With the slash of a steel blade and the mark of a 'Z', he
defends the weak
and exploited and avenges the wrongs committed against them.
The Mask of Zorro is a sweeping romantic adventure
of love and honor, of tragedy and triumph set against
Mexico's fight for independence from the iron fist of
Spain. It is also a rousing, often hilarious
swashbuckling fable about how a roguish outlaw
whose only knowledge of a sword is that "the pointy
end goes into the other man" is transformed into an
elegant hero.
It has been 20 years
since Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony
Hopkins) successfully fought Spanish
oppression in Alta California as the
legendary romantic hero Zorro. Imprisoned
for two decades, he now must find a
successor to stop Don Rafael Montero
(Stuart Wilson)-the powerful, former Spanish governor of Alta California
who cost de la Vega his freedom, his wife, Esperanza (Julietta Rosen), and
his daughter, Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones)-who is making plans to
purchase California from Mexico's president, General Santa Anna.
Alejandro Murieta (Antonio Banderas), a bandit with a troubled past, is
transformed by Don Diego into a new Zorro who he hopes will help him
foil Montero's schemes once and for all. Tracing the heroic story of these
highly-charged relationships, The Mask of Zorro follows the new Zorro a
he assumes de la Vega's mantle and enters into a romantic relationship with
a woman close to his predecessor's heart...
Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins,
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stuart Wilson and
Matt Letscher star in The Mask of Zorro,
story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and
Randall Johnson. Screenplay by John
Eskow, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio.
Executive producers are Steven Spielberg,
Walter Parkes, and Laurie MacDonald.
It is directed by Martin Campbell
and produced by Doug Claybourne and David Foster.
The film is a
production of Amblin Entertainment/TriStar Pictures.
