MovieChat Forums > The Mask of Zorro (1998) Discussion > In this age of superhero and comic book ...

In this age of superhero and comic book movies...


Why is nobody remaking Zorro yet?!

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Not enough CGI needed. ;)

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I'm half joking. But, seriously, usually at least 9 out of the top 10 box office winners depend on tons of CGI. Maybe if they would take Zorro over the top battling 6 guys all at the exact same time, they'd have to CGI the sword fights. They could also put him in space and that would take a lot of CGI. "The Universe of Zorro" set it space. That's how they could do it. He gets trapped in a frozen mine in the 1800s, wakes up and is the last known human to have sword fighting skills needed to defeat a race of enslaving Zorkons that haven taken the moon and zorro must go up there to defeat them.

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Lol. This is the funniest Zorro plot ever. I somehow doubt it would bomb in today's movie market.

Seriously though, Zorro can be made in the vein of Kingsman which is a comicbook movie and while of course still using lots of CGI but not in the kind of Avengers or Guardian of the Galaxy school of CGI.

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I know it is MY personal problem, but I'm kinda burnt out on the over the top EVERYTHING movies. I enjoyed the kinda over the top of the first kingsmen, but even just the trailer for the new one... SO completely unrealistically over the top FOR ME. I don't even want to see it.

The thing I LOVED about most of the Zorro flicks is the realism. Sure, it pushed it a little, but most were live wired stunts at least.

I JUST watched the 1974 musketeer movies again, and although they were very well done in thier time, this Zorro film kinds blows them away with the quality of the sword fights, which I beleive were 99% real live (obvious movie cuts and some safety tricks.

I don't wanna see a CGI'd Zorro, just another REAL one, REAL fights choreographed, LIVE action.
LIVE action used to mean "LIVE" action, didn't it? With Guardians (fun as it is) and new Kingsmen and most modern actin flicks, it's no longer LIVE. Me saddened. :( Oh well, always rewatch this one and the stupid sequel.

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If you want to watch the best sword fight captured in Cinema, watch Zorro with Tyrone Power, from the 40s. Both he and the guy he had to fight learned fencing at very young ages.

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I'll try and find it!

The midpoint sword fight in PRINCESS BRIDE is really well done too.

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I think a non CGI action flick would be received very well right now, exactly because people are sick of the "video game movie" phenomenon. How about Diego Luna (Rogue One) for Zorro?

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Yes, I've seen that too but it really is different if the fencers learned at very young ages. Here's some IMDB trivia on The Mark of Zorro (1940):

-Basil Rathbone, being a well known fencer in his own right, was asked how well Tyrone Power did in their scenes in which stunt doubles were not used. Rathbone responded, "Tyrone Power could fence Errol Flynn into a cocked hat!"

-The famous duel was staged by Hollywood fencing master Fred Cavens. Cavens specialized in staging duels that relied more on actual swordplay rather than the jumping on furniture and leaping from balconies that many film "duels" consisted of up until that point. Cavens' son, Albert Cavens, doubled for Tyrone Power in the fancier parts of the duel (mostly with his back to camera), such as the extended exchange with Esteban ending with Don Diego's sword smashing into the bookcase. Basil Rathbone, a champion fencer in real life, did not care for the saber (the weapon of choice in this film), but nevertheless did all of his own fencing. Fast fencing shots were undercranked to 18 or 20 frames per second (as opposed to the standard 24fps) and all the sound effects were post-synchronized.

(According to his stand-in, Mike Steckler, whom I just saw at a tribute in Los Angeles, Power always did his own stunts, including swordfights. He dueled in Suez, Mississippi Gambler, Son of Fury, and Solomon and Sheba - you can see his face very clearly.)

^^Though I believe he did have a stand in in the Zorro film particularly when he had to smash a glash with his sword. Power learned to fencer

-Rathbone called Power "the most agile man with a sword I've ever faced before a camera."

Added Trivia: Tyrone Power died of a heart attack in 1958 due to a gruelling repeated dueling scene with a heavy broad sword against George Sanders who was an amateur. So he had to repeat every duel scene with Sanders and his stunt double for the film Solomon and Sheba (and was eventually replaced upon his death by Yul Brynner).

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I liked the sword fighting in Scaramouche (1952) between Stewart Granger and Mel Ferrer.

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"the guy"--Basil Rathbone

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So who are we casting? I need names dammit! Gotta get those screen tests set up.

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Pedro Pascal!

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They are. It's gonna be a cyberpunk dystopian re-imagining (Blech!)

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And stars Keanu Reeves as Zorro.

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Probably waiting for nostalgia for this movie to be even greater (maybe for its 25th anniversary in 2023) and for Antonio Banderas to become older so he could be the “Anthony Hopkins” of the film. I just hope they don’t have Zorro train a self-righteous man-hating girl to replace him, include some BLM message, have the plot be about trying to stop a Mexican border wall, or some other cringeworthy forced political agendas.

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I think people already forgot about the mexican border wall.

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Yes. That would make the movie even more ridiculous if they try to push some irrelevant political statement. Haha. Maybe the bad guy has orange skin and wears a red hat.

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Ah you got a point actually! Superhero movies usually depend on how good the villain is. That's why Batman movies recycle Joker again and again, because well he's the most interesting villain.

Zorro, on the other hand, I don't even remember who was the villain lol. If they can cast Donald Trump that would be really cool!

Make Zorro Great Again! MZGA! Mez-gah!

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That's true. After all the idea of a costumed hero sort of originated with Zorro, and I have heard that Bob Kane was inspired by Zorro.

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