The Return of the Musketeers movie synopsis. It’s 1649: Mazarin hires the impoverished D’Artagnan to find the other musketeers: Cromwell has overthrown the English king, so Mazarin fears revolt, particularly from the popular Beaufort. Porthos, bored with riches and wanting a title, signs on, but Aramis, an abbé, and Athos, a brawler raising an intellectual son, assist Beaufort in secret.
When they fail to halt Beaufort’s escape from prison, the musketeers are expendable, and Mazarin sends them to London to rescue Charles I. They are also pursued by Justine, the avenging daughter of Milady de Winter, their enemy 20 years ago. They must escape England, avoid Justine, serve the Queen, and secure Beauford’s political reforms.
The Return of the Musketeers is a 1989 film adaptation loosely based on the novel Twenty Years After (1845) by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third Musketeers film directed by Richard Lester, following 1973’s The Three Musketeers and 1974’s The Four Musketeers. Like the other two films, the screenplay was written by George MacDonald Fraser.
The character of Mordaunt, Milady de Winter’s son in the original novel, is replaced by Milady’s daughter, called Justine de Winter. Several cast members from the first two reprised their roles in this one. Jean-Pierre Cassel, who played Louis XIII in the original films, has a cameo appearance as Cyrano de Bergerac.
While filming was taking place in September 1988, character actor Roy Kinnear died following an on-camera accident in which he fell off a horse. His role was completed by using a stand-in, filmed from the rear, and dubbed-in lines from a voice artist.
The Return of the Musketeers (1989)
Directed by: Richard Lester
Starring: Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, C. Thomas Howell, Kim Cattrall, Geraldine Chaplin, Roy Kinnear, Richard Chamberlain, Philippe Noiret
Screenplay by: G. MacDonald Fraser
Production Design by: Gil Parrondo
Cinematography by: Bernard Lutic
Film Editing by: John Victor-Smith
Costume Design by: Yvonne Blake
Set Decoration by: Michael Seirton
Art Direction by: Raul Paton
Music by: Jean-Claude Petit
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: April 19, 1989
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