Rating: 
Summary: Good rainy day movie
Review: I thought this movie was entertaining. Although it was a bit predictable.......ok, it was VERY predictable, it was still exciting to watch. I am not a big Leonardo Dicaprio fan, but this was fun to watch. John Malkovich was great in this movie, but he's great in every movie. This is a good Saturday afternoon couch movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant novel + Hollywood = loser
Review: Dumas' novel is one of the great works of western fiction. The massive distortions of the original story in this movie do not serve any purpose other than to create a Hollywood ending. Athos played as grumpy and poor by John Malkovich? This has got to be one of the strangest mis-casting decisions of all time! D'Artagnan as the king's father! These are really bizarre choices that are unnecessary. I can see Hollywood massively rewriting a story that is half-baked, but why trash one of the greatest stories of all time? Do we really need every story to have an impossible series of coincidences and end with a smiley face? This adaptation is an insult to viewers brought to us by people too lazy and condescending to care about quality. Waste of a great book and a great cast. Don't waste your time or money on this one.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie Should be Kept in an Iron Box, Far Away
Review: You know, I for one liked Leonardo DiCaprio in "Titanic", so I wanted to see what he would be like in this movie, a version of which I had seen years ago with the king of the miniseries, Richard Chamberlain. Lous XIV's twin brother has been kept all these years as a prisoner in a remote place, with an iron mask covering his famous features so that no one will know his true identity. People who are tired of the mean king they've been having all this time now want to take a chance on this new guy, and train him to impersonate the King. Wow, what do you think is going to happen next? Mon Dieu! Quel bad movie! LDiC is absolutely AWFUL. There's just no getting around it. Please see Mr. Chamberlain's take on it, and relegate this to the salvage dump.
Rating: 
Summary: Great fun!
Review: "The Man in the Iron Mask" proves at least two things. The first thing is that it's still possible to make a rousing, entertaining epic with minimal use of digital FX. The second is that action adventure films still work best when they don't take themselves seriously. If you don't believe that, may I remind you that the James Bond series has run for a record 40 years? In this case DiCaprio gets to play the evil Louis the Fourteenth of France and his all too good twin brother, whom Louis has put in an iron mask and thrown into a truly nasty prison. The two totally different characters are believably played by DiCaprio. There is never any confusion as to which twin is on screen, yet one gets the impression that this is all a piece of cake for the film's young star. This is the France of 1662. I am not a good student of French history, but the locations, costumes and customs appear to be fairly accurate for that time period. Also the film is reasonable faithful to X's novel. The author took an obscure bit of French history and spun an intricate story from it. For in that year, there actually was a French prisoner who was listed in the prison registry only by a series of numbers followed by the words 'the man in the iron mask'. Since Louis the Fourteenth became king at a very young age, he was quite the brat. As he grew older, he became one of France's greatest rulers. So, who's to say there wasn't a hidden twin? Even without DiCaprio, this film has a remarkable cast. Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne play the famous Musketeers. Now retired, they are forced to regroup due to the insane acts committed by Louis. These include having one of their sons killed in the same way King Solomon got rid of Sheba's husband. When he is informed that the peasants of Paris are starving, he dispatches rotting food to them. When they justifiably complain, his suggestion is to shoot them. One of the cleverest plot devices is to have one of the musketeers - the great Gerard Depardieu's character - show that time takes its toll on everyone. He is flabby, depressed.... Of course, in true Hollywood style, he makes a big comeback, but until he does, he is uproariously funny. Anne Parilland plays the Queen Mother with that cutting edge of grace and beauty that is peculiar to the French. Her character is also full of surprises. As the beauty Louis wants so badly that he kills to get her, Judith Goodreche is quite well cast. She is innocence personified. While not at all original, the musical score by Nick Glenne-Smith is the rich, melodic type one expects in such a film. I was disappointed, however, by one musical aspect. There are some lavishly produced ballroom sequences. The dances are wonderful, but the music is scored for instruments which, for the most part, did not exist in the 17th Century. "The Man in the Iron Mask" did great business overseas, but was disappointing here. I suspect that this was because DiCaprio became an overnight romantic hero in "Titanic", which was released two months earlier. In this film the only romance happens with the evil Louis. The good twin, as in the book, must spend his time reclaiming his destiny with the help of the Old Musketeers. This left his enormous following of female fans little to bond with. I also suspect that, for the average young American male, the concept of DiCaprio as an action hero is, shall we say, slightly ahead of its time.
Rating:
Summary: The Third Rate Film in the Iron Mask
Review: Based on a novel by Alexander Dumas, "The Man in the Iron Mask" is ostensibly a film about a benign peasant (played by Leonardo Dicarpio) who is released from a horrible form of imprisonment and who subsequently switches places with an evil king(also played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who looks just like him, though I think it should be called the "excrement in the iron mask." Leo lovers might find the first half of this film disappointing since the great one plays an out and out brown eye who treats his attendants like human toxic discharge. In one notable scene, Leo the bad decides that he really wants to have his love gardener water the pink tulip of a hot aristocratic chick but he can't because she's in love with her boy friend. Leo contrives to have the boy friend sent to the wars where honor compels him to fight in the front lines, virtually ensuring his death. Once this plan is executed to completion, Leo offers the grieving lover his condolences by having his love chef sprinkle some parmisan on her passionate lasagna. But after he thrashes her a number of times, the woman receives a letter sent from her boyfriend written before his demise that explains the wretched king's plan. The timing of this letter is most unfortunate since the damsel receives it just as Leo the good appears on the scene. One would hope that Leo the good would have a chance to anoint her with his pink scepter, but unfortunately, he just gets a dance and an undeserved upbraiding before she kills herself. Aside from the annoyance of Leo, this film does the four musketeers a terrible disservice converting them from swaggering he-men of the Thirty Years War to a bunch of late Twentieth Century ninnies. This is particularly sad in the case of Athos who is the most fascinating muskateer in both the novel and the two seventies films in which he was played by Oliver Reed. In this film he is played by a wonderful actor, John Malkovich, but is cast in a whiny, and ineffectual role. Similarly, Dartagnan skulks through the entire film apparently upset by the fact that he knocked up his liege lord's wife many years ago. If anything, he should be upset by the fact that his spermicidal indiscretion produced a second Leonardo Dicaprio. The only viable dramatic force in this film is Jeremy Irons who plays an intense and secretive Aramis...
Rating:
Summary: Adventure in the time of King Louis XIV
Review: Man in the Iron Mask is a fun adventure film involving the further adventures of Athos, Porthos, Armamis, and D'Artagnan, the swashbuckling quartet made famous by Alexandre Dumas. Our heroes have grown old and have passed the torch to a new generation and are happy to live out their lives in peace. That is all but D'Artagnan who is serving as captain of the king's musketeers at a time of civil unrest in a starving Paris over-burdened by Louis XIV's military campaigns. King Louis is an arrogant and spoiled brat monarch who, unmindful of his own advisors, cares for nothing but his own pleasure at the expense of his people and his country. When his lustful eye falls upon the beautiful fiance of Athos' son Raul, Louis has the young officer sent to die in the brutal fighting against the Dutch so that he may possess his future bride. This sets the stage for the daring rescue of the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask from his island prison by the old musketeers, who develope a scheme to replace the king and restrore peace and hope to their land. MITIM has wonderful costumes, lavish sets, and great sword fighting action. But it also captures elements of its all too human characters as in the tenderness of a father for a lost son, or a boy whose life was stolen only to find that he gets the chance at greatness. Even Leonardo DiCaprio is a passable tyrant as young Louis, but even more enjoyable as the tortured Phillipe who must find the courage to fulfill his destiny. Man in the Iron Mask is the best adaptation of a Dumas adventure in many many years and shouldn't be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: MUST SEE!
Review: This is one of the best films. A must see! It is action-packed and keeps things moving along with the twists and turns expected of a Dumas novel. We thought that the story of the retired Musketeers the best part of the film, especially the invincible courage they display toward film's end - Super Heros! The four musketeers were brilliantly performed, smooth. I would give less stars for DiCaprio - but I am not a DiCaprio fan and his character just does not have the savoir-faire of Gabriel Byrne's. Excellent film.
Rating:
Summary: great film
Review: Great story and acting. The three musketeers are great
Rating:
Summary: Way late... but LOVED it...
Review: This movie is SOOOO good. It's full of unexpected twists and irony (no pun intended). I loved it. Leonardo played the snot out of his role. He made you love him and hate him at the same time. AMAZING!!! See it. I insist. I demand. I'll come looking for you if you don't!
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Big Budget
Review: Its amazing people think this was "amazing". I guess standards have really been lowered nowadays. I don't understand Di Caprio's appeal. Honestly, he looked like a girl in this movie. Which is great if you like boy's who look like girls. I think Depardieu is more appealing. Gabriel Byrne was the most convincing and entertaining actor. The little mustache worked for me. If you want lighthearted entertainment and have a few laughs even when its not supposed to be funny, you'll like this one.
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