro), Antonio Banderas (who takes over the Zorro role and is trained by Hopkins), and gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones? There is plenty of action (some great sword fighting scenes, but being PG-13, no profanity and minimal gore--but the villians finally get their just due at the end), humor, romance, some history (how much of the setting and events in the 1820s-1840s colonial California is acccurate is questionable--but who cares? This is fiction), beautiful sets, a decent plot, and great performances by the entire cast.
The "Superbit Deluxe Collection", a two-disc set, presents a stunning anamorphic widescreen transfer of this movie to DVD, with equally stellar DTS surround sound. The picture is flawless, crystal clear and free of any defects with fantastic color saturation. I could not believe this was not a high-definition DVD, the picture looked that good. Just as excellent is the DTS sound which filled the room.
Superbit, a Sony technology and a forerunner of Blu Ray, has been discontinued. It's a shame because Superbit DVDs can be played on regular DVD players. There is enhanced image resolution and sound on Superbit DVDs. I watched this DVD on my large-screen, high-definition TV, played on a Toshiba HD DVD player. You must have either a high-defintion DVD player or a high-quality DVD player than can "upconvert" the sound and image to see the advantage of Superbit. The Toshiba HD DVD players are quite good at this, as are the more recent Blu Ray players. There are also a number of new "upconverting" regular DVD players as well.
I bought a used copy of this movie from Amazon at a great price. Get a Superbit version of this movie while the supply lasts. You will not be disappointed with the picture and sound quality. Highly recommended!
Well done!
2008-08-24 - Great movie. My husband had his doubts when he saw the movie cover, but we both really enjoyed the great acting and action scenes.
A Fun and Entertaining Revisiting of the old Serials...
2008-08-08 - Every once and a while Hollywood surprises us by making a movie like it used to. In this generation most movies contain top-notch special effects, dizzying action, unabashed, explicit sex and gore, and less-than-decent plot and character development. Needless to say, many of these shallow films are deeply unsatisfying.
But every once and a while Hollywood makes a movie without these things. The Mask of Zorro is one of these movies.
It is a rousing revisiting of the classic 20s and 30s serials, in which "the fox" defeats the villains, saves the peasants, and gets the girl all in one day. This time the original Zorro, Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins), loses everything within the first ten minutes of the film. After Diego's last Zorro ride, the evil Californian governor Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) raids his home, kills his wife, and takes his infant child Elena to be raised as his own. Diego is thrown in prison for twenty-some-odd years before he escapes and finds common thief Alejandro (Antonio Banderas), who had a brief brush-in with Zorro in the past and has his own quarrels with Montero and his men. Diego must train Alejandro to take his place, all the while trying to connect with the daughter (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who doesn't know he exists.
The best thing about the film is the acting. All the actors are perfect in their roles (and who knows? Maybe the roles were written with the actors in mind). Antonio Banderas plays Alejandro with strong gusto, and his scenes with Zeta-Jones sparkle. Anthony Hopkins brings a level of dry wit to one of his trademark mentor roles. Stuart Wilson makes a nice addition as Montero, though Matt Letscher seems a bit dry in his role as Montero's sick-minded general Capt. Love.
The action bits are done quite nicely, and the sword duels are well choreographed by the legendary sword-master Bob Anderson (he did sword fights in Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, and The Princess Bride). The editing is slick and polished, and the score by James Horner (of Titanic fame) is lush and memorable. The camera twirls and swirls are swift and controlled, capturing many vibrant colors and angles, especially during the steamy Latin dance between Alejandro and Elena.
Every once and a while, Hollywood surprises us. And what a pleasant surprise this is.
Behind the Mask
2008-07-21 - The first three times I saw this film (twice within a week; and the third a year later), I felt that it fulfilled its promise of being a first-rate, well-acted adventure thriller with delightfully comic overtones. The costumes and production values are also of the highest quality; and the music with its flamenco beats is truly exciting. I enjoyed each viewing immensely.
Anthony Hopkins portrays the elder Zorro with his usual elegant style; Antonio Banderas displays his considerable talent for comedy as Zorro's apprentice who learns (the hard way) to become a swashbuckling swordsman, and Catherine Zeta-Jones represents his perfect foil, in every sense of the term. She also does a smashing dance with Banderas that is both exciting and marvelous to behold.
Although I still enjoyed "Zorro" on my recent fourth viewing, I began to notice some of the flaws that because of the general excellent quality of the film, I chose to overlook of my previous viewings, but which I finally had to acknowledge marred an otherwise romantic adventure film that could be viewed by the entire family. One, of course, is the head in the jar, which, since I know when it is about to occur, I always manage to find something to do in the kitchen until the scene is over. The other is the "tonsil locking"--in the words of Alistair Cooke, former host of Masterpiece Theatre--that passes for kissing in some films nowadays. Even in the otherwise steamy Mexican telenovelas, the hero kisses the heroine in a manner that looks both romantic and artistic, and leaves something for the audience's imagination.
