Stars: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta Jones, Stuart Wilson, Matt Letscher

Director: Martin Campbell

Summary: Twenty years earlier Don Diego de la Vega had fought Spanish suppression in Alta California. Now he transforms Alejandro into his successor to stop Don Rafael Montero who had taken away his freedom and his precious daughter all those years ago...

Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) recruits Alejandro Murieta (Antonio Banderas) to become his replacement as Zorro, the legendary hero. Together, they infiltrate the circle of Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson), the fiercest of the Spanish tyrants. Armed with his mask, sword, whip and jet-black stallion, Tornado, the new Zorro embarks on a mission to stop Don Rafael's plot to buy California, set right 20 years of wrongs, bring justice to the people ensnared by greed, and win the heart of Elma (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Don Diego's daughter.

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An inevitable, if hardly essential, double pack, this bringing together of both The Mask of Zorroand The Legend of Zorrois a fine example of where a franchise can go wrong.

In this case, before it went wrong though, it all went very, very right. The joyful original film is a fabulous, old-fashioned romp, that sees Antonio Banderas becoming the classic superhero. He gets recruited by Anthony Hopkins' Don Diego de la Vega, and takes on the evil Don Raphael. There's romance to, in the pleasant shape of Catherine Zeta Jones, who happily gives as good as she gets. And the end result is a great movie, that's stood the test of time well thus far. It's one that'll easily stand up to repeated viewings, too.

So what went wrong with the sequel? Reuniting Banderas and Zeta Jones, and set enough time after the first film for the two of them to have become parents, Legend of Zorrosimply doesn't work. Sure, it has its moments, but compared to the original, they're few and far between. Instead, the action is more laboured, the film gets bogged down in irrelevancies, and most damning of all, the fun factor that so defined the first outing has been severely diluted.

Which makes for an odd double pack. It's good value for Zorro devotees of course, but for the vast majority who warmed to Banderas' take on the classic hero, a wiser investment would be to pick up a copy of The Mask Of Zorroby itself, and simply leave it at that.--Simon Brew

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Unmasking Of Zorro Documentary, Alternate Ending, Storyboards, Deleted Scene The Wallet, Music Video, Directors Commentary, Theatrical Trailer, Filmographies, Photo Gallery
Subtitles:	Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish
Year:	1998
Release Date:	October 25, 1999
Runtime:	132 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C D R 96102
Keywords:	Action, General, Wide, Screen, Mask, Zorro, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure