An entertaining 2-hour movie, fluffed to 3 hours on the US DVD release. It's rather entertaining, for the most part, except that there are great lulls in the action as well as the main plot.
The movie frequently pauses on trivial scenes which focus on unnecessary personal interactions between characters. I suppose if they cut those parts, the original movie might have moved more quickly and yet possibly too quickly for younger child-audiences, and since this is indeed a Hallmark made-for-television mini-series, it's understandable and somehow tolerable.
All of the action/fight-scenes are in frame-flicker-mode, disguising these through safely- and slowly-filmed sequences which are then speeded up, much like old Asian martial-arts films that make everyone laugh, these days. Some of these are well-done, but after a while they become rather irritating, and some still appear to be in fast-speed, despite the attempts to use the frame-flicker-mode.
The old characters from the original Three Musketeers story are brought into the action later, including Michael York reprising his original role from the very popular 1970's Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers movies.
Overall, it's great watching for fans of those 1970's versions, as well as young feminist-heroine fans, and appropriate for younger family members, a rarity these days.
The movie frequently pauses on trivial scenes which focus on unnecessary personal interactions between characters. I suppose if they cut those parts, the original movie might have moved more quickly and yet possibly too quickly for younger child-audiences, and since this is indeed a Hallmark made-for-television mini-series, it's understandable and somehow tolerable.
All of the action/fight-scenes are in frame-flicker-mode, disguising these through safely- and slowly-filmed sequences which are then speeded up, much like old Asian martial-arts films that make everyone laugh, these days. Some of these are well-done, but after a while they become rather irritating, and some still appear to be in fast-speed, despite the attempts to use the frame-flicker-mode.
The old characters from the original Three Musketeers story are brought into the action later, including Michael York reprising his original role from the very popular 1970's Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers movies.
Overall, it's great watching for fans of those 1970's versions, as well as young feminist-heroine fans, and appropriate for younger family members, a rarity these days.