Plot: What’s it about?
The story is about Zorro the swashbuckler who is the crime fighter for the poor people in the Mexico. The movie starts out with Zorro (Anthony Hopkins) saving the lives of three poor men who were to be killed in the middle of town while everyone was watching. The leader of the movement of the California Territory, Don Rafael Montero, (Stuart Wilson, Jack Travis from Lethal Weapon 3) tracks down Zorro to his home after the fight. Zorro’s wife is accidentally killed and Zorro is captured and put into a prison and his daughter is taken away and raised in Spain by Montero.
The story then turns to a thief, Alejendro Murrieta, (Antonio Banderas) who later comes across a man which turns out to be Zorro. Zorro takes it upon himself to train Murrieta and show him the ways of Zorro so that Murrieta can betray the murder of his brother. Montero comes back to California with Zorro’s daughter 20 years later. (Catherine Zeta Jones) Hopkins sees this and he now has a plan to let his daughter know that he is her father. First they must find out what Montero’s plans are for California and save the people from this money hungry leader.
The action is very good and the sound is purely awesome!!! This is one of the better looking and sounding movies that I have seen on DVD. The sword fights are first rate and the horse stunts are pretty cool, then again it is Zorro. The acting is very good and where else on DVD can you look at Catherine Zeta Jones for two hours? The supporting cast is also very well done and you end up hating each one of the bad guys, as intended. There are also some laughs now and then in the movie and the Mexican theme music comes out naturally and very clean throughout the movie. I highly recommend this for the casual person who just loves watching movie for the pure entertainment of it.
Video: How does it look?
This is one of the best looking movies on DVD that I have seen. The movie is pristine throughout and with a THX and 16:9 enhancement that only helps it. The dusty and dark scenes in the movie are perfect and there are a lot of them. You can look hard for a negative on the picture and you won’t find it. A first rate 16:9 transfer from the folks at Columbia Tri Star.
Audio: How does it sound?
This is also a first rate THX Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. All of your speakers will get a work out here and love every minute of it. (As will you) The opening scene is a great way to start the movie with deep bass and crystal clear highs. The movie just stays that good and everything is well done. The finale is also of reference sound with the explosion of the mine and swashbuckling action. A reference looking and sounding movie!!! I highly recommend this one.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This movie comes with a theatrical trailer, a photo gallery and a making of featurette.
