User reviews

Martin Campbell sure knows how to make entertaining movies. After making "No Escape" and "GoldenEye" he brings us yet another entertaining movie; "The Mask of Zorro". He actually used to be one of my favorite directors after seeing those movies I just named but unfortunately he hasn't made anything good lately. Let's hope this change after completing "Zorro 2" that is currently being made.

"The Mask of Zorro" is just some good old fashioned fun with lot's of spectacular moments, good choreographed fight sequences, a love story and a good old fashioned stereotype villain.

The story is told in a good way which I think is mainly thanks to Campbell's directing. The pace is high and the combination between the action, the characters and their relations, romance and some of the comical moments is done very well, unlike some other movies from the same genre.

There is some nice cinematography that help to create a good atmosphere along with the musical score from James Horner. The end fight is good and it has a spectacular big explosion in it that'll make you go; Wow!

Great entertainment for the whole family.

8/10

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I will not deny that I am not particularly into swashbucklers that much, but I will be prepared to say that the Mask of Zorro is splendid entertainment. Antonio Banderas gives a very spirited performance as Alejandro, and the well-choreographed sword fights, beautiful score and witty screenplay allow Banderas to do what he does best. Anthony Hopkins is perfect as Don Diego, giving his character a sense of bitterness, sensitivity and vulnerability that make all his performances so endearing. In fact, this, Silence of the Lambs and The Elephant Man just go to show what a great actor Hopkins is; the only film he disappoints in is in Chaplin, where he played the rather unnecessary role of the fictional autobiographer. Catherine Zeta Jones is lovely beyond words as Elena, and Stuart Wilson plays his his-sable villain almost to perfection, but Matt Letscher as Captain Love isn't quite as threatening as he should be. The cinematography is very handsome, capturing perfectly the beautiful sets and costumes. The only other criticism I have of the movie, is its length, it's quite excessive. But I will say the explosive finale and spirited performances more than compensate, making it a very well-done and entertaining film. I wasn't as impressed with the sequel, the swordplay was more like slapstick and the plot was less involving and a little bloated. 8/10 for Mask of Zorro though. Bethany Cox

Zorro is one of my favorite heroes. He looks quite cool and not stupid, weird or childish like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and all of their villains (except The Joker) and he has no superpowers like them, although sometimes it seems that gravity does not really apply to him. His weapon of choice guarantees some spectacular sword fighting scenes as well.

With this hero all you need is a nice story and 'The Mask of Zorro' has a nice story. I will be short about it. Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) was Zorro but is too old now. He needs another one and Alejandro Murrieta (Antonia Banderas) is the chosen one. Their enemy is Don Rafael (Stuart Wilson). His daughter Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is actually Diego's daughter. His wife was murdered and his daughter was taken by Rafael a long time ago. Rafael also made sure the brother of Alejandro was killed by his helper Capt. Love (Matt Letscher). And now he has an evil plan that will kill a lot of people. Time for the new Zorro.

It sounds a little simple and may be it is, but for a movie like this it is a perfect story. Anthony Hopkins who is never bad does not disappoint us here, Banderas has the right charm to play Zorro, Zeta-Jones is absolutely stunning and Wilson and Letscher are very good as the villains. With some nice action sequences and a pretty good soundtrack this is a very entertaining movie.

This is a truly wonderful movie. In my opinion it belongs with the Classics.

What is a classic anyway? Something with timeless quality. And this movie has it.

Just saw this movie again for the 3rd or 4th time since it came out. I remembered almost every scene and still sat to watch it again. To see the great photography, to hear the inspirational music, to admire and have fun with the excellent performances of all actors, leading and supporting.

This movie has it all. It revives one of the more influential characters of all time, with the most appropriate way. You get a dramatic, even tragic, plot, and simultaneously a fun script. Emotion and comedy at the same time. Great visuals and scenery and also good action.

In my opinion this a highly underrated movie (6.7 for 2013 doesn't give it justice at all) and it belongs among the best. For the friend who gave a low rating a note: Not all the dramas have to be edgy and dark.

Overall: Highly recommended

Antonio Banderas is appropriately magnificent along with gorgeous heroine Catherine Zeta-Jones.This superior Zorro with great swordplay is a lavish swashbuckler starred by Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas as the dashing masked avengers . A young Banderas dons a black outfit and becomes the ideal Zorro riding in the hoofprints continuing in the wake of the old Zorro-Hopkins who passes his mantle of protector of hapless ad unfortunates. This is a zesty recounting of saga of legendary masked rider , though not as distinctive as previous classic entry starred by Tyrone Power. Here Zorro faces danger from governor Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) as well as corrupt villain captain Harrison (Matt Letscher). And Anthony Hopkins gives slickness and distinction as elegant veteran Zorro. After numerous setbacks the hero and his lovely heroine, a wonderful Catherine Zeta-Jones, help the good people of California thwart the greedy schemes of a meanie who stands in the way of statehood for the territory. The nimble actor Banderas runs and jumps all over the images of this movie, as he deals with the oppressor with a breathtaking finale and wreak havoc included.

In this first Zorro starred by Antonio Banderas took a chance and jumped from comedy-action to costumed comedy-adventures; he steals the show as Murrieta/Zorro relishing his secret identity with cape and sword; executing bounds and leaps, twists and climbs and throughly enjoys himself. A great casting and an unstopped action keep this picture moving at a rapid clip. Banderas made the character of Zorro his own and quickly established himself as a Latin legend. Antonio Banderas is terrific as the Zorro, well accompanied by ideal heroine, a beautiful Zeta-Jones. Nice secondary cast, such as Stuart Wilson, overacting outrageously as the villain, and actors as Tony Amendola and Pedro Armendariz Jr , booth of whom will repeat acting in the following. Furthermore, overwhelming swordplay and horse action and displays too much of everything. Stirring musical score by James Horner and colorful cinematography by Phil Meheux. Other versions about this known character created by Johnston McCulley are the following : The mute classic adaptation ¨Mark of Zorro¨(1920, Fred Niblo, with Douglas Fairbanks), the classic ¨Mark of Zorro¨(1940, Robert Mamoulian with Tyrone Power, Basil Rathbone and Linda Darnell), and followed by ¨The legend of Zorro¨( 2005, Martin Campbell again with Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones, Tony Amendola,Pedro Armendariz and Rufus Sewell) and European version ¨Zorro¨(1975, Duccio Tessari with Alain Delon, Octavia Piccolo and Stanley Baker) . Rating : 7,5, good, better than average. The motion picture will appeal to trio protagonist fans: Banderas, Hopkins and Zeta Jones. Well worth watching.

Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) is the original Zorro who battled the tyrannical Spanish rule of Governor Montero. On the verge of liberation, Zorro is imprisoned, his wife killed, and his daughter abducted. Twenty years later, Montero returns to take advantage and Zorro escapes with Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas). Zorro decides to train Alejandro as the new Zorro.

This is a good adventure flick. It has fun sword play especially with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas. They have good chemistry together. And so does Hopkins and Banderas. It keeps the tone light and irreverent. It's an entertaining romp.

This movie really is an old fashioned swash-buckler. There is no question that it is corny, cliched or predictable - it is all of these in great measure - but it is also a fun movie and well polished. Anthony Hopkins carries off his role in his characteristically classy fashion, Antonio Banderas is quite capable as Alejandro, but Catherine Zeta Jones (who, annoyingly, is referred to as 'newcomer' in publicity material, in spite of prior film experience) is stunning as Elena [although incredibly easily convinced to turn on the only father she'd known for the 20 years of her life!]. This movie is good - not worth the 7.7 or so it's currently running at but this will come down as the hype does - for a bit of fun and well made, but there is nothing new or surprising here - just old-fashioned story-telling tied to modern movie making. 7/10

Wonderful movie, visually rich and a nice blend of comedy, action and romance, well-written. Hopkins is great; so is Banderas as Zorro-in-training, and Zeta-Jones sparkles in her scenes with him. Very little gore or skin, what there is serves the plot instead of BEING the plot. The best movie I've seen in a long time. Note: previews make it look a lot less interesting than it actually is--you just see a lot of things being slashed and blown up, while the comic scenes between Hopkins and Banderas don't really appear (the best part of the film).

Banderas is perfect as the anti hero Zorro, he's devilishly handsome and swarthy. The storyline is well developed and has a surprisingly touching ending. The fight scenes are well coordinated and have a sense of levity.

This movie had just a couple of things I would have changed but the overwhelming minutes of this 137-minute movie were well done: a nice old- fashioned adventure story.

Yes, it's hokey in spots, there is a needless irreverent scene in the confessional and the final action scene goes on too long, but all of that is almost standard fare in today's films. Anyway, the "good" in this film far outweighs the "bad."

Some of the "good" is beautiful cinematography featuring bold colors; good action scenes; very little profanity; interesting and somewhat likable lead characters (played by Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Bandaras and Catherine Zeta- Jones), a fun story and very good 5.1surround sound.

Zeta-Jones was a brand new "face" with this movie and she's never looked better. Hopkins, as usual, is the best character as the older "Zorro" who teaches the young one (Bandaras). Some of the action scenes are almost cartoon-like in credibility (Bandaras doing flips while riding two horses at once!) but they are fun.

The story is a familiar one that seems to always satisfy people: revenge.

A handsome looking but ultimately dull retread of the Zorro legend. Nothing remotely surprising happens in this risk-free swashbuckler that follows the cliches of the genre with an initially pleasing sense of adventure that finally reeks of mind-numbingly robotic derivativeness.

With the opening frame of Zorro I figured I had been taken to the edge of bad movie making and dropped over. It looked like another corny slash and chatter bomb, but I wound up pretty much liking it. I don't consider it to be a really superb film, but I managed to stay interested all the way through. There was plenty of action, some romance, and quite a few laughs. I think that is what won me over: this picture is a comedy for the most part. A serious comedy. What Zorro is not is what I expected it to be.

'The Mask Of Zorro (1998)' is a swashbuckling adventure that sees the 'Zorro' mantle passed down from Hopkins' Don Diego de la Vega to Banderas' Alejandro Murrieta. Even though the latter is who springs to mind when you think of the character, the former gets a huge amount of screen-time. Thankfully, the actual training that goes on is brushed over refreshingly quickly, making this 'origin story' slightly less generic than expected. It does conform to its genre rather heavily, but it's an absolutely solid film regardless. It's the kind of movie that proves clichés are clichés for a reason: they work. On top of this, it feels old-school in the best of ways. It captures the 'adventure serial' aspect of its source material rather well, clearly being inspired by 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)' and itself inspiring 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)'. It's a lot of fun, with fantastically tangible set-pieces and a perfectly balanced tone. Two of its most noticeable issues are the obvious stunt performers and the fact that Hopkins' character is supposed to be Spanish. In the grand scheme of things, they're not really a big deal. The performances are absolutely solid and the stunt-work is impeccable, too. The flick slows down somewhat in its mid-section but it picks back up again for an excellent finale. It's also interesting that its A and B plots are pretty much inseparable; it's difficult to say exactly which is which, to be honest. Overall, the experience is just enjoyable. It's a really good time and that's what matters most. 7/10

My childhood memories of Zorro are very few and now very fuzzy, so I can't accurately compare what I remember of Zorro in the early 80's and "The Mask of Zorro." No matter, this movie was good. It was funny, charming, and exciting.

The year was 1821 and Spain was being driven out of Mexico by General Santa Anna. One Spanish man by the name of Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) refused to leave and was a menace to the people. Zorro the elder was Don Diego De La Vega (Anthony Hopkins) and he was the people's champ until he was found out. Montero killed De La Vega's wife and kidnapped his baby daughter and raised her as his own while De La Vega languished in prison.

20 years later De La Vega would escape from prison and train a new Zorro to continue the legacy and perhaps stop Montero from his nefarious plans. The new Zorro was Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) and he had enough anger to be a Zorro, he only lacked the ability.

Banderas was excellent. He fell into the role naturally. Hopkins was a bit of a misplacement as a swordsman and fighter, but Hopkins is such a good actor he gets a pass. Of course we got some romance between Banderas and Zeta-Jones who played De La Vega's adult daughter Elena. I think this movie was done right. It was refreshing to see an action movie without endless bullets and explosions. I'd like to see more action movies set in pre-automatic weapons days.

The best thing about this movie is the casting.How ingenius,eh? Antonio Banderas as Zorro,eh?And Stuart Wilson as the central villain.This guy is one of the most unrecognised talents around.As a snidy British baddie,he could easily give your average Dennis Hopper a run for his money.Catherine Zeta Jones is also marvellous as the love interest. The action scenes and stunts are fantastic.Real hollywood at it's best.Martin Campbell keeps an efficent and steady pace to proceedings as director. If there's a problem here,it's that it's probably a tad overlong.But luckily,this unwantern time is'nt filled with unnecessary scenes but scenes as visually exciting as the last. It's also marvellous that it's a PG,because such past fare,like Bad Boys,is loud,action packed,exciting and brilliant,it's also rather flatulent and rude.This is just superb action entertainment which can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Cartooney swash-buckling action, with a strong cast (Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta Jones and Antonio Banderas) and lots of poor repressed Spanish peasants to save. This is an enjoyable film that reminded me of the old Musketeer films staring Richard Chamberlain.

This film was also interesting to me on a historical level as it is set in the days when Spain still had control over areas of northern America, such as California. However after I'd seen this film something bugged me about it for days later and then I suddenly realized what it was – there's an American soldier in this film in a Union uniform who seemed rather anachronistic. Wasn't the Union formed after the American civil war and wasn't that after the state of California had become part of the rest of the northern states and under control of the English ? Hmmm… But I could be wrong !

Its still a fun film to watch though (especially for the kids and the big kids like me) !

Anthony Hopkins steals the show, he plays the old zorro who is forced to retire and pass his legacy to Antonio Banderas.

Catherine Zeta Jones is doing her best performance in her career.

The villains are great as you can expect from 1800 character.

Good action and great fencing.

The Mask of Zorro is a very entertaining 90's film with themes of succession and vengeance carried by big names such as Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

It is not the greatest movie ever made but it has a bit of everything to keep you engaged throughout especially when it comes to the duel and fight scenes.

The love story is a bit cliche (the woman, who doesn't seem so bright at first but later displays her own ideas, values and sword skills, falls in love at first sight with the mysterious hero) but it goes with its time.

As for the acting it is a bit flat in my opinion. There were a lot of emotional scenes but I didn't feel anything due to that.

It is quite different from the original TV show but it properly conveys the mystique of the character.

Last but not least, the music is always a delight to listen to, especially the timeless duo played during the end credits.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"The Mask of Zorro" (1998) is a superb entertainment, a real crowd pleaser. Made with energy, with and superb performances all over around it's a great flick from start till finish. Like many great revenge stories, this one has everything - a progressing hero, a wonderful central character and so on.

Overall, a very solid 8/10 for "The Mask of Zorro" - it's a real entertainment, and you don't have to be a Zorro specialist to truly appreciate this picture, the story is quite simple, but very engaging, acting is the best that could be in this material. Definitely check this flick if you didn't upon it's release.

When this came out I really had no interesting in seeing it. Boy was I wrong because this movie is a hell of a good time. The movie is a reboot of the classic series but updated with some big budget effects and one hell of a cast. Both Anthony Hopkins and sexy Antonio Banderas are in top form but Catharine Zeta Jones is the real scene stealer. She plays the feisty love interest of the title character and steals every scene she's in. The movie is overly entertaining with some stunning action setpieces especially towards the finale but the best scene is when Zorro goes up against her it's playful, funny and sexy. All in all it plays like a family adventure and although it can feel a bit long in places its an impressive experience.

7.5/10