Review of The Four Musketeers (1974) by Greg W — 17 Oct 2014

Part two of the best ever Three Musketeers film adaptation (well, my favourite, anyway). The casting is all pretty much spot-on, apart perhaps from Frank Finlay, who plays the role Porthos superbly, but, as the smallest of the four musketeer actors, looks nothing like him (Porthos should look more like Oliver Platt or Gerard Depardieu), regardless of the obvious padding.

The humorous tone, full of silly asides and ridiculous but authentic-looking activities, means the movie never stops being fun, even during lulls between action scenes (which are all unique, thrilling and hugely entertaining), but it also never undermines the suspense or intrigue, which is, thankfully, intact from the book.

The characters are all intact as well, except maybe Constance, who has been turned into a complete klutz, to comic effect, and is well played by Welch. The movie looks really good too, apart from some dodgy day-for-night stuff.

Altogether great fun, and, just as importantly, faithful to its source, this movie rollicks like a mofo.