The Disney studios are making fans of lively cloak-and-dagger action tremble: It’s been six years since “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” aka “Pirates of the Caribbean 5” left. Rumors, hints and announcements about the future of the franchise have been non-stop since then, but no action has been taken yet. Fortunately, Disney has a good selection of adventure movies that “pirates of the CaribbeanFans can delay.
One film lends itself particularly well to this: the adaptation of “The three MusketeersIn retrospect, it can easily be confused with a preparatory exercise “Pirates of the Caribbean”.. With Disney+, the fast-paced action-adventure fun is included in the subscription:
Good to know: Disney’s You can stream “The Three Musketeers” completely uncut on the streaming service, although it was a FSK curiosity for a long time! Due to a torture sequence shown in the shadows and the agonizing murder of a henchman in the grand finale, the adventure was originally given an FSK rating of 16 and above.
Therefore, “The Three Musketeers” was cut first in Germany
Since the distributor could not reconcile this with the Disney image, the adventure film was cut for an FSK rating from age twelve and shown in cinemas, released on video and broadcast on TV. It was released uncut in Germany only on DVD without the Disney logo on the cover.
An FSK re-examination took place in 2019, with “The Three Musketeers” finally receiving its unabridged 12 release, which would have been plausible as early as the 1990s. Since then, swashbuckler’s fun has been rated no harsher than the less prudish Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
“The Three Musketeers”: “Pirates of the Caribbean” without fantasy, but in the lush green forest
D’Artagnan (Chris O’Donnell) wants to join the Corps of Musketeers. After much training in his rural homeland, the naive drives to Paris, where he discovers that the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu (Tim Curry) has ordered the royal guard disbanded. Even worse, D’Artagnan unwittingly finds himself pitted against three well-known stubborn characters who remain loyal to the Musketeer banner: Athos (Kiefer Sutherland), Porthos (Oliver Platt), and Aramis (Charlie Sheen).
Just the fact that they have a common enemy in Count Rochefort (Michael Wincott) leaves the four fighting on one side. When they discover a conspiracy, the quartet eventually forges closer bonds. But will the mysterious and seductive Milady de Winter (Rebecca De Mornay) break these ties again?
Here’s Jack Sparrow’s predecessor
Movie buffs in dire need of a Pirates of the Caribbean fix won’t get a supernatural spectacle created with excellent effects here. However, the Stephen Herek-directed variation “Three Musketeers” offers a hero who very effectively quenches the thirst for more Captain Jack Sparrow:
Than Porthos, embodied by Oliver Platt, is a stumbling drunk who steals all the scenes with casual fabrications of lies and brutal teasing. He even wears a stylish bandana, loose sash (by his own statement, a “gift from the Queen of America”) and in the German dubbed version anticipates Captain Sparrow’s favorite saying “Clear so far?” ten years in advance. !” .
As Porthos, Platt even has the pinched look that would later make Johnny Depp the trademark of his iconic corsair. As well as the narcissistic, hilarious outrage when his counterpart announces that he doesn’t know him – in short: If this musketeer adventure had not been released in 1993, but only after “Pirates of the Caribbean”, everyone would call it a fake.
Where there’s a gruffly charming, chaotic scene thief shouldn’t be a memorable villain — and that’s what this ’90s Disney hit is talking about: The Legendary Tim Curry plays fabulously nasty as a self-centered, power-obsessed cardinal. The Rocky Horror Picture Show star might just be the best Richelieu in the long line of Musketeer movies! mWith an insidious delight in intrigue, he strikes a balance between sleazy, intimidating and smug that manages to draw people in.
This villain is sinfully fun, but the danger is still serious and it’s definitely believable why people join him: you can see some siding with him out of conviction, some out of fear, and others letting him lead astray.
Disney goes sensual
Admittedly, two of the musketeers and protagonist D’Artagnan pale in comparison to an adversary you love and internally scold at him, and troublemaker Porthos. Yet they also enrich the film: Sheen plays his character, who must balance her strong beliefs with her actions, with casual humor. And Herek successfully hides the fact that Sheen barely had time for sword training because of the “Hot Shots 2” shoot: Aramis is usually involved in scuffles and gunfights.
Meanwhile, D’Artagnan’s character is more vaguely defined, but O’Donnell proves to be a very convincing fencer who masters the dynamics Fight choreography by Lord of the Rings stunt planner Bob Anderson performed with panache and attitude. Meanwhile, Athos, struggling with his conscience and his past, and the opaque Milady de Winter provide something gravitas.
While the tragic romance between these characters remains a secondary aspect of this “The Three Musketeers” interpretation, screenwriter David Loughery (“Star Trek V: On the Edge of the Universe”) manages to steer the story from whimsical adventurous fun to seriousness. and back again. fairly seamless. Useful: Sutherland gives his calmer dialogues a constant plausibility despite pathos.
And Rebecca De Mornay stars as an insanely vulnerable femme fatale, in which men see only the sinfully beautiful seductress, though she constantly expresses her depression with a smoky, thoughtful voice and a mournful look. In the scenes around de Winter, ‘The Three Musketeers’ even surpasses itself in terms of imagery and becomes unexpectedly sensual by Disney standards. In another silence, Herek trades the fresh, light adventurous aesthetic for a cool, charged atmosphere.
Alexandre Dumas’ adaptation doesn’t match the style of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies – either way, the province the musketeers cavort in is beautifully captured. The lush green forests and the buildings that alternate between rustic and imposing, in which this swashbuckler plays, are only in France at the parcel level:
Most of the filming took place in Austria, which could be noticed by savvy onlookers due to historical and architectural differences. However, such detailed questions are hardly relevant blemishes in a smart, modernized adventure film, but curious trivia at best.
The same goes for looking at the long list of what could have been: Gary Oldman, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr. and Jean-Claude Van Damme were on Disney’s cast wish list. And Winona Ryder was briefly pinned as Milady de Winter before leaving the project. If only two or three of these stars were truly part of “The Three Musketeers,” the adventure would be guaranteed to be more famous today – instead of being often reduced to the credits by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting.
But would it really have made him better? One can only speculate wildly about that – but anyway we should be glad that Depp was not cast. What are the chances that we would have gotten Jack Sparrow after all?