The Legend of Zorro | |
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Directed by | Martin Campbell |
Screenplay by | Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman |
Story by | Roberto OrciAlex Kurtzman Ted Elliott Terry Rossio |
Based on | Zorro by Johnston McCulley |
Produced by | Walter F. Parkes Laurie MacDonald Lloyd Phillips |
Starring | Antonio Banderas Catherine Zeta-Jones Rufus Sewell Nick Chinlund |
Cinematography | Phil Meheux |
Edited by | Stuart Baird |
Music by | James Horner |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing [1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 130 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Spanish |
Budget | $65 million |
Box office | $142.4 million |
The Legend of Zorro is a 2005 American Western swashbuckler film directed by Martin Campbell, produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Lloyd Phillips, with music by James Horner, and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the sequel to 1998's The Mask of Zorro ; Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones reprise their roles as the titular hero and his spouse, Elena, and Rufus Sewell stars as the villain, Count Armand. The film takes place in San Mateo County, California and was shot in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, with second-unit photography in Wellington, New Zealand. [2] The film was theatrically released on October 28, 2005, by Columbia Pictures (instead of TriStar due to Columbia holding the sequel rights to TriStar's pre-1999 film library), and earned $142.4 million on a $65 million budget.
In 1850, California votes on whether to join the United States of America as a state. Zorro, formerly Alejandro Murrieta, now known to the public as Don Alejandro De La Vega, foils a plot to steal the ballots. During the fight with a gunman named Jacob McGivens, he loses his mask, and two Pinkerton agents see his face. Alejandro's marriage with his wife Elena becomes strained after he refuses to stop being Zorro when the election ends. The couple fights and Alejandro moves out. The following day, the Pinkertons confront Elena, who later divorces Alejandro.
The separation and the feeling the people no longer need Zorro take a toll on Alejandro. His childhood guardian, Father Felipe, takes him to a party at the vineyard of French Count Armand. Alejandro discovers Elena is dating Armand, an old friend from her time in Europe. Angrily leaving the party, Alejandro witnesses an explosion near the vineyard and becomes suspicious of Armand. The next day, McGivens leads an attack on Guillermo, a farmer and friend of Alejandro, to seize his land. Zorro rescues Guillermo's wife and son, but Guillermo is killed.
While at Armand's mansion for a date, Elena surreptitiously investigates his secret study, discovering information about a plot involving explosives and a group called Orbis Unum (One World in Latin). Zorro sneaks into the mansion and overhears Armand discussing his plan to build a railroad through Cortez's land with McGivens.
The next day, Alejandro's son Joaquin sneaks out of a class field trip and hides on McGivens’s cart. Joaquin is caught by McGivens's bandits as they receive a shipment of cargo in a cove. Zorro saves Joaquin from the bandits and sees the cargo consists of bars of soap, with the phrase Orbis Unum printed on the crates. Father Felipe tells Alejandro it is the symbol of the Knights of Aragon, a secret society Armand is a member of, which has secretly ruled Europe for millennia. The Knights have deemed the United States a threat and plan to destroy it.
Alejandro is captured and imprisoned by the Pinkertons. They reveal they confronted Elena with knowledge of his identity as Zorro and blackmailed her into divorcing Alejandro and seducing Armand to learn of the Knights' plans without the aid of Zorro. Because California is not yet a U.S. state, they cannot search Armand's home themselves. Joaquin frees Alejandro from captivity.
At Armand's mansion, Zorro finds Elena. They spy on Armand as he gives a speech to the Knights, revealing the soap bars contain an ingredient for nitroglycerin. The vineyard is a cover for the production of the weapon, which will be given to the Confederate army, with the help of its colonel Beauregard, to launch a sneak attack on Washington, D.C., and destroy the Union. Zorro and Elena reconcile while he prepares to destroy the train carrying the explosives. McGivens arrives at Felipe's church to look for Zorro. Unable to find him, he shoots Felipe and kidnaps Joaquin. Armand discovers Elena's deception and takes her hostage with Joaquin after killing the Pinkertons. Zorro is captured and unmasked in front of his son. Armand takes Joaquin and Elena away on the train and orders McGivens to kill Alejandro. Felipe, saved from the bullet by the cross he wears, rescues Alejandro, who kills McGivens.
Zorro catches up with the train by riding his horse and fights Armand. Elena helps Joaquin escape, then fights Armand's henchman Ferroq and throws him from the train with a bottle of nitro near Beauregard at their prearranged meeting point, killing them all. Further along the tracks, the governor prepares to sign the bill to make California a Union state. Joaquin rides Tornado, Zorro's horse, off the train and diverts it onto another track, away from the bill signing ceremony. Zorro sees the track as a dead-end, ties Armand to the engine, and escapes with Elena. The train crashes, setting off the nitroglycerin and killing Armand.
The governor signs the bill, and California becomes the 31st U.S. state. Alejandro remarries Elena and apologizes to Joaquin for his secrecy, recognizing Zorro's identity should be a family secret. With Elena's support, Zorro rides off on Tornado to his next mission.
The Legend of Zorro: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
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Film score by | ||||
Released | October 25, 2005 | |||
Recorded | 2004–2005 | |||
Length | 75:34 | |||
Label | Sony | |||
James Horner chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
SoundtrackNet |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Collecting the Ballots" | 3:27 |
2. | "Stolen Votes" | 6:31 |
3. | "To the Governor's... And Then Elena" | 4:05 |
4. | "This Is Who I Am" | 3:05 |
5. | "Classroom Justice" | 1:50 |
6. | "The Cortez Ranch" | 6:35 |
7. | "A Proposal with Pearls / Perilous Times" | 3:58 |
8. | "Joaquin's Capture and Zorro's Rescue" | 5:00 |
9. | "Jailbreak / Reunited" | 5:36 |
10. | "A Dinner of Pigeon / Setting the Explosives" | 5:04 |
11. | "Mad Dash / Zorro Unmasked" | 3:20 |
12. | "Just One Drop of Nitro" | 2:40 |
13. | "The Train" | 11:11 |
14. | "Statehood Proclaimed" | 5:00 |
15. | "My Family Is My Life..." | 8:14 |
The Legend of Zorro currently holds a rating of 47 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 33 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [3] On Rotten Tomatoes, 28% of 141 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critics consensus states, "Zorro can survive a lot of things, but it looks like he can't survive marriage". [4] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. [5]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a below-average review, awarding it one and a half out of four stars, commenting that "of all of the possible ideas about how to handle the Elena character, this movie has assembled the worst ones." [6] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave The Legend of Zorro two out of four stars, saying that "the action is routine", "the chemistry between the two leads, which was one of the highlights of The Mask of Zorro , has evaporated during the intervening years", and that the movie "fails to recapture the pleasure offered by The Mask of Zorro." [7]
Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com praised the film, calling it "entertaining, bold, and self-effacing at once", noting the civic and parental questions it raises. [8] Slate Magazine critic David Edelstein also praised the film, in particular the action scenes, villains, and chemistry between Banderas and Zeta-Jones. [9] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film was "watchable – not remotely enjoyable, but watchable." [10] Nathan Rabin of The Onion 's A.V. Club gave the film a lukewarm review, saying that "director Martin Campbell doles out action sequences stingily", and added that "The Legend of Zorro still feels like a half-hearted shrug of a sequel." [11] Brian Lowry of Variety said that The Legend of Zorro is "considerably less charming than The Mask of Zorro", but added that the film "gets by mostly on dazzling stunt work and the pleasure of seeing its dashing and glamorous leads back in cape and gown." [12] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly awarded the film a "B−" score. Schwarzbaum said that "too many scenes emphasize gross butchery over the elegance of the blade", but added that the film is "well-oiled" and praised the "fancy fight sequences". [13]
Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post reacted negatively, calling The Legend of Zorro "a waste of talent, time, and money" and "stupid and boring". [14] Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle was also not impressed, remarking that "there are precious few things for a Zorro fan – or a film fan, for that matter – not to loathe about The Legend of Zorro." [15] [16] The film did reasonably well at the box office, grossing $142,400,065 internationally, but did not match the success of its predecessor. [17]
The film was released on DVD and VHS on January 31, 2006. It was later released on Blu-ray on December 11, 2007.[ citation needed ]
In June 2019, Quentin Tarantino had picked Jerrod Carmichael to co-write a film adaptation based on his crossover comic book series, Django/Zorro which was a crossover with Django Unchained . [18] Tarantino and Jamie Foxx have both expressed interest in having Antonio Banderas reprise his role as Zorro from The Mask of Zorro and The Legend of Zorro in the film in addition to Foxx returning as Django Freeman. [19] In a 2022 interview with GQ, Carmichael revealed that the film had been cancelled. [20]
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American filmmaker. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue often with profanity, and references to popular culture.
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera, better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Goya Award, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award.
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante that defends the commoners and Indigenous peoples of California against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other villains. His signature all-black costume includes a cape, a hat known as a sombrero cordobés, and a mask covering the upper half of his face.
The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American Western swashbuckler film based on the fictional character Zorro by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stuart Wilson. The film features the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega (Hopkins), escaping from prison to find his long-lost daughter (Zeta-Jones) and avenge the death of his wife at the hands of the corrupt governor Rafael Montero (Wilson). He is aided by his successor (Banderas), who is pursuing his own vendetta against the governor's right-hand man while falling in love with de la Vega's daughter.
Martin Campbell is a New Zealand film and television director, based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his works in the action and thriller film genres, including the James Bond films GoldenEye (1995) and Casino Royale (2006), The Mask of Zorro (1998) and its sequel The Legend of Zorro (2005), Vertical Limit (2000), and The Foreigner (2017). Earlier in his career, he directed the critically-acclaimed BBC drama serial Edge of Darkness (1985), which earned him a British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. He later directed the 2010 theatrical film adaptation of the serial.
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The Mark of Zorro is a 1920 American silent Western romance film starring Douglas Fairbanks and Noah Beery. This genre-defining swashbuckler adventure was the first movie version of The Mark of Zorro. Based on the 1919 story The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley, which introduced the masked hero, Zorro, the screenplay was adapted by Fairbanks and Eugene Miller.
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Zorro is an American action-adventure Western television series produced by Walt Disney Productions and starring Guy Williams. Based on the Zorro character created by Johnston McCulley in his 1919 novella, the series premiered on October 10, 1957, on ABC. The final network broadcast was July 2, 1959. Seventy-eight episodes were produced, and four hour-long specials were aired on the Walt Disney anthology series between October 30, 1960, and April 2, 1961.
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Zorro is an American Western superhero television series featuring Duncan Regehr as the character of Zorro. Regehr portrayed the fearless Spanish hero and fencer on The Family Channel from 1990 to 1993. The series was shot entirely in Madrid, Spain and produced by New World Television (U.S.), The Family Channel (U.S.), Ellipse Programme of Canal Plus (France), Beta TV (Germany), and RAI (Italy). 88 episodes of the series were produced, Raymond Austin directed 55 episodes and produced 37. There were 10 more episodes made than the first Zorro television series, which was produced by Disney in the late 1950s.
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