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The Four Musketeers
By Charles Cassady Jr.,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Bawdy '70s swashbuckler sequel is slightly more serious.
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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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What's the Story?
Following events in The Three Musketeers, young swordsman d'Artagnan of Gascony (Michael York) and his cohorts Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay) and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), fall victim to the scheming of the French prime minister, Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston), whose plot they foiled in the last movie. Richelieu sends the four to fight in a small-scale civil war to defeat Protestant insurgents against the king and the Catholic Church; Richelieu won't mind if the resourceful quartet get killed in the process. But villainous Milady DeWinter (Faye Dunaway), also humiliated by d'Artagnan, wants more direct revenge. She and her lover Rochefort (Christopher Lee) target the four musketeers and their allies for murder. In a late revelation, the world-weary Athos discloses that Milady is none other than his treacherous ex-wife, who falsely pretended noble birth to marry him.
Is It Any Good?
This follow-up continues the giddy 17th-century joy-ride tone of its predecessor and its sly blend of comedy and action. But there is a slightly more serious effect -- maybe because of the intrusion of war and the sense of real death and loss for the established characters, both heroes and villains. The depiction of Christianity as a corrupting tool, brazenly wielded by the wicked for their schemes (even "good guy" Aramis has a declared intent to go into the priesthood but can never find the time in between dueling and womanizing), is vivid indeed, although the flighty narrative is seldom weighed down very long by excess gravity, except for an execution epilogue.
Producers of the 1974 hit The Three Musketeers shot this sequel back to back. Actually, the plan was for a super-sized movie, covering the entire Alexander Dumas novel The Three Musketeers, but the narrative was split into two parts, and two separate movies were released to the ticket-buying public (and, in a bit of chicanery worthy of Richelieu, this was kept secret from all the movie talent, who only got paid for one film).
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the legacy of the Three Musketeers. What do kids know about them? Where did they learn about them first? Does this movie portray them in a surprising light?
Talk about the effects of watching onscreen violence. How do production values and the tone of a movie make a difference in the viewing experience?
Movie Details
- In theaters: February 26, 1974
- On DVD or streaming: August 12, 1998
- Cast: Charlton Heston , Christopher Lee , Faye Dunaway , Frank Finlay , Michael York , Oliver Reed , Raquel Welch , Richard Chamberlain
- Director: Richard Lester
- Inclusion Information: Latino actors
- Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Adventures , Friendship
- Run time: 106 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- Last updated: June 20, 2023
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