Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Forgotten Films: On Guard

Couldn't find a trailer for this one.

Okay, I'm feeling quite intellectual this evening because I've watched a movie with subtitles. It was also the most entertaining movie I've seen in a long time. When it comes to buckling swashes, this French movie makes The Mask of Zorro look like a pathetic wannbe.

One thing I really liked was the filming of the action scenes. Nobody's jumping around on trampolines or doing wire work. The fencing looks like actual fencing, without any of the MTV-inspired quick cutting that ruined most of the action scenes in movies like Gladiator for me.

The cinematograpy is excellent. The movie glows, and the scenery is beautiful. I wish I'd seen this movie in a theater.

As for the plot, it's the old revenge story, with action that hardly ever lets up. Everybody in the movie seems to be having a grand time, and there's plenty of humor mixed into the action. Wit and energy: what a concept!

Why doesn't Hollywood make movies like this anymore? Probably because it's "old-fashioned." Maybe I enjoyed it so much because I'm an old poop.

4 comments:

Todd Mason said...

Cool. Dumas, after all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r97Op5U2K8s for trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTo6DmgX9ns for the first of the entire film in pieces...

pattinase (abbott) said...

They don't make most kinds of movies anymore.

Jerry House said...

Since when did geezers become old poops?

Fred Blosser said...

Pretty good movie based on a novel by Paul Feval that's apparently a classic in France. For me, it didn't match the panache of the old U.S. classics, in part because it seemed to be too self-aware and in part because the actors were no match for Fairbanks Jr. and sr., Flynn, Power, Rathbone, and Sanders.