The Three Musketeers [3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy]

Alexandre Dumas' classic story The Three Musketeers has been the subject of a handful of movies over the years, but this 2011 film is a unique blend of action, adventure, slapstick, and the absurd. The basic story hasn't changed: the three musketeers Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Aramis (Luke Evans), and Porthos (Ray Stevenson) have retired and are feeling restless and obsolete until the young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) comes to town and stirs things up by challenging each of them to a duel. D'Artagnan earns their grudging respect with his swordsmanship, and the four men eventually band together to expose a plot by Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz), the double-crossing Milady (Milla Jovovich), and the Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) that reaches from France to England and back again. What's new in this version of the story is the presence of flying war machines crafted from plans stolen from da Vinci's vault. The airborne crafts are exquisite in their detail and figure prominently in the film, but their very presence adds an almost absurdist new feel to the already slapstickish picture. The costuming is absolutely gorgeous--it blends a traditional opulence with just enough modern tailoring and detailing to endow these swashbuckling characters with a debonair, yet somehow rock-star coolness that makes them irresistible. Milady's gowns are spectacular, and Jovovich deserves special mention both for performing the first-ever female sword fight in full period dress and for portraying entirely convincingly the highly intelligent, conniving Milady. The fencing throughout the film is superb and there's nary a moment when the action lags. Bonus features include an optional audio commentary; a 21-minute cast and crew featurette; an "achieving the look" segment about costuming, production design, and location; a "17th-century action" discussion of fencing, air travel, the ship props, and the use of green-screen special effects in the film; and 12 deleted and extended scenes. --Tami Horiuchi