Thunderbird 6

• Title:  Thunderbird 6
• Director:  David Lane
• Date:  1968
• Studio:  MGM, United Artists
• Genre:  SF, Action, Children
• Cast:  Peter Dyneley, Sylvia Anderson, Shane Rimmer, Jeremy Wilkin, Matt Zimmerman, David Graham
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

Thunderbird 6  is based on the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation series, Thunderbirds, and was made at the same time. The film opens with a secret meeting at the New World Aircraft Corporation, where the designer of the Thunderbirds, Mr. X, addresses the group. He suggests New World Aircraft should build an airship. The men at the meeting literally laugh at him, but build the ship anyway.

Once the ship is build, Alan Tracy and Tin Tin fly to England in an antique Tiger Moth Biplane to meet up with Lady Penelope and Parker. The four travel to the air field at New Word Aircraft. FAB 1, Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce is loaded on the airship, and Alan, Tin Tin, Lady Penelope, and Parker, all go aboard the lighter-than-air craft for the around-the-world maiden voyage of Skyship One as it's called.

However, all is not smooth sailing. Prior to the arrival of the International Rescue crew members, a group of men had gotten into the ship. These men kill the ship's captain and the entire crew, and take their place. Skyship One is completely automated, and the crew is only there to serve the passengers and in case of emergencies.

With the International Rescue members aboard, and unaware that the crew isn't the real crew - Skyship One lifts off, and begins it's around-the-world cruise, stopping at many famous sites, and even making ports of call where the passengers can see the sights. They visit New York, the Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, Niagara Falls, Switzerland, the Pyramids, and other famous tourist locations.

Meanwhile, Jeff Tracy has told his engineer Brains (also the mysterious "Mr. X" who suggested that Skyship One be built in the opening scene of the film) that International Rescue needs a Thunderbird 6. Jeff gives no explanation of what he wants, nor does he explain why he thinks it's so important. Throughout the film, Brains develops machines for Jeff, showing him various models, and Jeff rejects all of his designs and hard work. This becomes the "B plot" of the film, while the around the world tour on Skyship One is the "A plot".

During the tour, Lady Penelope discovers she is being bugged. Alan, Parker, and Lady Penelope all investigate - and discover only Lady Penelope is being recorded. Meanwhile, it's revealed that the substitute crew have written a message from Lady Penelope to Jeff Tracy at International Rescue - they plan on recording Lady Penelope saying all the words of the message, the re-arranging and editing together the words she says, so it sounds like she is sending the message herself. The message will then be sent, so Jeff hears it and thinks Penny sent it. Additionally, the message, which essentially sends Thunderbirds 1 and 2 to a disused airfield south of Casablanca, also tells Jeff to not acknowledge the message.

And that is exactly what happens - Alan, Parker, and Tin Tin discover recording equipment, and realize what is going on, but not before the message is sent. Penny calls Jeff directly using her compact-phone, only to find that Thunderbirds 1 and 2, and their pilots have been sent to the co-ordinates in the message. Lady Penelope warns Jeff it's a trap. Jeff contacts his sons, and they blow the heck out of the buildings at the airfield, destroying everything with guns.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to round-up the false crew as the ship approachs Dover in the UK, there's a gunfight in the "Gravity Compensation Room" (an impressive model set full of silver spinning things). The gravity compensaters are damaged, and the airship begins to slowly sink. Tin Tin, however, is taken hostage by one of the false crew and the International Rescue team is also taken hostage.

Meanwhile, Thunderbirds 1 and 2, fly to the location of Skyship One to find out what's going on, and to rescue Lady Penelope, Tin Tin, and Alan.  As he gets close to where the airship should be, Scott has trouble finding it - then notices it is cruising at a much lower altitude than it should be. Skyship One then hits and becomes entangled in the Interceptor Towers at a missile base on the British coast. The ship is in a dangerous and precarious position. Scott has the missile base evacuated and in the meantime tries to effect a rescue of the people aboard Skyship One, with the help of Virgil in Thunderbird 2.

Unfortunately, because Skyship One is so light, and the tower isn't steady, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 can't get close without causing the ship to start tipping or crashing. They use lines to try to stabilize the ship but are unsure how to effect a rescue of the people. They contact Tracy Island Base for ideas.

Brains comes up with a solution - they will use the 2-seater Tiger Moth to rescue people from the Skyship one at a time. This would be difficult enough, but when the small biplane lands on the huge airship, Brains is quickly taken hostage - and Foster, the captain, tries to escape by himself, only.

However, Brains, Parker, Alan, and Tin Tin are able to overcome the false crew and get on the Tiger Moth. It isn't straight forward though - other members of the substitute crew get on the Tiger Moth, there's a gunfight, and eventually all of the false members are killed, including Foster who is in the pilot's seat of the Biplane. Lady Penelope ends up in the forward seat of the Biplane, and Parker in it's undercarriage - and the plane's engine is shot and losing fuel. Lady Penelope is the only one of the group who doesn't know how to fly a plane. Alan carefully moves along the exterior of the plane from where he had been hanging on the wing to the cockpit. He tries to talk Penny through a dead-stick landing but she can't quite get the plane down. So Alan has her pull-up, roll the plane to get rid of Foster's body, then gets into the second cockpit himself and eventually lands the plane (without fuel he ends up in a tree - but no one is hurt, not even Parker).

Meanwhile, once everyone has left Skyship One via Biplane, and the missile site is evacuated, Scott and Virgil let go of their lines supporting the doomed airship. It crashes into the missile base and there's a series of really big explosions.

Later at Tracy Island, Brains introduces to Jeff the completely built and field-tested Thunderbird 6 - the Tiger Moth.

Thunderbird 6 does feel much more like an extended episode of the television series, and the plot holds-up together better than Thunderbirds Are Go. However, it's still very slow moving. The world-wide cruise of Skyship One just seems to take forever. The film also has two problematic issues with it - first, it's very violent, especially for Thunderbirds.  The entire crew of the airship (granted, its only four people, but still) is ruthlessly slaughtered. When Jeff tells Scott and Virgil that their rendezvous at the airfield south of Cassablanca is a trap, the boys simply annihilate everything in sight. What if the Black Phantom's cronies had taken people hostage at the airfield? I mean, sure, it was abandoned - but that doesn't necessarily mean there's no one there. And then, in the midst of the actual rescue, the entire substitute crew, who were, granted, up to no good - are killed. It's remarkably violent for a kid's movie. And the second issue is the film is pretty sexist. Of course, it's Tin Tin who's taken hostage. Of course, Lady Penelope can't fly a plane or follow Alan's instructions for landing it. I mean, yes, that would be difficult - but this is Lady Penelope!

Still, overall, the film is better than Thunderbirds Are Go, simply because the plot holds together better, even if the movie moves very slowly.

Recommendation: Recommended for fans of the original show only

Rating:  3 1/2 Stars out of 5

Next Film:  To Catch a Thief

Thunderbirds Are Go

• Title:  Thunderbirds Are Go
• Director:  David Lane
• Date:  1966
• Studio:  MGM/UA
• Genre:  SF, Children
• Cast:  Shane Rimmer, Peter Dyneley, Sylvia Anderson, Jeremy Wilkin, Matt Zimmerman
• Format:  Technicolor, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"OK, boys, Thunderbirds are go!" - Jeff Tracy

"Well, clearly, there's life on Mars. But I guess it's not life as we know it." - Jeff

Thunderbirds Are Go is based on the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation TV series, Thunderbirds and was made at the same time. The movie is very much like a bigger, more complex and meant to be more exciting episode of the series. And that is where the film falls down, unfortunately. The film opens  with the control center for the Zero X, a manned flight to Mars. A saboteur inside the vessel is able to sabotage it, and the ship crashes into the ocean. The crew, however ejects and is rescued by normal air/sea rescue.

Two years later, there is a discussion of the crash in the wake of a 800-plus page report detailing exactly what happened. The conclusion of the report - sabotage!  However, Earth is again in position to try for Mars. The proposal to do so meets with one negative vote. The captain of the previous mission asks that International Rescue be called in to provide security and be on-hand in case anything goes wrong. The head of the space organization isn't happy about asking for help, and refuses to do so.

Meanwhile on Tracy Island, the boys are eagerly standing in front of Jeff Tracy's desk. Though he points out that International Rescue does not normally respond until they receive a request for help, he tells them that rules are meant to be broken and sends Scott in Thunderbird 1 and Virgil in Thunderbird 2 to Glenn Field to monitor and assist. Alan is dispatched in Thunderbird 3 to monitor from space. John is of course, on Thunderbird 5, and will only monitor communications as normal. Gordon is left at home with nothing to do. Once the boys have left, Jeff calls Lady Penelope and asks IR's London agent to also go to Glenn Field to investigate and route out any saboteurs.

Lady Penelope, undercover as a journalist, asks one of the scientists on the mission a question, then gives him a St. Christopher medal, with a transmitter/homing beacon inside. Later, once everyone is meant to be on the ship for takeoff - she runs a check and realises Dr. Grant is not on the ship. Scott goes to investigate and unmasks a phony and saboteur. Penny locates the real Dr. Grant who is unharmed and returned to the aircraft before it takes off. Penny and Parker also chase the saboteur in FAB 1, Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce. The chase includes the car turning into a hydrofoil and continuing the chase on water, and finally bringing down the saboteur's helicopter with machine gun fire.

Meanwhile, Zero X takes off as scheduled and without difficulty. Thunderbird 2 escorts it as far as rarefied atmosphere, where Thunderbird 3 takes over and sees that the ship safely leaves Earth's atmosphere. Alan returns in Thunderbird 3 to Tracy Island. Meanwhile, rather than returning immediately to Tracy Island, Scott and Virgil join Lady Penelope at a new nightclub called the Swinging Star. The Thunderbirds are left under guard at Glenn Field.

Back at Tracy Island, Alan isn't happy to have heard that Scott and Virgil are going out for a night on the town. He asks Jeff for permission to go to the mainland with Tin Tin, but Jeff refuses.

That night, Alan has a dream - Lady Penelope picks him up and takes him to the Swinging Star nightclub in space. There's instrumental music and Alan wear's a medium blue suit, while Lady Penelope wears a stunning blue dress with a white feather boa. After the first musical number, Cliff Richards Jr. and the Shadows come on and play an elaborate number which includes them playing on FAB 1 in space, and on a giant guitar and other effects. After his musical interlude, the dream gradually becomes slightly nightmarish and Alan is woken up by his father, after he falls out of bed.

Next, the boys, Jeff and Tin Tin are relaxing by the Tracy's pool. Jeff notes the Zero X is now on Mars.

The film cuts to Mars, which is grey and rocky - like the moon. The Martian Excursion Vehicle rolls along the surface, while the scientists inside talk of collecting samples. The scientists and astronauts notice some unusual rock formations. They then decide to fire on one to break it down for easier collection.  This is a bad move, as the "coiled rocks" are living creatures. These "rock snakes" attack. The group in the MEV call for immediate pick-up and learn it will be a short time before the rest of the ship is in position for rendezvous. The MEV tries evasive maneuvers. Finally, the MEV takes off before the rendezvous check time. However, they safely reconnect with the ship.

On Tracy Island, Jeff and the boys discuss the amazing discovery on Mars and that the ship will return in six weeks.

Six weeks later the Zero X runs into trouble on it's return journey.  International Rescue is called in. Not only is Zero X crashing, it's heading for a small city, and access to the escape unit is jammed.

Scott heads to Glenn Field in Thunderbird 1 to oversee the rescue operation in Command and Control. Virgil, with Gordon and Alan, responds in Thunderbird 2. Once Thunberbird 2 gets closer to Zero X, Gordon oversees the rescue winch and Alan attempts to get aboard the Zero X to fix the escape unit system.  Brains, the engineer, reads a circuit diagram to explain to Alan what he needs to do.  Alan adds a transistor to the broken/burned out unit, and starts to re-wire it.  The pilot sends his co-pilot and navigator to the escape unit, but continues to fly the plane - such as it is, since it's crashing.

Although Alan drops his screwdriver, and the ship is skimming the treetops, Alan's able to re-wire the machinery. The pilot gets to the escape unit and the unit is safely ejected. Alan also ejects but isn't able to get directly to Thunderbird 2. He is, however, safely lowered to the ground, where he's picked-up by a waiting Lady Penelope in her pink Rolls Royce, with Parker acting as chauffeur. Lady Penelope promises to take him to the Swinging Star nightclub.

Meanwhile, the crew of Zero X are safe, including the pilot - who got into the escape unit at the last moment.  The plane itself, however, crashes into the city - presumably without harming anyone on the ground since the area was evacuated.

At the Swinging Star, Alan is wearing a fake mustache disguise. He soon learns that the rest of his family, including Jeff, are at the next table also in disguise. They congratulate Alan and toast him as an hero.

Thunderbirds Are Go has a few problems. First, for a movie that should be about a fantastic rescue - it isn't really. The first Zero X goes down, but the crew are rescued by conventional means. When the Thunderbirds go to escort the second Zero X, other than routing out a saboteur, there's no need for them to be there because the launch goes off perfectly. When the Zero X gets into trouble on Mars, they are too far away to call International Rescue - even Thunderbird 3, and they rescue themselves. And finally, the actual rescue at the end seems rushed. Alan does get to be the hero, but he's also a seasoned professional (if anything Gordon and John get slighted in the story). Also, although the crew is rescued, always the most important thing for International Rescue - rescuing people; one really has to wonder about the wisdom of allowing a very large spaceship to crash into a city. I mean, Did they really think it would be completely evacuated?  And then there's the fantasy dream sequence. The whole film is slow, clunky, and feels like two or more Thunderbirds TV episodes cobbled together.

The positives are of course the model work, which is really good, even though the models do scream that they are, in fact, models, and not something realistic. It's worth noting that Derek Meddings, who did the model work for the series, this film, and many of Gerry Anderson's other series; also worked on Doctor Who, the James Bond feature films, and had a distinguished career in special effects. I have this and Thunderbird 6 to round-out my collection of Thunderbirds DVDs. I also have the entire TV series. But other than as a collectible, it's not really worth it.

Recommendation:  Skip it

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Next Film:  Thunderbird 6

Thunderbirds

• Title:  Thunderbirds
• Director:  Jonathan Frakes
• Date:  2004
• Studio:  Working Title, Universal
• Genre:  SF, Adventure, Action, Children
• Cast:  Brady Corbet, Bill Paxton, Sophia Myles, Ron Cook, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Edwards, Genie Francis
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"Alan, This equipment's only to be used in an emergency! [Tin Tin and Alan look at each other] I guess this qualifies." - Fermat

"It's the children. They have it." - The Hood

"No way. They're dead. No one could live through something like that." - Mullion

"I did." - The Hood

"Alan? He's just a kid." - Gordon Tracy

"He's a Tracy." - Jeff Tracy

Thunderbirds is a live-action children's adventure film based on the ITV Gerry Anderson Supermarionation series of the same name. It's an origin story of sorts, set early in the career of International Rescue and the Thunderbirds. Jeff is very much an active part of the organization, and Alan - the youngest Tracy, is still at school, attending Wharton Academy, an all-boys boarding school, with Fermat, Brains' young son.

Alan dreams of the day he can leave school behind and join his brothers in International Rescue as a full Thunderbird.  In this film, the Thunderbirds are the pilots of the machines as well as the machines themselves. Alan's at school when he's caught daydreaming by a teacher - and is given an extra report to write during Spring Break. However, soon all the students are watching a news cast - the Thunderbirds respond to an fire at an oil rig in Russia and rescue the trapped men, despite heavy rain and other problems. Alan and Fermat watch with the other students, but Alan, far from being worried about his older brothers and father - mimes their actions and wishes to be with them.

Lady Penelope, the family's London agent, arrives at Wharton and picks-up Alan to bring him home to Tracy Island, because the rest of the family is obviously busy. Not only does she arrive in her 6-wheeled pink Rolls Royce - but Lady Penelope's entire wardrobe is pink. Once she, Alan, Fermat, and Parker have driven away from any traffic the car turns into a flying car - and Parker pilots it to the Island.

Unbeknowest to Scott Tracy, however, when he and Virgil drop off the rescuees at a local hospital, one of them shoots a tracking compound onto Thunderbird 1. Scott doesn't notice. At dinner, Alan asks his father when he can become a Thunderbird, and Jeff rebukes him saying he's too young.

Alan and Fermat sneak into Thunderbird 1 where they accidentally start the launch sequence. The sequence is stopped without incident, but Jeff is so mad at Alan's behavior he doesn't give Alan a chance to tell him about the tracking goo he and Fermat found. (At this point the children don't realize what the goo is for.)

John's on Thunderbird 5, a manned satellite and communications station. He reports to Jeff on a couple of minor problems but his report is it's basically a quiet night. Then, suddenly, and without warning, The Hood (Ben Kingsley) fires a rocket into Thunderbird 5. The satellite is crippled and John is in trouble.  Jeff, Scott, Virgil, and Gordon take Thunderbird Three, the giant, red rocket ship into orbit to rescue John/fix the satellite.

Meanwhile, The Hood invades Tracy Island.  Alan, Fermat, and Tin Tin see his sub - but are unable to stop the attack on Thunderbird 5.

The Hood bursts into the house on the island, looking around he recognizes Jeff's picture. The Hood's vendetta seems personal. The Hood forces Brains to activate command and control. Jeff and his boys enter Thunderbird 5, but The Hood locks the door so they can't get out.  Jeff handles the emergency on Thunderbird 5 well, and finds and cares for his injured son, John.  However, the five men are unable to escape the satellite because The Hood's locked and jammed the door from Command and Control.

Alan, Fermat, and Tin Tin (Kyrano's daughter) go the Thunderbird Silos - they use the Firefly and the Thunderizer to escape The Hood's henchpeople, Mullion and Transom.  They slide down an exhaust pipe into the Ocean surrounding the Island, then get to shore. The three need to come up with a plan. They decide to cross the Island on foot, through the jungle to the Island's satellite dish to try to contact Jeff on Thunderbird 5. After a few adventures, they make it.  They have some difficulty with the transmitter, but eventually get it working.  Alan asks what to do - but Jeff tells him to follow protocol and get to Lady Penelope.

Alan would rather have an more active role. He finds one of the family's old hover-sleds, and builds a sidecar-like device so he can carry Tin Tin and Fermat as well behind them. They are chased by the Hood's Henchpeople, Mullion and Transom.  Fermat and Tin Tin are caught, and put in a freezer with their fathers, Brains and Kyrano.

Meanwhile, Alan is still free, and he sees Lady Penelope and Parker arrive. He follows and sees them challenge and fight the henchpeople in the Tracys' living room.  Although the British agents fight extremely well, they are no match for The Hood's mind control - the are caught and put into the freezer with everyone else.

The Hood, Transom, and Mullion head off to the Bank of England in Thunderbird 2 - having gotten the guidance computer chip Fermat had taken out of the machine.

In the freezer, Parker remarks that he can open the lock if he had a small piece of wire. Lady Penelope offers him the underwire from her bra. Everyone had discretely turned away as she retrieved it.

The group manages to rescue Jeff and the boys on Thunderbird 5 just before the satellite burns up in a decaying orbit, as well as reversing the sabotage to the satellite airlock door to Thunderbird 3.  Then, the group, including Lady Penelope take Thunderbird 1 to London.

The Hood lands Thunderbird 2 in Jubilee Gardens, near the London Eye.  They take the Mole and dig a route under the Thames towards the Bank of England, their route cuts the supports of the monorail - causing a disaster.

Meanwhile, Jeff and his boys head directly to London in Thunderbird 3.

Alan arrives in Thunderbird 1 - he lands and uses Thunderbird 4 (the yellow sub) to rescue the monorail car, with help from Tin Tin who secures the line around the monorail, which is then lifted by Thunderbird 1.

Jeff watches his youngest son in action, and is proud of how his handles himself. He lands Thunderbird 3 in Jubilee Gardens next to the other Thunderbirds.

Once the people from the monorail are safe, the Thunderbirds and Lady Penelope go to the Bank of England to stop The Hood.  Lady Penelope, thanks to The Hood's special powers, and Jeff end-up locked in a vault.  Alan, with the help of Tin Tin's use of her own special powers, defeats The Hood.

At a celebratory beach party, Jeff gives International Rescue pins to Fermat, Tin Tin, and Alan - and welcomes Alan officially into the family business.

Thunderbirds is a fun family movie. It always makes me smile whenever I watch it, from the opening animated sequence, to the ending credits theme tune by Busted, "No strings to hold them down," indeed.  Yes, it's a kids movie, and Jeff and the older Tracy sons are basically stuck in Thunderbird 5, completely helpless for the majority of the movie. The movie emphasizes Alan - and shows us his journey from teenager, to full-fledged International Rescue member. Jeff Tracy does come off as an, excuse the expression, bit of an hard-ass, but explanations are given. The Hood hates him because when International Rescue responded to the collapse of his illegal diamond mine - he wasn't rescued, but stranded. Being trapped led him to develop his mental powers. When Alan asks if The Hood's story is true - Jeff tells Alan, yes, it is, and that sometimes you can't save everyone, even though International Rescue saved 600 people that day. Alan then asks, "What was Mom like?" To which Jeff replies, "She was like you." Jeff had been inspired to start International Rescue after his wife was killed in an avalanche.

There are some notable differences from the TV show the movie is based on - one of the most notable is that the International Rescue members, that is, the Tracy boys who pilot the Thunderbird machines call themselves Thunderbirds as well. In the series, their organization was always International Rescue, the machines were Thunderbirds, and the pilots were the Tracys. Though, as it was a secret who IR was - I could easily see the public also calling the pilots Thunderbirds rather than members of International Rescue as they do in the TV show. Also, in the series, Alan is an adult - an astronaut who is also famous as a race car driver (which was almost a hobby for him). And Alan's a competent member of International Rescue, and the pilot of Thunderbird 3 - who splits space monitor duty with John, aboard Thunderbird 5.  Jeff leads his boys from the ground as base commander. And Lady Penelope doesn't wear so much pink. Though I must admit her wardrobe in the film, is fantastic.

Still, even with the shift of focus to Alan, Fermat (a new character for the film), and Tin Tin, the film is fun. It's an excellent family film. And I always enjoy it every time I watch it.

Recommendation:  See It! Especially appropriate for families and pre-teens.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Next Film:  Thunderbirds Are Go

The Three Musketeers

• Title:  The Three Musketeers
• Director:  Stephen Herek
• Date:  1993
• Studio:  Walt Disney Pictures
• Genre:  Adventure
• Cast:  Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris O'Donnell, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry, Rebecca De Mornay, Gabrielle Anwar, Paul McGann
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  NTSC, Region 1

"You go back, and you tell the Cardinal, we will continue to perform our sworn duty, which is to protect the King, and we will use every means in our power to fight him." - Athos

"A remarkable woman - the most beautiful I've ever known, and the deadliest, which would explain my attraction." - Cardinal Richelieu

"D'Artagnan, would you be so kind as to redistribute this wealth? [D'Artagnan looks confused] Throw the coins, man, people are hungry." - Aramis

"This world is an uncertain realm filled with danger, honor undermined by the pursuit of power, freedom sacrificed when the weak are oppressed by the strong, but there are those who oppose these powerful forces, who dedicate their lives to truth, honor, and freedom. Those men are known as Musketeers." - the King

Disney's The Three Musketeers is a fun, adventurous, romp. Although there are lines here and there referring to the sorry state of the people of France, and the assassination of the previous King of France (the new King's father), it's not dwelt upon - at all. The result is this is a fun, light, frothy adventure film.

With the death of the previous King, and a very young new King on the throne of France, the evil Cardinal Richelieu is posed to take over France, and even aims to become King himself. Richelieu is played with considerable relish, and some chewing of scenery by Tim Curry, so you know it's going to be fun. Richelieu's opening move is to dismantle the Musketeers the King's personal and private guard. Told of the disbanding of the Musketeers, the men ceremonially burn their blue tunics and turn in their swords.

Three Musketeers refuse to give in, however, and become outlaws.

Meanwhile, Chris O'Donnell plays an arrogant young man who is on his way to Paris to join the Musketeers like his father. He gets into a duel with Girard, who believes he wronged his sister. The duel is, however, swiftly broken up and the young man, D'Artagnan, heads to Paris. Upon arriving he find a man in the destroyed former HQ of the Musketeers. Assuming the HQ has merely been moved, he asks for the new location. D'Artagnan learns that the Musketeers have been disbanded. He manages to get Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, upset with him and ends up with appointments for duels with each of them - at 12:00, 1:00, and 2:00, respectively.

When he arrives, late, for his duel with Athos, he meets the other Musketeers as well. The three are surprised to learn D'Artagnan has arranged duels with them all. And D'Artagnan is shocked to learn the three men he's agreed to fight are Musketeers. He finds no joy in killing a Musketeer. But there will be no killing - the Cardinal's guards attack and the four men fight back. The Three Musketeers are surprised by the young D'Artagnan's skill. They defeat the first group of the Cardinal's guards, then another group attacks. Athos urges D'Artagnan to leave and go home.

D'Artagnan, doesn't leave, gets separated from the group and is captured. But he frees himself from the dungeons and hears the Cardinal meet Mi Lady D'Winter - and hears their entire plan. Richelieu plans to betray France to England by signing a treaty with Lord Buckingham - his payment for this will be the throne of France. Mi Lady D'Winter will carry his terms, and the treaty to Calais. Somehow, though he hears the entire plan, D'Artagnan doesn't see Mi Lady D'Winter, or forgets who she is when he meets her later.

The Three Musketeers rescue D'Artagnan from the chopping block - literally, and they escape in the Cardinal's own coach. The four drink the Cardinal's wine, eat his food, and give his coin to the poor as they leave Paris. D'Artagnan tells the Musketeers of Richelieu's plot - and the Musketeers realize that if they can stop the spy and get the treaty, they will be able to prove Richelieu's a traitor, as well as saving France. Unfortunately, the Cardinal knows that D'Artagnan knows about his plot - he orders a 1000 gold coin bounty on the heads of him and the Musketeers. This makes getting to Calais difficult.

To make their travel less obvious, and to double the chances of finding the spy - the four split into two groups. Athos and D'Artagnan are attacked by bounty hunters. D'Artagnan offers to stay with Athos (until the bitter end, because they are outnumbered by men with guns, or at least, muskets), but Athos orders him to go on to Calais, knowing that finding the spy, stopping Richelieu and rescuing the King are more important than a single Musketeer's life.

D'Artagnan takes the surviving horse and heads off but eventually falls asleep and falls off his horse. He's picked up by a woman in a carriage - a woman he doesn't recognize. She's Mi Lady D'Winter. They go to the ship for her meeting with Buckingham. But Porthos and Aramis have reached the ship first, and have knocked out or killed the crew. The Musketeers end-up with the treaty, and D'Artagnan is again, rescued. Mi Lady D'Winter turns out to be Sabine - Athos wife, whom he kicked out and thought dead. Athos had regretted his decision to kick out his wife (he thought her an enemy of France and a murderer, she professed her innocence, he exiled her anyway.)

The next morning she's to be executed. Athos had tried to get her to tell him the rest of Richelieu's plan, but she refuses. At the execution, Athos stops the ax-man. Sabine reveals that Richelieu plans to have the King assassinated at his birthday celebration, that Friday. She forgives Athos for not believing in her all those years ago, then kills herself by jumping off a cliff.

The Musketeers and D'Artagnan rush to Paris, leaving "All for one and One for All" markers everywhere in their wake. At the birthday celebration, the four try, desperately, to find the assassin. He gets a shot off, misses, and the plaza fills with Cardinal's guards and Musketeers. D'Artagnan, meanwhile fights the assassin on a nearby rooftop. The battle moves inside as Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan, try to find and rescue the King and Queen from the Cardinal. They succeed, the Cardinal is captured, and the King admits D'Artgnan into the Musketeers.

Again, this is fun, light, adventure film. There's no serious violence. No one gets killed. The good guys win and the bad guys lose. In the middle there's lots, and lots, of sword-fighting to enjoy - as well as chases. The film's score is excellent, and the cast is good - if a bit young. The filming is gorgeous - and especially the greens just pop off the screen. The whole film has a very storybook quality to it. It's highly enjoyable, and not too deep. I recommend this, especially for families.

Recommendation:  See it!

Rating:  Four Stars

Next Film:  Thunderbirds