Customer Reviews

Zorro: A Documentary Of The World's Most Recognized Masked Crusader

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's a nice collection, but it duplicates many other Zorro DVDs available on Amazon, especially if you buy the various Zorro dvd's in the current 4 for 3 promotion. Specifically The Mark of Zorro and the serial Zorro's Fighting Legion are part of the current promotion.

In this set you will find:

DISC ONE
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Zorro - History in Film, 2005, 60 minutes.

Mark of Zorro, 1920 - Douglas Fairbanks, B&W, silent, 80 minutes.
(available as a separate dvd)

The Bold Caballero, 1936 - Robert Livingston, the first Technicolor Zorro, and first 'talkie'. 69 minutes.

Zorro, 1974 - Alain Delon, Color, 90 minutes.


DISC TWO
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Zorro's Fighting Legion, 12 episode serial (also sold as a separate dvd collection)
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This collection is well worth the money, as long as you know ahead of time that you also get the Douglas Fairbanks - Mark of Zorro, and the Fighting Legion serial.

First, here's what in the 2-DVD set:

The Bold Caballero (1936) (5.1/10 - as rated by viewers at a large internet movie site) - starring Robert Livingston, Heather Angel and Sig Rumann, black and white, 69 minutes.

The Mark of Zorro (1920) (7.5) - starring Douglas Fairbanks and Marguerite de la Motte, B&W, silent, 98 minutes.

Zorro (1974) (5.9) - starring Alain Delon and Ottavia Piccolo (Italian/French production - dubbed in English) Color, 87 minutes.

Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) (7.9), starring Reed Hadley and Sheila Darcy, 12 episode serial directed by William Witney and John English, B&W, 212 minutes.

Zorro - A History in Film (2005) (no rating) - documentary, 60 minutes.


On the plus side, most of the features have excellent prints with great sound. The Mark of Zorro (1920) has an interesting, if modern, soundtrack laid over the video. The "Zorro - A History in Film" was, surprisingly to me, an interesting documentary placing the Zorro canon in the context of other contemporary adventure films.

On the negative side, this print of "The Bold Caballero" included in this set is a battered black and white version, not the Magnacolor version used for the film's original release. The audio and video of this film are more typically found in 50-Movie Pack sets and can barely be described as passable. The Mark of Zorro (1920) has an outstanding print, but ten minutes of the film have been deleted, and I believe other prints have the full 107 minutes intact. Zorro (1974) has also been severely edited. Originally released in Europe with a full 124-minute running time, when it was released in the U.S., it logged in at two hours, but this version lasts only 87 minutes.