Great acting and atmosphere. But somewhere the story got lost. It does feel like 5 books was made into one movie. Which, I believe is what happened here. What a stupid idea! Maybe it's easier to follow for those who have read the books. Despite that, everything else is excellent. Viggo Mortensen is superb. And since I don't speak Spanish, I don't care if his accent may be a bit wrong.Would certainly have been even better in a theater, but it was direct to DVD. That was a shame, too.I give this a 7. With a coherent story it could have been a 10.

Viggo Mortensen stars as the veteran soldier and brawler in this Spanish language adaptation of the novels by Arturo Pérez-Revete. As the film opens Alatriste has been asked by a dying friend to raise his son when he returns from the war. Back in Madrid Alatriste begins to care for young Íñigo Balboa while trying to earn a buck as a hired sword. Quickly things are set in motion as Íñigo spies the girl who will haunt his life and the good captain gets involved with some intrigue that will play out over the next decades.I like what I've read of the first book and my enjoyment of that made me go out and pick up an import DVD of the film. What I had seen prior to actually watching the entire film made me think that this was film that got the look and feel of the novel right. Now that I've seen the entire film I can honestly say that the film looks and feels exactly as I had pictured it my mind. We are in Spain and Flanders and everywhere else in the seventeenth century. This is a gorgeous film to look at.The performances are dead on and everyone seems to inhabit the their roles. Viggo is excellent as Alatriste and I can think of no one who could do it better. He's a wonder to watch in both the dramatic scenes as well as the numerous sword fights and action sequences (which are excellent) The problem is that the script doesn't work. I mean it really doesn't work. Pulling material from several novels there is no plot as such. Things happen, people come and go; and then we're on to the next episode. I kept waiting for things to tie themselves together and they never did. There is no sustained drama, its incidents in the life of Alatriste.The result is what should be emotional high points and hooks just sort of lay there..The romances of Alatriste and his actress paramour (wife of a good friend) appears in fits and starts. The other romance of Inigo and Angélica skips through the tale in such away that nothing is ever resolved and you have no idea what they see in each other.(certainly her early lines about keeping Alatriste alive to raise the boy for some grand plot comes to naught.) We skid through the life and times of the Captain to no clear purpose. It might have helped had the film had the same sort of narration that the novels do, the stories are told from Inigo's point of view, since it might have been used to bridge the many "What am I missing"moments.Who's idea was to do all of the books in one 140 minute movie? It was a major mistake and it makes the entire enterprise feel as though it was three days long. The movie doesn't end it just stops, which kind of makes sense since the movie is so bland and flat there is no way it could ever have a climax since it never builds to anything.(even if the sequences them selves-like the opening attack in and out of the water are mini masterpieces) A major disappointment. I can't recommend this. Its simply too dull to be much more than a sleep aide.4 out of 10 over all.(higher in parts)

I just watched this movie in London's 3rd Spanish Film Festival.Alatriste is the history of a soldier in the times of Spain's decadence as a world power, the soldier that gives name to the film, played by Vigo Mortensen, is involved in all kind of political intrigues (including assassination plots agains the most unlikely characters) and important battles while at the same time playing surrogate father to a boy, son of a comrade that died in the opening sequence, and getting involved with a beautiful actress (which is also whore to the ruling classes).First the positives. The attention to detail is of high caliber, many scenes build great tension, for example the opening scene is full of imagination and is presented beautifully, the attention to several details of life in that time are humorous without detracting from the main plot.Several of the actors deserve special mention. Ariadna Gil continues demonstrating a great versatility, hopefully this will be the springboard for a wider international carrier, the guy playing Malatesta does so with gusto and most definitively Vigo Mortensen gives gravitas to the main character (unsurprising if one recalls "An history of violence", this guy just keeps getting better).The weak point is most definitively the direction, in a history that spans several decades you need to be very clear where you are going and how you are going to get there, on occasions the narrative is lost, leaving the viewer in the middle of nowhere in relation to a new scene (for example it is not entirely clear why they ambush Alatriste, if he is failing or not in favour with the powers to be, why the wars and the intrigue are taking place, etc.).All gets a bit muddled and confusing, but at least the intentions are good, the craftsmanship of all the involved is impeccable and at the end one leaves satisfied but wishing the director had managed to tell a more internally consistent history.At 2:30 long it may try some people's patience but it is worth the effort in my opinion.

I was really looking forward to this and I think that it would have been great if the film-maker had taken the risk of making a single - or two - books of the series and then hoping it made enough locally and internationally to warrant sequels. As it was it felt like it was doing too much with too little time, it felt dragging and in the end I got little more than a terrific headache. Which is a pity because I really wanted to like this more than I did.There's a lot to love here though, the swordfighting with dagger in one hand and rapier in the other was a treat (not that much going around) but the duels went too fast - I suspect because they wanted to cover so much (TOO MUCH) ground. For example the assassination attempt on the two English adventurers could have been more drawn out, more tension could have been injected there. Not to mention when we find out who these are they could have made the connections with that other swashbuckler, the Three Musketeers as well as made more reference to English history for us non Iberian types. More could have been done with the campaign vs the French (this was the Cyrano period!) which could have also helped international audiences resonate.You didn't understand the motivation of the Dutch vs the Spanish either, the whole Dutch revolt, the religious issues, the political issues, etc. were not tackled at all, which is a pity as it would have been good to frame the action against the geopolitical situation (the ruthless mismanagement of the Duque de Alva and other issues that forced the Dutch hand) The issue of mercenaries of various countries and the type of warfare they had back then including the Tercios - we never really got to see the tercio in all its glory and see why it was, at that time, the most feared military organization in Europe. Ah to have seen a Spanish Tercio fight a Dutch battalion...But basically, too much to say, too little time, too shallow, too little real nuance, too rushed character development. This could have been the Sharpe of Spain, Capitan Alatriste and his merry band of rogues from book's one to five. Instead it's rushed, shallow and uneven execution leaves one exhausted and glad it's over. Capitan Diego de Alatriste deserved more.Viva Alatriste, Tom516