The Mask of Zorro

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The Mask of Zorro
Image:Mask of zorro.jpg
Directed by	Martin Campbell
Produced by	Doug Claybourne David Foster
Written by	John Eskow Ted Elliott Terry Rossio
Starring	Antonio Banderas Anthony Hopkins Catherine Zeta-Jones Stuart Wilson
Music by	James Horner
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	July 17, 1998
Running time	136 min
Language	English
Budget	$95,000,000.
Followed by	The Legend of Zorro
IMDb profile

The Mask of Zorro (1998) is an American action film directed by Martin Campbell, and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stuart Wilson. In over 80 past cinematic productions of the Zorro character and story, Banderas was the first Spanish actor to ever play the role.

The movie was a huge success. A sequel starring Banderas and Zeta-Jones and directed by Campbell titled The Legend of Zorro was released in 2005, but received mixed reviews, unlike its highly acclaimed predesesor.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Anachronisms 3 Trivia 4 External links

Plot summary

In the early 19th century, the Mexican army is on the verge of liberating its country from Spanish colonial rule. In the area of present day California, the cruel and ruthless Spanish Governor Don Rafael Montero (Wilson) is about to be overthrown by the advancing Mexican Army. In a last ditch effort to trap his arch-nemesis, the masked swordsman Zorro, Montero lays a trap. The trap is thwarted with assistance from the local peasant population who see Zorro as their champion. Particularly helpful were two orphan brothers, Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta. Zorro then lands in front of Montero and cuts a "Z" into his neck as a reminder to never return to California. Calling his faithful black stallion, Tornado, Zorro rides up into the sunset and waves his sword into the sky in front of the cheering populace.

However, Montero is able to surmise that Zorro is really Don Diego De la Vega (Hopkins), a Spanish noble living in California whom the governor thought to be his ally. Montero attempts to arrest Diego at his home later that evening. In the ensuing fight, Diego's wife is killed, his house is burned and his infant daughter, Elena, is taken by Montero to be raised as his own.

Diego remains imprisoned for the next twenty years until the day Montero returns to California and comes looking for him. Diego seizes an opportunity to escape from prison, intent on killing Montero at the first possible chance, but retreats when he sees Montero has brought Elena (Zeta-Jones), now a beautiful young lady, with him to California.

Diego soon encounters a now-grown Alejandro Murrieta (Banderas), who has grown up to be a drunken, clumsy bandit; he is bitter over the recent murder of his brother by a sadistic American Army Captain, Harrison Love. Diego recruits and trains him to become his successor. After becoming a better swordsman, Alejandro, dressed in a make-shift Zorro costume, steals a black stallion that resembles the original Zorro's horse, Tornado, but Diego scolds Alejandro for this; he claims that Zorro was a servant of the people, not a thief. Diego then trains Alejandro to be a gentlemen for his next mission, which both agree "is going to take a lot of work."

Posing as a visiting Spanish nobleman, Alejandro infiltrates Montero's inner circle. He learns that Montero has been operating a secret gold mine known as El Dorado with the aid of Love, using the peasants and petty criminals as slave labor. His goal is to buy California from Mexico (using gold that really already belongs to Mexico) and establish himself as California's leader.

Diego then passes the mask of Zorro to Alejandro (along with the rest of the costume) and sends him to Montero's mansion to steal the map leading to the gold mine. At the mansion, Zorro succeeds in stealing the map and fights off Montero, Love, and all of the guards. As he escapes, he is confronted by Elena, who attempts to retrieve the map for her "father." They engage in a sword fight, but Elena is defeated by Zorro when he cuts off her dress. Zorro is then pursued by Montero's soldiers as he makes his escape, but he knocks all the soldiers off their horses and escapes on his horse, the new Tornado.

Diego then convinces Elena that she is his daughter, not Montero's, and the two go to the gold mine to assist Zorro. In the ensuing battle, Zorro fights Love while Diego faces Montero and Elena frees the captive workers. In the end, Zorro impales Love with the Captain's own sword and Diego causes Montero to fall off a cliff, (attached to a cart of gold,) where he falls to his death. The mine is then destroyed by explosives, but Zorro manages to get all the slaves away to safety. Diego then dies of a gun-shot injury he received during the battle and is given a grand funeral. Alejandro and Elena later marry and have a son. Zorro returns as the defender of California.

Anachronisms

• Montero speaks of Mexico's war with the United States as becoming "costly". However, early in the real war the territories of California quickly fell to U.S. forces and Montero would have had little time to concoct and implement such a grandiose plan. Montero could have alluded to Mexico's earlier war with the Republic of Texas that lasted much longer and would have fit better into the plot and chronology of the movie. This would explain the peaceful presence of a U.S. Officer on Mexican soil as America would not yet have entered the war and given time for Zorro to help America annex California in the second film.

• The Cavalry uniform Harrison Love wears was not used until the 1870s. Also, the cattlemen's rifle he uses early in the movie was not created until the 1860s. U.S. Army Cavalry were still using flintlock carbines and wearing shakos at this point in history.

• Alejandro tells Montero that he came to Mexico via Paris, Lisbon, and San Francisco. In 1841, San Francisco was still Yerba Buena. The name change didn't occur until January, 1847.

Trivia

• Diego used the name Bernardo when posing as the new Zorro's servant. In the books, Diego had a mute servant named Bernaro.
• Zorro is known for being an inspiration for Batman. Ironically enough this movie has many similarities to the tv show Batman Beyond, a show which features an elder Bruce Wayne passing on his knowledge and skills onto Terry McGinnis who is his apprentice. Both this show and the movie have to do with a legendary figure passing on his title to his next successor. All the characters have also lost loved ones. For the Zorros, Diego's wife was murdered, his daughter kidnapped and Murriette's brother was killed. As for the Batmans, Bruce lost his parents and Terry lost his father.

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