Rating: 
Summary: Great movies-great DVD
Review: "The Three Musketeers" is truly one of the best books ever written, and these two films are truly the best Dumas adaptations ever put to screen. Both are adventurous, action-packed, and funnier than any other action-comedies I've seen. The cast includes Michael York and D'artagnan, Oliver Reed as Athos, Richard Chamberlain as Aramis, Frank Finlay as Porthos, Charlton Heston as Cardinal Richelieu, Faye Dunaway(one of my favorite actresses) as Milady de Winter, Christopher Lee as the
the Comte de Rochefort, and Raquel Welch (in a surprisingly good performance as Constance de Bonacieux. Truly, this is one of the best casts I've ever seen.
Once again, the films are astounding. The first one is hilarious and the second one is not as funny as the first, but faster-paced and more action-packed. It also has a wonderful montage at the end as Porthos recounts to D'artagnan and the other musketeers all the things that he, Athos, and Aramis have done for D'artagnan since his arrival in Paris.
The DVDs themselves are great, with wonderful picture quality though less than stellar sound, and of course, widescreen. Commentary would be nice, but sadly it is absent. The short, 23-minute documentaries about "The Saga of the Musketeers" are excellent, though Faye Dunaway is strangely absent.
All in all, these DVDs are a must-buy, whether you've read the books or not.
Rating:
Summary: THANKS A MILLION, ANCHOR BAY !!!
Review: I think there are a lot of people out there such as I that are estatic over this new releasing of the Musketeers. Picture perfect quality and with loads of extras makes the previous release (by Fox Lorber Studios) look like pure doggy do-do. This 2-disc set really exceeds ones expectations! Even the cover art is awesome, inside and out! And about the movie itself (I look at them as being one movie, but in two parts) If you do some research into critics reviews and other printed matter, you will find that this is widely looked upon as being the best film adaptation of the Three Musketeers ever made. Part comedy, part drama, just like the novel, and with the most perfectly cast ensemble I have ever seen in any film before!!!
This film would make Dumas proud. A classic in the true sense of the word, and great for repeated viewings!
Rating:
Summary: All For One And one For All.......
Review: This is an excelent remaster piece of one of the most classic story of all time "The Three Musketeers".I love the entrence scene for "The Three Musketeers".How they had the fencing done.It's artisticly stunning and the acting is superb.The movies have some of the best actors and actress of it's time.
Not to mention Charlton Heston as the Cardinal Richelieu.
Rating: 
Summary: great film, outstanding restoration
Review: I've viewed this film countless times on television and what Anchor Bay has done in their restoration is amazing. A beautiful product, beautifully packaged. Only 4 stars for lack of commentary or deleted scenes. I'd have preferred for the documentary to be with film scholars than self-congratulatory actors, but enjoyable none the less with a surprising wealth of other extras for an almost forgotten movie. Great, and highly recommended. Thank you Anchor Bay.
Rating:
Summary: The Incomplete Musketeers
Review: So, why is this called The Complete Musketeers when it lacks Lester's third film in the series, The Return of the Musketeers?
Don't be deceived. I complain because the third film is a worthwhile addition to a great entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: All for One, One for All!... Finally!
Review: I just received my copy of "The Complete Musketeers" and, well, what can I say but bravo to Anchor Bay.
The two movies are in the correct 1.77:1 anamorphic aspect ratio of their theatrical release and remixed in Digital Dolby Mono (although, you also have the choice to view both movies in their full-frame format! Important for those with small TV screens).
The anamorphic format has been formatted to fit today's 16x9 TV screens. Excellent packaging layout, practically spells a Deluxe edition.
The picture quality is sharp and colors are as brilliant as their original theatrical releases, some scenes have actually been visually enhanced. My only critique to Anchor Bay is, that by naming this collection "The Complete Musketeers", they either forgot, or had some licensing problems (having been released by Universal and not by 20th Century-Fox) with the third installment of the filmed classics, called "The Return of the Musketeers", which was filmed sixteen years later, in 1989, representing Alexandre Dumas' other classic tale, known as "Twenty Years Later" (Vingt Ans Apres). It is really a pity, since the third installment has the same cast (York, Reed, Finlay and Chamberlain) as the previous two and was also directed by Richard Lester.
This would really have been the "Complete Musketeers" collection par excellence. My only hope is that, since Universal doesn't seem to catch up on their best titles by decently releasing them in their theatrical format on DVD, that at least someone or some Company may buy the rights off their hands and release also this last title (together with other long missing ones) in its appropriate format. Back to Anchor Bay's version. It is filled with extras.
Two newly filmed documentaries of 25 minutes, for each movie, filled with highly informative interviews and comments by the principal cast and production staff (York, Welch, Chris Lee, Salkind, Finlay, Heston, and and and...).
On the first DVD, they also included the original 7 minute documentary of the Making of "Three Musketeers".
All the rest, and on both DVDs, is composed by theatrical trailers, TV Spots, Radio Spots, tons of stills and posters and very detailed bios of the Director and Cast of both movies.
Really remarkable, since I had given up any hope of ever watching these movies resurface in their original theatrical format. The sound, even though a simple Dolby Digital Mono (remember, both movies were recorded in Mono and as far as I know, there were never stereophonically tracked copies around), but despite this, it is spatially astounding. A very plastic sound, for being Monaural. This, in my view, is the definitive version of the filmed "Three Musketeers". No version before and none thereafter came even close to these two masterpieces.
They are both filled with excellent dialogue, swift and spectacular action (the fencing scenes are still considered the best ever filmed and represent study material) and lots of humor, in the true spirit of Alexandre Dumas. The cast is stellar to say the least, having reunited the best, England and the United States had to offer at that time. From Michael York to Charlton Heston, from Faye Dunaway to Geraldine Chaplin, including everyone who's everyone in the stage and movie business, such as Christopher Lee, Roy Kinnear, Frank Finlay, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch and Richard Chamberlain. This is also a family movie, suitable for all ages and promises a lot of entertainment for all ages.
On to High Adventure then, and don't forget, the Four Musketeers did really exist, maybe not as glamorous as described in books and movies, but they truly walked the Earth and therefore are also part of a history lesson.
If you wish to offer an adventurous movie to your kids, without neglecting a touch of history connected to it, then "The Complete Musketeers" is the perfect choice.
All for One and One for All!
Or may I say, All for Two and Two for All?
Rating:
Summary: Not to be confused with previous releases
Review: Arguably the best musketeers movies ever. Excellent transfers to DVD and NOT to be confused with the older Fox Lorber releases. Documentaries on the two DVD set include comments by cast members Michael York, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Chuck Heston, and Frank Finlay. Wish the late Roy Kinnear, Oliver Reed, and Spike Milligan could have been here to contribute as well.
Rating:
Summary: Fun with the Musketeers!
Review: Anchor Bay puts together a fabulous package with this 2 disc set containing the Lester/Salkind films 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Four Musketeers'.
The first menu option that comes up on the discs is to choose between a 1:77.1 Widescreen version and a Full-Frame version. Above each menu option on this screen is a Frame Grab which gives one an example of the widescreen vs the full frame. One does lose a small amount of edge information on the full frame version. I personally recommend going with the widescreen version, which only gives one very small black bars on the top and bottom, but not enough to be a real distraction to those who hate widescreen presentations.
The quality of the film to DVD transfer is great on both films, in my opinion. The colors are just bright enough. The picture seems quite sharp to me, too, for being 30 years old. According to the back of the box the films have been '...completely restored from original vault elements...'. The picture quality on 'The Three Musketeers' is far better than the Fox/Lorber tape I bought about 6 years ago. The transfer on that one seemed to me to be a bit on the dark side. The audio track is clear, though it won't give your sound system a workout, being in mono, as the original theatrical release was.
The extras are terrific, too. The first disc has a 23 minute documentary called 'The Saga of the Musketeers'-Part One. It features new interviews with Ilya Salkind, Michael York, Christopher Lee, Frank Finlay, Charlton Heston, and Raquel Welch, along with a few others that I can't think of. All of them speak very fondly of the experience. It covers the making of 'The Three Musketeers'. There is also a 7 minute featurette called "The Making of 'The Three Musketeers'", which was produced in 1973 and mainly consists of interviews with Richard Lester and Ilya Salkind. There is also a theatrical trailer, a TV commercial, a number of Radio Advertisements, a poster and still gallery, and bios of cast members. The second Disc extras consist of a 25 minute documentary 'The Saga of the Musketeers' - Part 2, which is about the making of 'The Four Musketeers'. The same folks interviewed in Part 1 are interviewed in Part 2. It also has some nice tributes to Oliver Reed (Athos), Spike Milligan (Constance's Husband) and Roy Kinnear (D'Artagnan's Servant), who have died since the films were made. The documentary also talks about the fact that the actors were rather angry at the fact that they had been paid to do one 3 1/2 hour epic film and then the Salkinds decided to split it into two films. In addition to the documentary, there is also a theatrical trailer, a number of TV and Radio commercials, Poster and Still Gallery, and Actor Bios.
I wish that Anchor Bay could have roped some of the cast into doing an audio commentary and that they could have persuaded director Richard Lester to participate in the documentaries or, at least, a commentary.
Stiil, I can't give this package any less than five stars. Anchor Bay has put together a wonderful package and the films have never looked better. They are, in my opinion, the most enjoyable version of the Musketeers' story. The casting is perfect. A splendid blend of action and comedy. They never fail to bring a smile and, at times, fits of laughter to me.
One last note, many people have complained about the fact that this set doesn't include the 1989 sequel to these films, 'The Return of the Musketeers' I agree that it would have been a great addition to this set. However, 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Four Musketeers' are owned by 'Studio Canal' in France, while 'The Return of the Musketeers' is an MCA/Univeral property. Obtaining the rights to 'Return' would probably be a nightmare for Anchor Bay, as I don't think they have distributed any Universal films. Anchor Bay already has an arrangement for the distribution of Studio Canal's film library in the US. I don't think the name 'The Complete Musketeers' is misleading. The set is a complete adaptation of Dumas' 'The Three Musketeers'. 'Return' is an adaptation of another book about the Musketeers, "Twenty Years After"
Rating:
Summary: 02-04-03 Anchor Bay release
Review: Anchor Bay's re-release of both the 1973 film, The Three Musketeers and the 1974 film, The Four Musketeers, sees an all new packaging of these movies. Both movies have been remastered and are presented in 1.77:1 Animorphic Widescreen AND 1.33:1 Fullscreen on the same ONE-SIDED disc (one for each movie) via a type of selection typical of choosing a sound track. For picture quality, if using Widescreen Reviews ratings, I'd give them 4.75/5.0. The picture is clean with no apparent artifacts or film grain. Looks about as good for a '73/'74 as you can get. (This is the oldest movie on DVD I have, BTW) However, the downfall of this release is that sound is only Dolby Digital MONO. Thus leaving a lot to be desired for soundstage. This is surprising since other movies that have had mono soundtracks remixed into DD 5.1. One such movie was "The Terminator - SE" which converted a mono soundtrack into a pretty convincing 5.1 mix. Spread out over both discs contain a brand new documentary shot in 2002 which includes interviews of some of the actors including Christopher Lee, Charleton Heston, Michael York, and Rachel Welch. Very interesting to see Rachel in all her 62 years of glory. She still looks good! LOL! But anyway... If you're interested at all in the "Three Musketeers" saga, pick this copy up. Oh yeah, almost forgot. The packaging is one of the most attractive 2-disc set I've seen since, well I think ever. It's a cardboard book-fold type of package with inside flaps that cover the DVDs inside. On these flaps is a montage of all four Musketeers along with still photos of the films on a blue background. Open those up and you're presented with a "3-page" white background montage of pictures of the secondary characters with the DVDs themselves being as part of the montage. On the 4th page, the far right flap, is a chapter stop list for both films which is written in 17th Century script. Very attractive packaging overall. I give the release 4 stars due to the DD Mono soundtrack, but other than that it's a great set of films.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST FOR FANS, FAMILIES, AND FILMLOVERS!!!
Review: I just got a chance to see THE COMPLETE MUSKETEERS, the newly restored DVD's of Richard Lester's classic version of The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers and all I can say is WOW! Anchor Bay has struck gold again! The previous DVD release of these films was appalling (no widescreen, horrible sound and picture), but the new disks are the best these films have ever looked. All the details and colors of the top notch sets, costumes, and cinematography are vibrant! These new disks should add to the legions of fans that appreciate these treasures.
By far the best cinematic version of Alexander Dumas' classic novel, the films star Michael York (Austin Powers), Oliver Reed (Gladiator), Frank Finlay (The Pianist), and Richard Chamberlain (Shogun) as the Musketeers and a stellar supporting cast lead by Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway, Christopher Lee, and Charlton Heston. This cast must have cost a fortune! The films are fast paced, exciting, and often hilarious. A big thrill is watching these films back to back as the 3 ½ hour epic that they were intended to be. Anyone who loved Lester's work with The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night will enjoy the magic here.
Another great part of these disks is the extra features. The most impressive being the brand new documentaries on the making of the films. It features new interviews with the producers (including Ilya Salkind of Superman fame), crew, and the actors (including York, Lee, Welch, and Heston). There are a lot of interesting stories on making these films that I was not previously aware of. Not only a must for Musketeer fans, but also for families, and anyone who loves movies! Get it ASAP!
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