The only thing that keeps me from awarding ten stars, is the movie's reliance (and, in my humble opinion, over-reliance) on slapstick comedy and farce. Apart from this minor quibble, it needs to be said that this an outstanding movie : vivid, sensual, funny, inventive and exciting. This is Entertainment with a capital E.Almost everything you care to think of is superb : the musical score, the casting, the performances, the locations, the props, the stunts. Certain scenes or images are so beautiful, from an artistic viewpoint, that you will remember them for years, such as the white and silver masked ball thrown by the French king or the "chapel" built by Buckingham for his loved one. The costumes deserve special praise : Michael York has never looked so dashing and gallant, while Faye Dunaway has never looked so angelically, ethereally beautiful.The follow-up movie continues strong, but beware : the darkness in Dumas' work, which is only hinted at for now, will become more pronounced.

D'Artagnan (Michael York) arrives in Paris trying to be a Musketeer after having learned from his father. He gets in trouble with Comte de Rochefort (Christopher Lee). Then he's challenged to duels with the three Musketeer Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay) and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain). They are interrupted by Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston)'s guards. The Cardinal is trying to control the weak-minded King Louis XIII. The Queen gives a diamond necklace to her former lover Duke of Buckingham which presents an opportunity for the Cardinal with the help of Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway). D'Artagnan has an affair with his landlord's wife Constance Bonacieux (Raquel Welch) who's also the Queen's confidant.Director Richard Lester seems to have two objectives in this movie. He wants better sword fights and as many broad comedic jokes as possible. Honesetly, the jokes make me roll my eyes more than laugh. It's like he watched Monty Python and figured to try it himself. It's kind of cute in that he's relentless in the effort. The sword fights are better than the old fashion Hollywood swashbuckling. They're a little bit more imaginative. The actors in the cast are amazing but I wouldn't say they're doing great work. I wonder how much the Golden Globe Award costs Raquel Welch. I also wonder if this would be better as a full-on comedy with a good comedic writer and some real comedians.

Enjoyable adaptation of the oft-filmed Alexandre Dumas novel. One of the better versions I've seen. I should say upfront that I've never been a huge fan of the story. I read it as a kid before ever seeing any of the movies. It's undeniably a classic but it was never a favorite of mine. This movie is pretty faithful to the book, although there's much more emphasis on comedy. The cast is terrific. Richard Chamberlain, Oliver Reed, and Frank Finlay are great as the title characters. Michael York does a fine job as d'Artagnan. If I had one complaint, it's that d'Artagnan seems a dim-witted rube in his earliest scenes but after becoming friends with the Musketeers, he's suddenly much smarter and more competent. There doesn't seem to be any reason for this beyond "we thought the shtick in the early scenes was funny." Raquel Welch is stunning and quite good in a humorous part. Faye Dunaway is also enjoyable. Christopher Lee and Charlton Heston are fun. Period costumes and sets are nice. Filmed at the same time as its sequel, The Four Musketeers. It's not the kind of movie I rewatch often, but it is entertaining.

The young naive and headstrong Gascon D'Artagnan(York, giving the role the charm it needs) comes to Paris where he falls(one of the two grand romances crucial in the novel, and it's pretty good here... the other one, I will not reveal it here, is great) for Constance(Welch, looking hot if somewhat dim), befriends the three musketeers Athos(Reed, giving the serious and solemn air to him that is called for), Porthos(Finlay being bombastic) and Aramis(Chamberlain, sophisticated) and with them, becomes the best hope for saving his queen(the delicious Chaplin... yes, the daughter of *him*) from the scheming Cardinal Richelieu(a menacing Heston, his piercing eyes hiding countless evil plans), Rochefort(Lee, perfect as a villain, as always) and Milady(icy and seductive Dunaway). The acting is spot-on(apart from the top moments... I'll get to the "humor"). This is immensely close to the book(albeit it of course only covers roughly half of it(hence why some of the aforementioned have little to do in this one), given that it's 625 pages long... I can imagine the concurrently produced sequel covers the rest), some lines of dialog(and wit!) taken nearly verbatim... of course a few characters are combined(also, some developments are changed). The action(fencing aplenty!) tends to be fast and covered well(slightly relative to the time of release), manages to balance the no less than 4 heroes who may be going up against at least one enemy each of their own(without us losing track of where people are, or what situation they are in, and without it feeling like any of them are the least favorite of the editor), incorporates just about the entire main cast(including at least one you wouldn't expect!) at one point or another and features a lot of creative choreography, with, for example, a fight taking place in the dark with both duelers having a lamp they have to find the other person with. This shows upper and lower class alike, and how they amuse themselves(or how hard they work!). Now, as I did in my Superman III review, I must now quote Christopher Reeves(R.I.P.): "director Richard Lester was always looking for a gag". Indeed he was. This is overbearingly full of slapstick, with every. Single. Scene having at least one bit, no matter how little it fits(and how difficult it can make it to get into the supposed tension), few of them funny(albeit you may laugh heartily at those) or well-executed(often it's not clear what the joke is, it passes too fast and is not set up properly), but they sometimes surprise and the energy is certainly strong throughout, save for when this element grinds the movie to a halt. There is a little mild(though bloody) violence in this. The DVD comes with a 2 and a half minute theatrical trailer for this. I recommend this to any fan of the source material and of swashbuckling adventure. 7/10