Rating: Summary: Matinee fun Review: This is an engaging and light-weight matinee style telling of the Zorro legend and is in stark contrast to the '98 version with Antonio Banderas in the lead. Tyrone Power is competant and likeable alternating between hero and faux fop. There's the eye-pleasing art direction (and Linda Darnell!) and scintillating performances especially from Basil Rathbone.
The transfer is adequate, you'll see better than this with other films released directly through the original studio though.
If you're a lover of classic matinee films or of swashbuckling adventure, by all means get this DVD.
Rating: Summary: The best Zorro film ever! Review: This is arguably the best film version of Johnston McCulley's costumed swordfighter of old California, beating out both the 1920s Douglas Fairbanks film and the recent Banderas/Hopkins blockbuster (although both are good films in their own rights). What this film has is Golden Age Hollywood style in spades: glamourous photography, music, and star power. It has less action than you might expect, and Tyrone Power actually spends very little time in the Zorro costume -- he's in his 'civilian' duds for the whole finale. But the film is such good-natured fun and director Mamoulian has such a solid handle on the material that it hardly matters. The romance and comedy are also well executed and finely balanced with the physical action. Speaking of action, the big duel between Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone is a stunner, an amazing piece of combat choreography. As a bonus, Fox Home Video has mixed the film in stereo; very rare for a film of the period. The disc also has a 45 minute episode of "Biography" about Tyrone Power. It spends only a minute on THE MARK OF ZORRO, but it does show a priceless outtake of Power dressed in the Zorro costume making fun of studio boss Darryl Zanuck. Even if you don't watch the whole documentary, make sure you speed through it to catch this riotous old Hollywood prank.
Rating: Summary: One of the Best Review: This is one of the best movies ever made. Tyrone Power is remarkable. It's an absolutely amazing movie, you wont get tired of it. The Anthony Hopkins/ Antonio Banderas version of Zorro was great, but this movie is even better. Buy this, do yourself a favor.
Rating: Summary: One of the Greatest Movies of All Time Review: This is one of the best. It's an absolutely amazing movie, you wont get tired of it, it's just amazing. The Anthony Hokins/ Antonio Banderas version of Zorro was great, but this movie is sensational. Buy this, do yourself a favor.
Rating: Summary: May Zorro ride forever Review: This is the movie that turned me into a Zorro fan. I was about 10 when I saw it as a matinee on Sat. TV. Tyrone Power is perfect as Zorro with those lovely speaking eyes and wonderful sword play. And Basil Rathbone is the type of villian that you love to hate. Throw in Linda Darnell as Zorro's love interest and the you have a great movie. The humor is what holds it altogether and makes you want to watch it again and again. Diego making his father a little bit crazy and the govenor a nervous wreck. I didn't think that they made movies like this anymore until I saw the Mask of Zorro. Not a remake, thank heaven, but with the same spirit and fire as this one. As far as I am concerned Zorro can ride forever and I will watch faithfully.
Rating: Summary: Terrible, Terrible Transfer!! Review: This is the worst transfer to dvd that I've ever seen. My vhs copy from TCM is much better! I love the film, but was bitterly disappointed at the shoddy treatment. Shame!!!
Rating: Summary: One of the best ever. Review: This must rate as one of the best Swashbucklers ever. Good acting, good action and a pleasure to watch. It even has a decent plot, which isn't always the case in this genre. The characters are real people instead of two-dimensional figures and the climactic swordfight is downright beautiful.
Rating: Summary: FIVE STARS - The Perfect Adventure Movie Review: This remarkable film (loosely based on the Zorro stories of Johnston McCulley) has everything one could ask for from a swashbuckling adventure story . . . excellent acting, a wonderful script and the inspired direction of Ruben Mamoulian. Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Basil Rathbone are outstanding as the exciting hero, his true love, and the deliciously evil Captain Esteban Pasquale. An inspired supporting cast including J. Edward Bromberg, Eugene Pallette, Gale Sondergaard, and Montagu Love convinces you that this is California of the 1820's. Excellent pacing moves the story forward from adventure to adventure, finally culminating in that magnificent duel between Power and Rathbone, between justice and tyranny. The clever use of humor, and the innocent yet passionate love that grows steadily between Power and Darnell (the Villain's niece), adds dimension to the characters and makes us care about them. This is a film that deserves to be seen again and again!
Rating: Summary: The one & only Zorro Review: Tyrone Power plays Zorro...the liberator of early California from Spain. Excellent swashbuckling action. Co-starring Basil Rathbone.
Rating: Summary: The Finest Swordsman in Spain Goes West! Review: Tyrone Power was a very handsome man, often compared to Rudolf Valentino. He was adored by his female fans and admired for his athleticism on and off the screen. Zanuck created this vehicle just to showcase his main star attraction. Power carries the role off with great panache, delivering lines as if he lived them. The sword scene at the end with Rathbone is considered the finest ever put on film, even better than Flynn's "Robin Hood". There was so much talent behind this film, that like Flynn's done just three years before, has become a timeless classic enjoyed by anyone who loves adventure, humor, and the good guys to win in the end. Definitely a "must buy" for DVD collectors as there is a wonderful documentary about Power, including the infamous and hilarious outtake Power himself directed on the set during a lunch break to "get even" with Zanuck.
|