Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Four Musketeers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 20, 2011

Richard Lester's "The Four Musketeers"(1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features on the disc. In English, with optional Spanish, Japanese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles for the main feature. Region A/B "locked".

We have a plan!

The Four Musketeers begins exactly where The Three Musketeers ends -- in the Royal Court, where D'Artagnan (Michael York, Cabaret, Logan's Run) has been officially welcomed amongst the King’s (Jean-Pierre Cassel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) musketeers. The Queen (Geraldine Chaplin, Doctor Zhivago, Cria Cuervos) gives him a small present, his friends congratulate him, and Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur) gives him a nasty look. The action then moves to the La Rochelle fortress where the protestant rebels have managed to capture Rochefort (Christopher Lee, The Skull, The Man Who Could Cheat Death), Cardinal Richelieu's best swordsman. Moments before he is to be executed, the four musketeers appear and help him escape.

Shortly after, Cardinal Richelieu orders Rochefort to remove Constance (Raquel Welch, Fantastic Voyage, Bedazzled), the Queen’s confidante. Without her, the Queen would no longer be able to keep in touch with her lover, the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward, Young Winston), who has been secretly providing support for the protestant rebels.

After Constance is abducted by Rochefort’s men, Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway, Bonnie and Clyde, Network) is also summoned by Cardinal Richelieu and asked to travel to London and kill the Duke of Buckingham. She agrees but requests the elimination of D'Artagnan, who has managed to break her heart, and his beloved Constance. Cardinal Richelieu foolishly gives Milady de Winter a note that allows her to begin executing her plan.

Meanwhile, Athos (Oliver Reed, Paranoiac, Tommy), Porthos (Frank Finlay, Othello, Gumshoe) and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain, The Music Lovers, The Last Wave) rescue Constance from Rochefort’s men and hide her in an old monastery not too far away from Paris. After they reunite with D'Artagnan, a terrible secret is revealed, and the inspiration for Athos’ alcoholism is exposed. The Queen, who has been informed that Cardinal Richelieu has sent Milady de Winter to London to kill her lover, asks D'Artagnan and his three friends to save him for her.

The sequel to The Three Musketeers is a fast and occasionally entertaining film in which the action convincingly outweighs the drama. Interestingly it has more complicated subplots than those observed in the first film. Also, it moves further away from Alexandre Dumas's famous novel and produces far greater inaccuracies in the depiction of the relationships between the main characters. The most glaring ones are in the final act, where Milady de Winter goes after Constance.

Shot on location in Spain, the film’s panoramic scenes look great. The period costumes and decorations are excellent as well. David Watkin’s lensing, however, isn’t always stellar. As a result, there are multiple sequences where it feels like the camera tries to capture more than it possibly can. John Victor-Smith’s editing leaves a lot to be desired, too.

Ultimately, The Four Musketeers should please viewers that enjoy light period action films, but it will disappoint viewers expecting it to deliver an accurate adaptation of Dumas’s classic novel.

The Four Musketeers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Richard Lester's The Four Musketeers arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.

The quality of the presentation is very similar to that of the first film, The Three Musketeers. The high-definition transfer has clearly been struck from a dated source and there are various issues with it. Once again, during close-ups detail is mostly adequate, though practically all of them lack the type of depth they obviously could have had. Traces of denoising are quite easy to see, but most of them are not as damaging as they could have been (see screencapture #2). During the panoramic vistas, however, the disappointing residual effects of the denoising are not as easy to tolerate. There are a couple of sequences where it is extremely easy to see that detail has been seriously compromised. For example, take a look at screencapture #13 where in the upper left corner the soldiers look smeared and very soft. Furthermore, the color-scheme is better than the one from the Anchor Bay R1 DVD release, but there are certainly balance issues that could have easily been avoided with a new transfer (see screencapture #17). The relatively good news again is that there are no traces of overzealous sharpening, which could have made this release practically unwatchable. Lastly, there are a few specks popping up here and there, but large cuts, warps, and stains are nowhere to be seen. (Note: This Blu-ray disc is Region A/B "locked". Therefore, if you reside in North America you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

The Four Musketeers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Optimum Home Entertainment have provided optional Spanish, Japanese, German, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles for the main feature.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track serves the film rather well. During the action scenes the bass comes alive and a few of the shootouts even get a decent dynamic boost. More importantly, however, there are no serious balance issues or problematic distortions. The dialog is crisp and stable, but as it was the case with The Three Musketeers not always easy to follow. Naturally, optional English SDH subtitles should have been included with this release.

The Four Musketeers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

The Four Musketeers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The sequel to the The Three Musketeers is a light, occasionally entertaining but easily forgettable period film that is likely to appeal only to viewers who do not mind that it has very little in common with Alexandre Dumas's classic novel. The presentation is on par with that of the first film, which means that you should only consider adding it to your collection if you can find it on sale. If you can't, RENT IT.