The Man In The Iron Mask 4K review by Bobby Blakey
Leonardo Dicaprio is a brilliant actor transitioning from a child star to an Oscar winner. He has an insanely impressive filmography with some of his best performances teaming up with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. In 1998 he teamed up with We Were Soldiers and Secretariat director Randll Wallace for the film The Man In The Iron Mask. The film features an impressive cast including Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu, and Gabriel Byrne. Now Shout Factory is giving the film the 4K treatment for the first time ever.
The Man In the Iron Mask follows Louis XIII, King of France, who had a son, Louis, that succeeded his father to the throne. But, known to very few, the heir had a twin brother, Philippe, hidden away after birth and forced to languish in prison, his identity unknown behind an iron mask. His brother, now grown and King Louis XIV, proved to be both corrupt and a tyrant. Louis sends Athos’ son, Raoul off to certain death in war, so that he could have his woman for himself. Athos, together with two of the other Musketeers, Porthos and Aramis, swear revenge. Only D’Artagnan remains loyal to the crown, but will he join his former compatriots to free Philippe from prison, kill the king, and put Philippe on the throne in his place?
Over the years there have been many takes on the famed Alexander Dumas famed Three Musketeers novels. This particular one is loosely based on the third book in the series The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later which is the later years after the original Musketeers are all retired far from their glory. This opens the door to something fun, new and different at the time when I original saw it in theaters. Since I have never actually read the series this whole story felt fresh and new to me, and I loved it. Getting to revisit for the first time in some awhile, it still holds up well.
The entire cast is fantastic in their roles with DiCaprio having the biggest challenge juggling both roles. When he is Louis, he is easy to hate and comes across as creepy and a total ass in the best way for the role. When he is Philippe you see innocence in his eyes and despair trying to find his way and why he was treated in such a way. All of the men bringing the famed musketeers to life are great bringing some fun personas to each of them. Seeing their lives after the life of adventure and where they are at this point is fun new direction even if it does deviate from the book.
The story is pretty simple with some great revelations and twists if you don’t already know the story. It hits all the right marks bringing in humor, pain, action and adventure all wrapped in a film that works well doing what it set out to do. The costumes, sets and overall locale looks great fully immersing you into the time. I still loved this movie as much as the first time and the new 4K transfer looks great.
In addition to the film, this release offers up bonus content including commentaries, trailer, interviews, featurettes and more. Grab your copy of The Man In The Iron Mask Collector’s Edition 4K home available now from Shout Factory.
For more information head over to www.shoutfactory.com