
            Shouting "Roma victor!" as his forces attack, General Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe) leads his Roman legions to victory against Germanic barbarians in the year 180 A.D., ending a prolonged war and earning the esteem of elderly Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). The emperor's son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and daughter Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) have been summoned to join the campaign because Marcus Aurelius is about to name his successor. Commodus, confident he'll be chosen, is friendly to Maximus, calling him "brother." Lucilla and Maximus apparently had a romantic involvement at some time in the past; Commodus is concerned that it will trouble her to see him again. (Lucilla has since married, had a son, and been widowed.) Marcus tells Lucilla he asked her to come because her brother, who's very fond of her, will soon need her more than ever.Marcus appoints the morally-upstanding Maximus as his successor, with the understanding that Maximus will eventually restore the Roman Republic by returning power to the senate. Maximus, longing to go home to his wife and son, tries to decline the honor, but Marcus Aurelius insists that not wanting the job makes Maximus the best man for it. At the end of a wrenching interview in which Commodus accuses his father of not recognizing his virtues and never loving him, Commodus confesses that all he ever wanted was his father's love and approval -- and then he smothers him.Declaring himself emperor, Commodus asks Maximus for his loyalty, which Maximus, realizing Commodus' involvement in Marcus Aurelius's death, refuses. Commodus orders Maximus arrested and executed and dispatches Praetorian guards to murder Maximus's wife (Giannina Facio) and young son (Giorgio Cantarini). Maximus narrowly escapes his execution and races home only to discover his family's charred and crucified bodies in the smoldering ruins of his villa. After burying his wife and son, a grieving Maximus succumbs to exhaustion and collapses on their graves.Slave traders find Maximus and take him to Zucchabar, a rugged province in North Africa, where he is purchased by Proximo (Oliver Reed), the head of a gladiator school. Distraught and nihilistic over the death of his family and betrayal by his empire, Maximus initially refuses to fight, but as he defends himself in the arena his formidable combat skills lead to a rise in popularity with the audience. As he trains and fights further, Maximus befriends Hagen (Ralf Moeller), a Germanic barbarian, and Juba (Djimon Hounsou), a Numidian hunter. Juba becomes a close friend and confidant of the grieving Maximus, and the two speak frequently of the afterlife and Maximus' eventual reunification with his family.In Rome, Commodus reopens the gladiatorial games to commemorate his father's death, declaring 150 days of celebration in a bid to win the affections of the Roman populace. Proximo's company of gladiators is hired to participate. Proximo tells Maximus that his abilities as a fighter won't be enough in Rome; he needs to win the affections of the audience. Maximus at first doesn't like the idea of playing to the crowd, but Proximo explains that it might save his life, revealing that he himself used to be a gladiator, and after gaining popularity was freed by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius -- he shows Maximus the wooden sword he received at the time. Maximus is incredulous at first ("You knew Marcus Aurelius?"), but then realizes this strategy might get him close enough to Commodus to get his revenge. In a recreation of the Battle of Zama (incorrectly named the Battle of Carthage) at the Colosseum, Maximus leads Proximo's gladiators to decisive victory against a more powerful force, much to the amazement of the crowd. Commodus descends into the arena to meet the victors and is stunned to discover that the leader of Proximo's gladiators is Maximus. The emperor, unable to kill Maximus because of the crowd's roaring approval for him, gives the thumbs-up sign allowing Maximus to live and sulks out of the arena.As the games continue, Commodus pits Maximus against Tigris of Gaul (Sven-Ole Thorsen), Rome's only undefeated gladiator, in an arena surrounded by chained tigers with handlers instructed to target Maximus. Following an intense battle, Maximus narrowly defeats Tigris and awaits Commodus's decision to kill or spare Tigris. Though Commodus votes for death (thumb down), Maximus spares Tigris, deliberately insulting the emperor and garnering the audience's approval. With his bitter enemy now known as "Maximus the Merciful," Commodus becomes more frustrated at his inability to kill Maximus or stop his ascending popularity while Commodus's own popularity shrinks.Following the fight, Maximus meets his former servant Cicero (Tommy Flanagan), who reveals that Maximus's army remains loyal to him. They are camped at the port of Ostia. Lucilla, increasingly fearful of her brother's instability and incestuous desires, forms a plot with Maximus and Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) to reunite Maximus with his army and overthrow Commodus. Commodus, however, learns of his sister's betrayal from her young son Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark) and forces her to reveal the plot by threatening the boy. Praetorian guards immediately storm Proximo's gladiator barracks, battling the gladiators while Maximus escapes. Hagen and Proximo are killed in the siege while Juba and the survivors are imprisoned. Maximus escapes to the city walls only to be ambushed by a cohort of Praetorian guards who use Cicero as bait, killing him as soon as Maximus comes out in the open.Concluding that legends born in the Colosseum must die there, Commodus personally challenges Maximus to a duel in front of a roaring audience. Acknowledging that Maximus's skill exceeds his own, Commodus deliberately stabs Maximus with a stiletto, puncturing his lung, and has the wound concealed beneath the gladiator's armor. In the arena, the two exchange blows before Maximus rips the sword from Commodus' hands. Commodus requests a sword from his guards, but they refuse to lend him their weapons. Maximus drops his own sword, but Commodus pulls a hidden stiletto and renews his attack. Maximus then beats Commodus into submission and kills him with his own stiletto.As Commodus collapses in the now-silent Colosseum, a dying Maximus sees his wife and son in the afterlife. He reaches for them, but is pulled back to reality by the Praetorian prefect Quintus (Tomas Arana), who asks for instructions. Maximus orders the release of Proximo's gladiators and Senator Gracchus, whom he reinstates and instructs to lead the restoration of power to the senate: as Marcus Aurelius intended, Rome will be a republic again. Maximus collapses and Lucilla rushes to his side. After being reassured that her son is safe and Commodus is dead, Maximus dies and wanders into the afterlife to his home and family in the distance. Senator Gracchus and Proximo's gladiators carry his body out of the Colosseum. That night, a newly-freed Juba buries Maximus' two small statues of his wife and son in the Colosseum (in the patch of Maximus' blood), and says that he too will eventually join them, "but not yet."
    

Gladiator


            This desert epic about a Libyan hero who helped his nation fend off an
Italian invasion in 1929. Anthony Quinn stars as Omar Mukhtar, who
organizes Libyan forces to hold off the encroaching Italian troops
under General Rodolfo Graziana (Oliver Reed), who are trying to gain
a foothold on Libyan soil under direct orders from the Italian dictator
Mussolini (Rod Steiger). With the persistence of Mukhtar, the Libyans,
battling the tanks and guns of the Italian army with their Bedouin
troops on horseback, managed to hold off y the Italians for twenty
years, until Mukhtar was finally captured and executed.
    

The Lion of the Desert

The Devils


            
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Return to Lonesome Dove

Treasure Island


            The film begins in an unnamed and war-torn European city in the late 18th century (dubbed "The Age of Reason" in an opening caption), where, amidst explosions and gunfire from a large Turkish army outside the city gates, a fanciful touring stage production of Baron Münchhausen's life and adventures is taking place. Backstage, city official "The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson" (Jonathan Pryce) reinforces the city's commitment to reason (here meaning uniformity and unexceptionality) by ordering the execution of a soldier who had just accomplished a near-superhuman feat of bravery (Sting in a cameo), claiming that his bravery is demoralizing to other soldiers. Not far into the play, an elderly man claiming to be the real Baron interrupts the show, protesting its many inaccuracies. Over the complaints of the audience, the theater company and Jackson, the "real" Baron gains the house's attention and narrates through flashback an account of one of his adventures, of a life-or-death wager with the Grand Turk, where the younger Baron's life is saved only by his amazing luck plus the assistance of his remarkable associates: Berthold (Eric Idle), the world's fastest runner; Adolphus (Charles McKeown), a rifleman with superhuman eyesight; Gustavus (Jack Purvis), who possesses extraordinary hearing, and sufficient lung power to knock down an army by exhaling; and Albrecht (Winston Dennis), a fantastically strong man.When gunfire disrupts the elderly Baron's story, the importance of saving the city eclipses the show. The Baron wanders backstage intending to die, until the exuberantly enthusiastic questioning of Sally Salt (Sarah Polley), the young daughter of the theater company's leader, persuades him to remain living.Insisting that he alone can save the city, the Baron escapes the city's walls in a hot air balloon constructed of women's underwear, accompanied by Sally as a stowaway. The balloon expedition proceeds to the Moon, where the Baron, rejuvenated by the escape, finds his old associate Berthold, but angers the King of the Moon (Robin Williams), who resents the Baron for his romantic past with the Queen of the Moon (Valentina Cortese). A bungled escape from the Moon brings the trio back to (and beneath) the Earth, where the Roman God Vulcan (Oliver Reed) hosts his guests with courtesy and Albrecht is found. The Baron and Vulcan's wife, the Goddess Venus (Uma Thurman), attempt a romantic interlude by waltzing in air, but this cuts short the hospitality and Vulcan expels the now-foursome from his kingdom into the South Seas.Swallowed by an enormous sea creature, the travelers locate Gustavus, Adolphus, and the Baron's trusty horse Bucephalus. The Baron (who again appears elderly after being "expelled from a state of bliss", in his words) struggles with the conflicting goals of heroism and a peaceful death, before deciding to escape by blowing "a modicum of snuff" out into the sea creature's cavernous interior, which causes the sea creature to "sneeze" the heroes out through its whale-like blowhole.Back ashore, the Turkish army is located but the Baron's associates are now too elderly and tired to fight the Turk as in the old days. The Baron lectures them firmly but to no avail, and he storms off intending to surrender to the Turk and to Jackson; his cohorts rally to save both the Baron and the city.During the city's celebratory parade, the Baron is shot dead by Jackson. An emotional public funeral takes place, but the denouement reveals that this is merely the final scene of yet another story the Baron is telling to the same theater-goers who were attending the theater in the beginning of the film. The Baron calls the foregoing "only one of the many occasions on which I met my death" and closes his tale by saying "everyone who had a talent for it lived happily ever after."An ambiguous finale reveals that the city has indeed been saved, even though the events of the battle apparently occurred in a story rather than the film's reality. The Baron rides off on Bucephalus. As the Baron and Bucephalus are bathed in the light of the sun parting through the clouds, they apparently disappear, and the credits roll over a triumphant blast of music.
    

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen


            D'Artagnan (Michael York) and his father (Joss Ackland) engage in an exhausting sparring duel. The father shows his son a signature move, which ends with the point of the sword at his son's chest, and advises to use it in a fight only as a last resort. He gives the boy 15 crowns and a letter to the commander of the King's musketeers, then presents him a sword he and his own father used in the King's service. The young Gascon leaves home on a huge yellow workhorse with his few belongings and a salve his mother advises him to rub into any wounds, and he strikes out for Paris to take his place as a musketeer.As D'Artagnan arrives in Paris he comes upon Rochefort (Christopher Lee), a tall man with a patch over one eye, who makes an offhanded remark to some companions about the newcomer's horse. Anxious to fight at any opportunity, as his father suggested, the young Gascon challenges Rochefort, only to have his sword struck in two. He is knocked out as his new enemy goes to meet an approaching carriage. Rochefort greets the passenger inside--Milady DeWinter (Faye Dunaway)-- and tells her she must go to England to report on the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward). The pair are spies for Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston). D'Artagnan again tries to pick a fight but ends up falling in the mud.Finding the musketeers' headquarters, D'Artagnan awaits an appointment with their commander M. Treville (Georges Wilson). As he makes his way through the indoor training ground, he sees Porthos (Frank Finlay) having his portrait done while Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) watches; outside Treville's office, Athos (Oliver Reed) has a shoulder wound attended to. Treville reads D'Artagnan's letter and asks to see the familiar sword, which D'Artagnan sheepishly produces; the commander knows the weapon, realizes what has happened and lets him borrow a new one. Unfortunately there is no place in the musketeers for him, Treville says, until he has established his reputation on campaign or in killing, but a place in the guard might be suited to him in the meantime. Suddenly D'Artagnan spots Rochefort outside and leaps from the window. . .only to be hoisted back up as he lands on a scaffold. Excusing himself to Treville, he hastily runs from the office and collides with Athos and his wounded shoulder. The musketeer says D'Artagnan needs a lesson in manners, and they agree to duel at the Carmelite Convent at 12:00. Hurrying downstairs to catch up with Rochefort, the Gascon knocks Porthos down, causing a wardrobe malfunction which embarrasses him, so they agree to duel at the Luxembourg at 1:00. Once outside, D'Artagnan mistakenly compromises a lady trying to get Aramis' attention, so the musketeer and intended priest decides to have the young man meet him at 2:00 to settle the matter with swords.At the convent, it turns out that D'Artagnan's other two appointments are with Athos' dueling seconds. Before the duel can begin, however, six of the Cardinal's guards appear and prepare to charge at the musketeers for dueling, which is against the law. D'Artagnan joins the outnumbered threesome, noting that he may not have a tunic, but has the heart of a musketeer. Together they make short order of the guards, and Athos has an opportunity to see that the Gascon is a good swordsman. The remaining two guards surrender, but not before Porthos finds that his hat has been cleaved in two and lifts twenty pistoles from a downed guard to pay the damages (and twenty more to teach them manners). Later Athos explains that the musketeer motto is "one for all, all for one," so each of them gets ten pistoles from the booty, which Athos suggests D'Artagnan use to get lodgings and a servant. He chooses Planchet (Roy Kinnear) for a servant, and takes dingy lodgings at two francs a day with the elderly M. Bonacieux (Spike Milligan) and his wife Constance (Raquel Welch), a clumsy but beautiful younger woman and the dressmaker to Queen Anne of Austria (Geraldine Chaplin).Porthos bets and loses all of their money, so the group enter a tavern; Porthos makes it a point to annoy Aramis and they start to duel, but when D'Artagnan tries to quell the swordplay, Athos pulls him back. The men are creating a distraction while they rustle some much-needed food and drink. D'Artagnan and Planchet soon get into the spirit, passing the pilfered food to Athos, who hides it under his cloak. When they depart, Athos throws a purse to the barkeep, which he secretly filled with salt, they make their escape and fill their bellies with the hard-won food.At the palace, the Cardinal arrives, and locals are paid to wave flags and cheer his coming, as he is despised by many for manipulating the power of the King (Jean-Pierre Cassel) to his own advantage. The King discusses the musketeers' fight with Richelieu's "ruffians," and is worried because the Duke of Buckingham has arrived in France and covets his wife Anne, but Richelieu assures him that she is faithful; in secret he has a plot he is about to set in motion.At night Rochefort and his men break into M. Bonacieux's home while he is in bed with Constance, and prepare to take the couple to the Bastille, but Constance fumbles her way free and returns home and into D'Artagnan's arms. Later she leaves, saying she has to stop somewhere before she continues to the palace and the Queen, and makes him promise not to follow her, but he worries about her safety and trails after her from a distance to discover her meeting with another man. He challenges the interloper, then finds out it is the Duke of Buckingham himself. He helps escort the Duke and Constance to the palace laundry where Buckingham meets with Anne and begs her for a token he can hold until they can be together for good. She gives him a necklace containing twelve diamond studs. Suddenly guards appear and the Duke is outnumbered and in danger of being discovered, but D'Artagnan assists and Planchet brings the other musketeers as well, and they defeat the guards while the Duke makes his escape.At the Bastille, the Cardinal meets with Bonacieux and accuses him of treachery, then upbraids Rochefort for failing to hold onto Constance; Rochefort tells the Cardinal that Anne has given the diamond studs to Buckingham. The Cardinal releases Bonacieux, befriending him with a gift of 100 pistoles to get him to spy on his own wife. At an outing, the Cardinal mentions to the King that he wants to see the queen dance, and they plan a ball in her honor in two weeks' time. Richelieu suggests to the King that she should wear the diamond studs, and he approaches Anne with the request. The Cardinal later gives him a box with two diamond studs inside, and prompts him to count the studs when Anne wears the necklace and question her if they are all not there. He has sent Milady DeWinter to England and, in a tryst with Buckingham while he is wearing the token of Anne's affection, Milady has stolen the two studs the Cardinal has given the King. For the Queen to appear without them will cause her dishonor and may well cost Anne her life.Desperate to get the studs back, the Queen writes a letter to Buckingham and gives it to Constance, who is prepared to entrust it to her husband, but when he mentions that the Cardinal "took my hand and called me friend," she refuses to reveal more, so Bonacieux goes out to fetch Rochefort. D'Artagnan has been listening unseen, and volunteers to take the letter as he loves her and knows how to get to England. He locates the purse of 100 pistoles to use for the trip, but the pair are forced to quickly hide in a wardrobe when Bonacieux arrives with Rochefort and his men; after no trace of the pair is found, they leave. Constance faints and the wardrobe crashes to the ground. D'Artagnan breaks out of the wooden wardrobe, angered by the continued interference of the "inconvenient" Rochefort. Athos later tells the Gascon to avoid the man as he is a dangerous swordsman for the Cardinal. The trio of musketeers agree to help D'Artagnan get the letter to Buckingham and ride out with the agreement that if one falls, the others continue on their way.At a tavern Porthos gets into an argument with a man and, as they duel it out, the others ride on. The man slices into the musketeer's outfit, drawing blood, and Porthos drops to the ground. Later Athos and Aramis are set upon by thieves; Aramis is held at gunpoint, and D'Artagnan and Planchet watch from a distance, shocked, as Athos is cut at the throat in a duel. They continue to the docks to board a ship for England, but have no pass. Rochefort has a signed pass to board, but needs the governor to countersign, so he takes the road to town. On Rochefort's return, D'Artagnan accosts him, and when they recognize each other they fight a rough duel in the dark. Rochefort is wounded by D'Artagnan but not killed, and the Gascon suffers scraped ribs. Planchet nabs the pass, and when the harbor master questions why there are two people with one pass, D'Artagnan notes that he is one person, and Planchet is a servant.An exhausted D'Artagnan arrives in England, having taken six days. Buckingham is ready to hand over the studs but suddenly realizes that two studs are missing and figures out that Milady took them. His jeweler O'Reilly (Frank Finlay) is able to perfectly reproduce the two studs, and Buckingham hands the packet over to D'Artagnan, asking how he can repay him. D'Artagnan notes that they are enemies, but Buckingham offers a handshake and a sword which he accepts. With Planchet at his heels, they manage to get to Paris before the ball starts. At the familiar location of one of his companions' duels, D'Artagnan jumps upon a fresh horse, cutting a rope attached to the pommel, not knowing that two of his fellow musketeers are using the horse to pull Athos out of a well he has fallen into. The musketeers are wounded but recuperating. They realize from the accident with the horse that D'Artagnan has returned successfully and head out to join him at the ball.The Queen arrives on the arm of the King, but she is wearing a pearl necklace and he demands she wear the diamond studs; stalling for time, she says she will send to the palace for them and departs to wait with her dressmaker in hope of being saved. When Constance looks out a balcony window, she upsets a pot of flowers and D'Artagnan immediately knows from the accident where to go; he creates a distraction with musicians and prematurely set-off fireworks, but is delayed in getting the studs to Constance when the guards appear. The musketeers soon arrive and with the help of Planchet, who infiltrated the ball in a polar bear costume, they manage to subdue the guards. D'Artagnan throws the packet with the studs up to Constance, but they are thrown into the wrong window. Milady picks it up, but Constance bursts in and the two women fight until D'Artagnan swings in to assist. Constance is able to nab the valuable packet.The Queen reappears at the ball and reveals the studs at her neck. After the King tries unsuccessfully to count them while dancing with his wife, he stops the music and reveals the box containing the two studs which the Cardinal had given him; she delightedly says she now has fourteen studs. Backpedaling, the Cardinal says he wanted to give the additional studs to her but could not bring himself to do so directly. Milady informs the Cardinal that D'Artagnan thwarted the plot, but the Cardinal says the game continues.At an elaborate ceremony, Treville announces that D'Artagnan has become a musketeer; his comrades put the tunic over his shoulders while the commander provides his musket. The Queen greets him and, when she offers her hand, she discreetly gives him a ring as thanks for saving her honor. Milady flirtatiously passes by the new musketeer as D'Artagnan, joined by Constance and his friends, head to new adventures, and they become the Four Musketeers.
    

The Three Musketeers

Revolver

Jeremiah


            (Sequel to The Three Musketeers)Porthos (Frank Finlay) recaps the events leading to D'Artagnan (Michael York) becoming a musketeer. The original trio, including Porthos' companions Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) and Athos (Oliver Reed) find themselves on a rescue mission behind enemy lines during the battle of La Rochelle. D'Artagnan's enemy Rochefort (Christopher Lee) was caught spying and is enduring a wait before an amateur firing squad learning to load their rifles on the job. While they figure out how to blindfold a condemned man who has only one eye, Athos and Aramis prepare to launch a smoke bomb as cover while Porthos brings the horses for their escape, but the fuse goes out just as the order is given to fire. Fortunately the entire firing squad misses their target, and while they reload the trio manages to extract the spy. He is returned to his master, Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston), then is sent to obtain D'Artagnan's lover Constance (Raquel Welsh). She is the dressmaker and confidante to Queen Anne (Geraldine Chapman) and a valued hostage if they are to deal with Anne's affair with the Protestant sympathizer, the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward).Rochefort and his men find D'Artagnan and Constance shopping in the public market. When she picks a melon from a basket, a hand appears from within and seizes her. While she is taken away, D'Artagnan engages his enemy in a duel and manages to deliver a slicing blow to Rochefort's hand; Rochefort upsets a cart of potatoes, which spills and buries D'Artagnan. He is rescued by the mysterious and beautiful spy Milady DeWinter (Faye Dunaway) and taken to her private home. He regains consciousness in her bedroom where she is attending him while attired in revealing lingerie, but despite her charms he departs hastily, promising to come back and "thank her properly." When he leaves, Milady undresses and prepares to step into her bath, but recoils when she sees the water is tinged red. Rochefort was hiding there, letting his injured hand bleed into her bathwater. As they embrace, they agree to deal with D'Artagnan later.Back at the musketeers' training facility, D'Artagnan ponders his problems while Porthos demonstrates a new sword technique. He flings the sword from its scabbard to sail through the air and hit its mark. Aramis is unimpressed and shows him that the sword could easily be deflected, and they leave arguing the finer points of disarming oneself.An inebriated Athos appears to question D'Artagnan about his new lover. He replies the he loves Milady with his head and Constance with his heart. When asked if he has not ever lost his heart, Athos grows reflective and relates a love story about a man who, unlike him, did lose his heart. It becomes apparent that he is speaking of himself in his life before he became a musketeer. As a nobleman he was a man of honor who fell in love with a mysterious woman and married her, bestowing his title and wealth on her. One day when she fell from her horse, the garter she always wore on her upper arm slipped to reveal the brand of the fleur de lis, identifying her as a criminal. In that moment he lost his honor. Though he had throttled her in his anger, he never knew whether or not she had died. He warns D'Artagnan that such women cause trouble, and the young musketeer agrees that he should stay faithful to Constance.Still needing to repay his debt, D'Artagnan returns to Milady's home and is admitted by her attendant Kitty (Nicole Calfan). Her mistress is away and Kitty has her own interests, so they slip into her bedroom. When Milady returns, Kitty stalls for time and D'Artagnan overhears Milady talking to Kitty about Constance while donning her jewels for the evening; D'Artagnan slips out and re-enters by the front door to pay his proper visit to Milady in her bedroom. Afterward, he calmly asks her where she has taken Constance, and when he grabs her arm the garter there pulls away from a brand of the fleur de lis, and Milady produces two glass daggers filled with acid to attack him. He manages to grab his sword and hold her at bay while he leaves the bedroom, clad only in the sheet, and locks the door. Kitty hands him a cloak and he jumps out the window to escape, finding he has Milady's necklace in his hand. Kitty finally releases her mistress from the bedroom and endures her frustrated blows.Later at the bar, Porthos asks D'Artagnan for money and the necklace slips from his pocket. Athos recognizes it at once, confirming that his wife is still alive. D'Artagnan promises to keep it a secret from the others. Later he goes to the palace to see if the Queen can help find Constance, and is instead captured by the Cardinal's men and taken to his private office. Richelieu remarks upon D'Artagnan's continued good luck and offers friendship in return for the musketeer becoming one of his men, but D'Artagnan refuses and Richelieu warns him that his journey into the battlefront at La Rochelle will be a perilous one.Milady and Rochefort discuss Constance, whom the spy has sent to a private estate. Kitty dutifully gives the information to the musketeers, who agree to help rescue her while D'Artagnan goes ahead toward the battlefront. Constance is fettered in an upstairs room but manages to land a kick on one of the guards when he brings her food; once she has freed herself she runs to the window and finds the courtyard is filled with vicious attack dogs, preventing her escape. The next time a guard comes, she kicks him in the groin before realizing it is Aramis in disguise and she is being rescued. Porthos uses stilts to cross the courtyard with Constance perched on his shoulders to avoid the dogs. The three take her to the convent at Armentieres.D'Artagnan stops at an inn where he plans to meet his friends and finds a note that they were thrown in jail for drunken behavior and sent on a few bottles of wine to drink their health. He declines, saying they will share the wine when they're together again.On the road D'Artagnan is set upon by Rochefort and his hired men, and when the other three musketeers hear dueling in the frigid weather, they join the fray, fighting on an icy lake with unpredictable footing. Still they manage to defeat the gang and take one with them to the inn to question him. He reveals that a meeting is planned at the Red Dove Cote Inn, begs for a drink and is poured some of the wine. Before the others join him, Aramis holds them back as the man quickly goes into convulsions and dies. Sniffing the wine, Aramis says it has been poisoned, probably by Milady.At the Red Dove Cote Inn, Milady meets with the Cardinal and discusses her agenda to rid herself and Rochefort of D'Artagnan and Constance after she does her duty in handling Buckingham, but the Cardinal is unconcerned with her private affairs. She asks for no money for dealing with the duke; she asks instead for carte blanche to deal with her enemies in her own way, and Richelieu produces a vague and craftily written note with his authorization but no words which can be used against him. She tucks it away after he leaves, but suddenly Athos appears and confronts her for the first time since the fateful day when she robbed him of his honor. He asks her for the note, threatening to shoot her if she refuses. Knowing he is capable of it, she surrenders the note.On the battlefield the musketeers have been sent to lend support and see that La Rochelle falls. Athos makes a bet that the four of them can breach the enemy lines and have breakfast atop the bastion--a place where they can discuss matters without the Cardinal's spies within earshot--and they assign Planchet (Roy Kinnear) to bring the ammunition and provisions. They dodge bullets and manage to set up their meal, and Athos gives the note to D'Artagnan and tells them all of the plot to kill Buckingham. Planchet will be assigned to go warn Buckingham, and when the rebels charge the battlement, Athos finds the wall is weak enough that they can push it over to send its stones toppling down on the charging rebels.Milady travels to England to meet Buckingham but fails to convince him to cease aiding the rebels. Outside she prepares a concealed pistol but is caught and sent to the dungeon under the care of his servant Felton (Michael Gothard), a Puritan whose unbreakable faith and detached demeanor the duke trusts. During one visit to check on his prisoner, Milady asks Felton for a Bible, and during his duties he hears her reciting scripture nonstop. Finally she collapses and tells him that she is being persecuted by the Antichrist--Buckingham--and he yields to his doubts and her passions, and later he helps her escape. He proceeds to purchase a knife, meets Buckingham on the docks and uses the weapon to attack his master, who dies from his wounds while Planchet arrives moments too late to warn him.The battle of La Rochelle ends and Rochefort and Milady race the musketeers to Armentieres to claim Constance. The musketeers reach the town nearby just steps ahead of Rochefort, and when they stop for a rest, he gains the lead. The four men remount and give chase, enter the convent by another route but are met by Rochefort and his men. While D'Artagnan and the others battle, the barn next to the convent catches fire, adding to the urgency. Porthos manages to use his new sword technique to dispatch an opponent but catches fire himself; Athos sustains another arm injury and Rochefort escapes.Milady enters the convent disguised as a nun and goes into Constance's room to sit with her. Constance doesn't recognize her in the vestments, continues praying and starts to cry. Milady tells her she should look her best when D'Artagnan arrives, then throws a rosary around Constance's neck and draws it tight.As D'Artagnan finishes dispatching his enemies, Milady leaves Constance's room and attempts to make her escape but is caught by Athos before she can reach her carriage. D'Artagnan bursts into Constance's room to find her strangled body on the floor. He leaves in profound grief and comes upon Rochefort; assuming him the killer, he charges his arch enemy, attacking violently and taking out his anger and misery on him. Again, they are equally matched swordsmen. Aramis and Porthos see them dueling, but Aramis prevents his partner from interfering; it is D'Artagnan's fight alone.By the time the fighting reaches the church, both men have exhausted each other and neither will yield. Rochefort injures D'Artagnan's hand and deals a blow which takes the point off his sword. Desperate, D'Artagnan makes a final lunge and drives his sword home, pinning the spy to the lectern before he falls and dies, and the young musketeer collapses from exhaustion.Later the musketeers gather with their prisoner at a riverbank, standing in judgment of Milady's crimes. They decide the punishment should be death. Athos uses his privileges as a nobleman to hire a headsman and order the execution at the cost of five pistoles. She defiantly demands a trial by a proper court and, when nobody speaks up, she turns to D'Artagnan for help. When he steps forward Athos tells him, in no uncertain terms, that if he moves further the two of them will cross swords and Athos will kill him, so he resumes his place. They watch as the headsman takes Milady in a boat to a small jut of land on the other side of the lake and does his duty; when he returns they grant his request to be paid two pistoles extra for oarsman duties.The musketeers are then rounded up and D'Artagnan finds himself in Cardinal Richelieu's office again. Richelieu reminds him that he refused an offer of friendship and now stands accused of a serious crime. D'Artagnan then produces the Cardinal's own document granting the bearer the privilege to do "what has been done." Knowing he has been defeated, the Cardinal casually burns the note and offers his foe a commission as a lieutenant in the musketeers with the name left blank, saying he and his friends are free to go. Perplexed, D'Artagnan leaves and offers the document to all three of his friends, who politely refuse. He worries that as an officer he will lose his friends, but Porthos assures him that they will always remain "All for one and one for all."
    

The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge


            At the Somafree Institute, Dr. Hal Raglan humiliates his patient Mike by saying: "you're just a weak person. You must have got that from your mother. It probably would have been better for you if you had been born a girl!" On the dimly lit stage, Raglan demands a demonstration of anger, and Mike reveals angry red blotches covering his torso. The audience gasps. Raglan announces that this is psychoplasmcis; the physical manifestation of mental rage by the appearance of the welts on one's body.Meanwhile, Frank Carveth collects his nine-year-old daughter Candy from a 'Private Guest Room'. Candy wears a red coat with fur trim and hood. Bathing her, Frank finds bruises and scratches on her back. He drives to the Somafree Institute to confront Raglan and demands to see his wife Nola, whom has been committed there after she apparently suffered a nervous breakdown. Raglan refuses. Frank accuses Nola of abusing their daughter and says he will stop Candy's next visit. Raglan threatens legal action if Frank withholds a vital part of Nola's treatment. Frank then goes to his lawyer, Al Resnikoff, who tells him that Nola has a stronger legal position despite the fact that she is committed to a mental hospital. Frank says that he will do what he has to. He takes Candy to her maternal grandmother, Juliana, who seems highly strung out.Back at the institute, Raglan goes into Nola's room (play-acting as Candy) and he asks her why she hurt her daughter Candice. Raglan/Candice says: "Mummies don't hurt their own children". Nola sobs that they do. She tells Raglan that her own mother was "fucked up and bad". Raglan encourages her anger by telling her: "Go all the way through it, right to the end."That evening at Juliana's house, she investigates a noise in the kitchen. Food, juice, glasses and dishes are thrown all over the floor. She is bludgeoned by what appears to be a small child wearing a red hooded raincoat with fur trim. As Candy watches from behind a door, small claw-like hands leaves bloodstains on the banisters. The next morning at his workplace, Frank is informed of Juliana's murder. Police psychologist Dr. Birkin tells Frank so encourage Candy to remember what happened, a breakdown is possible if she doesn't remember. "These things tend to express themselves in one way or another" says Dr. Birkin.At the institute, Raglan speaks to Nola as her father. She quickly gets very angry saying: "You shouldn't have walked way when she hit me." Red welts appear on Nola's forehead as she speaks.At the local airport, Frank and Candy meet Barton Kelly, Nola's estranged father, who has come for his ex-wife's funeral. On Resnikoff's advice, Frank visits Jan Hartog, an ex-Somafree patient taking legal action against Dr. Raglan. Uncovering a row of tumors on his neck, Hartog says bitterly: "Raglan encourages my body to revolt against me. And it did. I have a small revolution on my hands and I'm not putting it down very successfully."Back at the institute, a drunk Barton Kelly arrives and is furious when Raglan will not allow him to see Nola. Meanwhile, Frank arrives at Candy's school where her teacher, Ruth Mayer, sits with her. Candy invites Ruth to dinner at her house. That evening, Ruth arrives and has dinner with Frank and Candy. A little later, Barton calls Frank from Juliana's house, saying he needs Frank's help to see Nola. Frank leaves Ruth babysitting Candy, who picks up a book to read which is titled 'The Shape Of Rage'. Raglan's book on Psychoplasmics.At Juliana's house, Barton is alone when the same small figure wearing the hooded red raincoat emerges from under his bed and batters him to a very gory death with a pair of paperweights. Frank arrives a few minutes later and finds the body. The strange-looking "child" jumps on him like some aggressive animal, clawing at him until it suddenly falls off his back to the floor and seemingly dies. Frank picks up the phone to call the police. Back at Frank's house, Ruth Mayer answers a phone call from Nola calling from the institute, who then goes in a berserk rage when Ruth answers the phone and suspects that she is having an affair with her husband.At the police station, Frank gives his statement and then meets the pathologist who performed the autopsy on the mysterious 'child creature' that attacked him where the doctor tells him that the creature died simply because: "it ran out of gas". Or more likely "its batteries expired". The pathologist points out that the creature has strange eyes, no sexual organs, and no navel. "This creature has never really been born... at least not the way human beings are born" says the pathologist.Raglan (as Ruth Mayer) speaks to Nola, Raglan/Ruth says that Frank will divorce Nola and marry her. The jealous Nola screams to leave Frank alone. When Frank gets home from the police station, Ruth leaves in a hurry. He finds Candy cowering in a corner of her bedroom after a nightmare. He tells her that the 'thing' is dead.The next morning, Raglan reads about Barton Kelly's murder. Taking a gun from his desk, he instructs his assistant, Chris, to get all the patients out of the institute. Meanwhile, Frank visits the hospital where Mike is now a fellow patient of Hartog's and is told that Nola is in fact the only patient at Somafree. Mike becomes angry about being dumped by his "daddy", his face becomes one giant red sore.Frank takes Candy to school. In Ruth Mayer's art class, two 'children creatures' in pastel coats with hoods pick up wooden hammers and beat Ruth mercilessly to a gory death. Alerted by a boy's cries for help, Frank enters the classroom to find Ruth dead, and Candy gone.At the institute, Raglan wakes Nola. She relates a dream that Candy was coming back to her, and says she doesn't feel threatened by Ruth Mayer any more. At the same time, Candy is being led along a snowy highway by the two creatures.That evening, Mike turns up on Frank's doorstep raving about: "the disturbed kids in the work shed. The ones your wife's taking care of." Frank drives to the Somafree Institute where outside Raglan pulls a gun on him, saying they'll kill him if he tries to take Candy away from them. In a long monologue, Raglan tells Frank that the child creatures that have been doing all the killing are Nola's children. "Nola is not their surrogate mother, she's their real mother." They are the Brood; the parthenogenesis 'children' of Nola's rage. Over the past year-and-a-half Nola's psychoplasmics have manifested into these children which carry out her bidding whenever she's in an angry mood. Raglan tells Frank that Candy is locked up in the attic where the Brood are being kept, and that if he wants Candy back, Frank must go to Nola to convince her that he wants Candy back to live with him. If he can do that, the Brood will be neutral so Raglan can go into the attic and take Candy, if not... the Brood will attack as long as Nola is in a rage.While Raglan waits outside the attic door where the Brood are being kept, Frank goes to Nola's room. He finds Nola rocking back and forth, wearing a white robe bathed in light. Nola wakes from her trance-like state and seems happy that he has come to see her. Frank says that he wants to be back with her. (Note: throughout the entire movie, Nola is only shown from the chest up which is apparently to hide something). At this point, Nola throws back her white robe, revealing an umbilical cord and external sac on her abdomen. The years of the welts that have appeared on her chest have merged together to create this womb outside her body as an incubator for the Brood that she produces. Frank recoils in horror and disgust.In the attic, Raglan quietly enters where all the sleeping Brood lie in their bunk beds. He finds Candy in one and picks her up to carry her out. Just then, the Brood stirs, sensing Nola's mounting anger.In Nola's room, she tears open the sac, removing a bloody 'infant' which she licks clean, as an animal might after having given birth. Frank's true feelings towards all this become apparent to Nola and her rage erupts.In the attic, the Brood finally become active, leaping on Raglan, who manages to shoot a few of them, but he gets overwhelmed and beaten to death by the Brood. In Nola's room, she angrily tells Frank that she would see Candy die then let him take her away. Upstairs, the Brood then turn their attention to the petrified Candy who runs and locks herself in the closet room in the attic, but they break through the door to grab at her. Frank attacks Nola and strangles her to death with his bare hands to save Candy when he hears the noises coming from the attic. When Nola stops breathing, all is suddenly silent.Frank goes upstairs to the attic to find all the Brood dead outside the room where Candy locked herself in, realizing that the Brood died without their mother's connection. Raglan is also dead nearby having been beaten to death and lying next to a few of the Brood he managed to kill before being overwhelmed. Candy is quivering in a corner of the room and Frank enters picks her up and tells her that he is taking her home. As Frank drives home with Candy, she seems to have withdrawn into a state of shock and cannot speak. Frank doesn't notice two raised lumps on her left arm... signs of her inner rage. The welts suggests that eventually like mother, like daughter...
    

The Brood

Tommy

Sitting Target

Prisoner of Honor


            Ben and Marion Rolf and their son, 12-year-old Davey, drive to a remote and rundown Victorian mansion that was advertised for a summer rental. Walker, the handyman, answers their knock at the door and lets them look around. Davey plays outside while Ben and Marion find a greenhouse full of dead flowers. Roz Allardyce, a woman in her late fifties, greets the Rolfs, and the couple informs her that Ben's Aunt Elizabeth will also be joining them for the summer. After Roz and Ben negotiate the oddly low, one-time rental price of $900, they are joined by Roz's wheelchair-bound brother, Arnold. The two siblings rave about how the house is "practically immortal." Also, Arnold and Roz tell the Rolfs that their 85-year old mother is living upstairs, and they will have to take food to her every day over the summer. Davey, bleeding, comes inside after being hurt. Everyone except Arnold leave to help Davey clean the cut. When Walker passes by to throw out a dead potted plant, Arnold tells him that the plant isn't dead. Surprisingly, Walker notices a new leaf is growing in the pot.A few days later, the Rolfs come back with seventy-four-year-old Elizabeth to find the mansion's key and a note saying that Arnold and Roz had to leave. Ben is upset that they didn't include a number where to reach them. Marion goes to the upstairs parlor and knocks on Mrs. Allardyce's bedroom door. Getting no answer, she draws back the parlor curtains to let more light in and admires a table full of old photos and a music box. Noticing a tray of dirty dishes, Marion carries them downstairs. Marion tells Ben she didn't see Mrs. Allardyce and then declares that the third floor is off bounds to everybody except her. The old lady will be Marion's responsibility. Elizabeth then declares that all the clocks in the house have stopped working.The next day, Ben and Davey restore a dilapidated pool, and then find the Allardyce family graveyard while exploring the surrounding woods. Ben notices there are no graves more recent than 1890. A week passes and still Mrs. Allardyce doesn't respond to Marion's knocking. Also, her tray is barely touched. Marion opens the music box and a dreamy expression crosses her face as the music plays.Meanwhile, Elizabeth, Davey and Ben are at the pool. Ben dives in and finds a pair of broken glasses that he puts on. Davey jumps in and, although the boy can't swim, Ben lets his son somersault off his shoulders. Suddenly, Ben thrusts Davey down and holds him under the water. Ben doesn't let go until Davey hits him in the face with his scuba mask. During the night, Ben dreams he is a boy and is being driven to his mother's funeral by a skeletal chauffeur with an evil grin.The next morning, Marion goes to the pool where she is shocked to see that it looks brand new. In the living room, Ben apologizes to Davey. That evening, Marion finds Ben by the pool, which she suggests that she polished up to look new. At Marion's cajoling, Ben jumps in and, a minute later, she strips down and joins him. They embrace, but Marion quickly pushes him away and gets out. Ben follows and tries to make love to his wife on the front lawn, but when Marion sees lights on in the old lady's room, she runs away.Going into the parlor, Marion opens the music box and falls asleep. The next morning in the kitchen, Elizabeth complains to Marion that the summer vacation is wearing her out. Elizabeth also notices the new gray growing in Marion's hair. Then, instead of taking a nap, Elizabeth brings Mrs. Allardyce a picture she has painted of the house. Elizabeth can barely climb the stairs without collapsing. Responding to Elizabeth's knocking on the parlor door, Marion says that Mrs. Allaradyce is asleep. Out front, Ben sees a model T hearse drive up that is being driven by the grinning chauffeur from his nightmare. Ben covers his face and, when he looks again, the hearse has disappeared.At midnight, all the clocks reset by themselves and chime the hour. Waking up, Ben smells gas coming from a heater in Davey's room. Ben kicks the locked door down and carries Davey out to a hallway window. After turning off the gas, Ben smashes out a stuck bedroom window with a baseball bat. In the morning, Elizabeth confesses to Marion that she was in Davey's room, but did not touch the gas. Marion demands to know what else Elizabeth did, as someone locked the door and closed the window. When Elizabeth wonders if Mrs. Allardyce did it, Marion explodes. Later, Ben finds Elizabeth crying in her room and looking twenty years older. She wants to leave the house, but when Ben asks her to come down so Marion can apologize, she says she will later.In the parlor, Ben finds Marion, wearing an antique broach and shawl, who insists Elizabeth had something to do with Davey's accident. When Ben asks why he can't meet the old lady, Marion says that Mrs. Allaradyce is sleeping. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sits up in bed, and a loud crack of breaking bones is heard.At dinner, Ben asks Marion if she would leave the house if he asked her too. She says he's being ridiculous. Davey yells for help and Ben and Marion find Elizabeth writhing in pain. Ben runs downstairs to phone for help, but the line is busy. Marion then tries the phone and comes back saying that the doctor is on the way. Ben asks Marion to wait downstairs, but instead she goes to the parlor, opens the music box and eats Mrs. Allardyce's food. Sitting with Elizabeth, Ben hears a car coming, which he sees out the window is the model T hearse. Elizabeth's bedroom door bangs open and the grinning chauffeur thrusts a coffin at them. Meanwhile, Marion goes into the greenhouse where the flowers are in full bloom.After Elizabeth's funeral, Ben and Davey find Marion dressed in Victorian attire. Marion says she couldn't go to the funeral because she couldn't leave Mrs. Allardyce alone. Although Marion has made a candlelight dinner, she storms out when Ben says he's not hungry. Ben follows her and insists on meeting the old lady. Marion claims she can't open the door as Mrs. Allardyce has the only key. Ben tells her they're leaving in the morning and, although Marion says she can't leave the old lady alone, he claims that in any event he and Davey are going. That night, Ben is awakened by the sound of bricks, tiles and siding that are falling off the house. Ben grabs Davey, runs to the car, and drives off. However, a tree falls, blocking his path. Unable to lift the tree, Ben tries to ram it out of the way with the car, but hits his head on the steering wheel. Marion climbs into the car and drives them back to the house. When Ben looks at her, he sees the chauffeur grinning back at him.A doctor comes and says that Ben needs to go to a hospital. When Davey asks Marion if they are going home, she says his father is better off staying put. The next day, a comatose Ben sits by the pool in a wheelchair. Davey jumps in the pool, which begins to churn with giant waves. Marion sees her imperiled son from inside his bedroom, but can't open the window. Ben tries to move, but only falls out of the chair. Marion runs downstairs and smashes a window to get out of the house. She runs to the pool, dives in and rescues Davey. She hugs her husband and son and says they are leaving today.Although Marion gets in the car with her family, she quickly gets out, insisting she has to give Mrs. Allardyce their phone number. When Marion doesn't return, Ben goes after her. Finding Mrs. Allardyce's door unlocked, Ben looks in to see the back of a white haired woman in a wheelchair. He asks where Marion is. Not getting an answer, he swings the chair around, and discovers that the old woman is Marion. Ben crashes through the bedroom window and lands on the car's windshield below. Davey yells for his Mom, but the chimney collapses, killing him.Later the Allardyce siblings return. The house looks entirely new and the flowers are all blooming. Arnold says that their mother has been restored to her full glory. In the parlor there are four new pictures: Ben, Marion, Davey and Elizabeth... the latest victims of the Allardyce siblings and the house.
    

Burnt Offerings

The Triple Echo

Royal Flash

The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday

The Hunting Party

Venom


            Woodrow "Woody" Wilkins (Michael Crawford) is an imaginative, yet eccentric, American comic book writer and illustrator who demands a sense of realism for his comic book hero "Condorman", to the point where he crafts a Condorman flying suit of his own and launches himself off the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The test flight fails as his right wing breaks, sending him crashing into the Seine River. Later after the incident, Woody is asked by his friend, CIA file clerk Harry Oslo (James Hampton), to perform what appears to be a civilian paper swap in Istanbul. Upon arriving in Istanbul, he goes to a local restaurant where he meets a beautiful Russian woman named Natalia Rambova (Barbara Carrera), who poses as the Soviet civilian with whom the exchange is supposed to take place, but it is later revealed that she is in fact a KGB spy. Woody does not tell Natalia his real name, and instead fabricates his identity to her as a top American agent code-named "Condorman". During the encounter, Woody fends off a group of would-be assassins and saves her life by sheer luck before accomplishing the paper trade. Impressed by Woody, and disgusted by how she was treated by her lover/boss Krokov (Oliver Reed) when she returns to Moscow, Natalia decides to defect and asks the CIA to have "Condorman" be the agent that helps her.Back in Paris, Woody's encounter with Natalia inspires him to create a super heroine patterned after her named "Laser Lady". He is then notified by Harry and his boss Russ Devil (Dana Elcar) that he is to escort a defecting Soviet agent known as "The Bear". Woody refuses to do the job, but when Russ reveals that "The Bear" is Natalia, he agrees to do it on the condition that the CIA chief (Robert Arden) provides him with laser gadgetry based on his designs.Woody meets up with Natalia in Yugoslavia and protects her from Krokov's henchmen led by the homicidal, glass-eyed assassin Morovich (Jean-Pierre Kalfon). After joining Harry in Italy, the trio venture to Switzerland, where Natalia discovers the truth about Woody when a group of children recognize her from his comic books. Their journey back to France is compromised when Morovich puts Woody and Harry out of commission and Krokov's men recover Natalia before retreating to their headquarters in Monte Carlo. Woody is told that the mission is a failure and he and Harry are ordered to return to Paris, but he asks for two more days to conduct an operation to rescue Natalia.Disguising themselves as Arab sheiks, Woody and Harry create a diversion at the Monte Carlo Casino to recover Natalia from Krokov and his men. As Harry drives away in a Rolls-Royce, Woody uses an improved version of his Condorman suit to fly himself and Natalia out of the casino and onto the pier, where the trio make their getaway aboard the Condorboat. They manage to destroy Krokov's speedboats following them, but Krokov and Morovich pursue them in their own speedboat. The Condorboat reaches its pick-up point, but Morovich shows his intent on ramming it. When Morovich ignores his commander's orders to return to base, Krokov abandons ship. The Condorboat is lifted by the CIA helicopter in time to prevent a collision, causing Morovich to crash on an island rock killing him. However, Krokov survives and while bobbing up and down in the water, watching the helicopter fly away, as he vows to get revenge against Condorman and his crew another time.In the final scene, set a few days later, Woody, Natalia and Harry are at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles watching a football game, where they see the Goodyear Blimp flash a sign welcoming Natalia to the U.S. Aboard the blimp, Russ contacts Harry and has him ask Woody if he is interested in taking Condorman to another assignment.
    

Oliver Reed

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