THE MASK OF ZORRO (1998, Blu-ray released December 1, 2009 – MSRP $24.95)
I really, really, really love The Mask of Zorro! It’s very nearly a perfect adventure movie, with wonderful action sequences that harken back to the best swashbuckling moments in Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn movies of old.
From Martin Campbell, the director responsible for re-invigorating the Bond franchise not once but twice (first with the introduction of Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye and then introducing Daniel Craig to the world in Casino Royale), The Mask of Zorro is a fantastic piece of adventure film making. It goes without saying that it’s not without faults (a bit lengthy, predictable plot, cliche dialogue) but rarely does a film come along with such spirit and character that I’m moved to revisit it time and again. The Mask of Zorro has everything: incredible action sequences, great actors with electric chemistry, a stirring, memorable score by James Horner and a timeless character with a rich history. The 1957 television series may be the definitive version of Zorro for most but for my generation Campbell’s film hit all the right notes and left an indelible impression.
Both Antonio Banderas and Anthony Hopkins portray the titular character, the latter playing the original, now aged masked vigilante and the former his protégé. And damn, if they don’t both kick a lot of ass! I swear, I’d be happy to watch a film featuring Hopkins alone, running about in the mask for two hours busting banditos and crooked caballeros. His scenes as Zorro in the opening of the film are simply stunning! Some of the absolute best moments, however are between Banderas and love-interest Catherine Zeta-Jones. Their sword fight in the stable has since become a cinema classic. Watching the film again was such a great experience for me in so many ways but I couldn’t help but feel like something was dating it. Keeping it from feeling truly timeless. I have a feeling that some of the throwaway, action-hero dialogue might be to blame but I’m not sure. I’ll just chock it up to my recent melancholy for the 90s.
This is, hands down, the best The Mask of Zorro has ever looked. The Blu-ray disc from Sony offers a reference quality presentation across the board with incredible shadow detail, rich, deep blacks and wonderful colour fidelity. Amazing! And the 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio track is no slouch either, paying wonderful respect to Horner’s excellent score and the film’s dynamic sound design. Colour me speechless.
Almost all of the special features on the disc have been ported over from the 2005 Deluxe Edition DVD: director’s commentary track, 45-minute making-of doc, deleted scenes, a music video and promos for the substantially less awesome sequel The Legend of Zorro. The only new extra we’re offered is the BD-Live access. While this doesn’t seem too thrilling on the surface, the “Unmasking Zorro” making-of and the Martin Campbell commentary are pretty good, with a lot of behind the scenes secrets revealed. Well worth a watch and a listen.
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