Harry takes a close look at D'ARTAGNAN

Hey folks, Harry here with a look at something... something that could possibly turn out to be quite special. It is a project called "D'Artagnan" and Peter Hyam has been shooting it all over Europe for quite some time now and well.... I know you have your doubts about Peter, but well... let me fill you in...

Sure, Peter has made some less than wonderful movies, but he's also delivered the goods wonderfully as well. And you have to wonder... What makes a director that we know from their past work can be good, fall short? Well, Peter hasn't had a lot of great scripts land in his lap, and when he has had good material... inevitably there are the... studio entanglements that compromise the film even further. And then there are the budget issues and all the other problems that filmmakers must battle besides the regular film battles.

"D'Artagnan" is an interesting departure for him. First, it is a period piece set in the world of the THREE MUSKETEERS and the fourth in training. The first area of interest to me is the fact that the film is not attached with a studio and is a $60 million independent film where Peter has the final say.

Not only that, but Peter got Xin Xin Xiong, Jet Li's co-star from the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series.... on board to handle and stage the fight choreography... the idea was to bring that Hong Kong style energy to the swordfights while keeping the swordfighting traditionally European, but with the gymnastic athletic flair of say those ONCE UPON A TIME films.

Then, Peter managed to assemble a cast of talented actors (and not stars) like: Tim Roth (that one-eyed guy), Stephen Rea (Richelieu), Mena Suvari (D'artagnan's babe), Nick Moran (Aramis), Catherine Deneuve (Queen of France), Jeremy Clyde (Lord Buckingham), Justin Chambers (D'Artagnan), Jan Gregor Kremp (Athos), Stephen Speirs (Porthos), Jean-Pierre Castaldi (Planchet) and David Schofield (Rochefort).

All of them... actors. His title character? Relatively unknown actor... Justin Chambers, who was quite wonderful in Barry Levinson's LIBERTY HEIGHTS... a film that was mostly overlooked last year, but was fantastic. Justin was really outstanding in that film, and now Peter has given him the lead role in a sweeping adventurous epic. Can Justin do it? Does he have a script that will let him?

To shoot the film they've gone from Cassaigne Castle in France to Belgium to Luxembourg to all over the place.... numerous castles throughout France... Tons of extras... And ya have to be wondering if all of this is going to waste? Because... it lays on the script. We know that Peter Hyams shoots pretty films, but he as most directors can be only as good as their script.

In this case, Peter has finally scored. The script for D'ARTAGNAN isn't good or adequate... it is a wonderful script. I'm familiar inside and out with the other THREE/FOUR MUSKETEERS films... even THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK crossover films... Generally people hold that the Richard Lester's films are the best versions of Dumas' original tales... personally as much as I love those, I've been even more partial to the old Gene Kelly THREE MUSKETEERS with Vincent Price and Lana Turner...

Now the screenplay by Gene Quintano is not a direct adaptation from Dumas' novel... I'd say it is more of an... ELSEWORLD version... You know, that DC Comics Imprint, that allows Batman to be born on Krypton... or Punisher to fight Kid Flash? Or Lobo vs Morpheus? Well, this isn't that big of a departure. The tone is kept, there is still that sense of adventure... of derring-do... But in addition there is also a sense of excitement and personal loss even more intense than we've seen before.

For example... You know how in every version of THE THREE MUSKETEERS in history, Planchet has always been this bumbling fool... an idiot.... comedy relief? Well, in this version he was D'Artagnan's father's instructor when he was a Musketeer... and when fate places young D'Artagnan in Planchet's care.... like Alfred and Bruce Wayne... this young bitter angry and revenge hungry boy trains until he becomes a 'swashbuckling superhero'. Now... the way I'm painting it sounds corny, but this script has no tongue in cheek... it is a straight up adventure.

In this film, we will seee an amazing amount of swordplay and fighting like you haven't seen before.

I know this because I've seen some of this with my own eyes... No, I was not 'flown' anywhere.... but I did see some footage here in Austin, no directors or producers present... just me and myself... and folks... this stuff looks great.

First off the fighting is exciting as hell. On the footage I saw there was a carriage top sword fight that just blew me away. You know how in Sleepy Hollow, the headless horseman is on that carriage top with Depp? Well, in this racing carriage.... the two battlers are having to dodge (leap over, fall under, leap frog) tree branches as though they were sword fighting will going through the Death Star Trench. Deadly objects all over the place.... sort of like the Speeder Bike chase in Jedi, but no lasers or floating technology... just an intense sense of speed and violence.

The fight scenes are choreographed in Long long takes, with the camera pulled back... very much like the manner Jackie Chan fights are shot... or Jet Li fights in Hong Kong cinema. The ladder sword fight sequence looks amazing... and then there was the barrel sword fight that looked extremely painful.

Because of the locations, the sets are lavish to an insane degree, and with the rich film colors and dark dark blacks... The film is not set in the world of pastels, but rich dark colors. Peter has finally got a film that doesn't rely on a big ACTION star.... doesn't have GIGANTIC CGI EFFECTS and is instead the sort of action with real actors that he did with OUTLAND.... with the romance of HANOVER STREET... but really, when you get right down to it.... Peter has never made a film even close to this one. This is COMPLETELY NEW TERRITORY for him. Here he has a film that he doesn't have notes from studio execs on.... a film where he wasn't told how to cast it.... where he doesn't have a huge ego to deal with. And the focus is about telling a story about heroes and villains... but what I love is it is an on-going battle... The bad guys won't be all dying.... neither will the good guys.... Instead, we have an ongoing struggle. I like that.

Filming is complete, and somewhere in some editing room, they are putting it all together. As of yet.... there is no release date. You see... Peter wants to finish the film first.... Oh... and if all goes well we'll hear a David Arnold MUSKETEER score for this puppy!!! How great will that be?

I can't wait for the first trailers to come out. You guys are gonna eat this one up. The damn action is amazing, and if the actors can pull the rest of it off... man, this could be special. Talk atcha later....