As a boy, D'Artagnan watches his parents murdered by Febre, a ruthless swordsman in the service of Cardinal Richelieu, and he survives a fight that leaves Febre scarred and blind in one eye. Raised by Planchet, a former musketeer, the young man reaches Paris years later to find the king's guard disbanded on the cardinal's orders. Richelieu is quietly undermining Louis XIII and stirring rivalry between France, England and Spain, and D'Artagnan sets out to win back the musketeers, becoming entangled in court plots and a personal quest for revenge.

How it was made

Gene Quintano sold his script in 1992 to a producer linked to Mark Damon for 750,000 dollars, and he hoped to direct the project, then called D'Artagnan, himself. It was one of several Three Musketeers adaptations in development at the time. The film reshapes Alexandre Dumas's novel into a revenge story closer to modern action cinema, scaling back political machinations and inventing a new villain, Febre, with psychopathic traits. Peter Hyams directed and also served as cinematographer. Shooting took place in Paris from 5 July to 9 August 2000, in English, French, German and Spanish.

Reception and legacy

The Musketeer opened in the United States on 7 September 2001, days before the September 11 attacks. It was moderately successful in North America but performed poorly elsewhere, and critics gave it largely negative reviews. Its legacy is modest: the Gers department in France recognizes it as the first Musketeers adaptation to use authentic scenery from the region where the historical d'Artagnan came from. A sequel, D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers, followed in early 2005.

Stills

Trailer

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Trivia

Scenery from the Gers

The Gers department in France recognizes it as the first adaptation of the novel to incorporate authentic scenery from the home region of the historical d'Artagnan.

A Tsui Hark regular

Xin-Xin Xiong, a regular actor of Tsui Hark, works in the film as a stunt choreographer and performer.

A script sold in 1992

Gene Quintano sold his script in 1992 for 750,000 dollars and wanted to direct the film himself.

More films by Peter Hyams

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Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.