Excellent cast delivers a very strong re-make of the Tyrone Power 1940's film about the legendary swashbuckler in Spanish colonial California. All performances are strong, especially Frank Langella, Gilbert Roland and Ricardo Montalban. It is especially nice to hear Hispanic accented English, and correctly pronounced Spanish words and names. This film will definitely entertain fans of the genre, whether familiar with earlier depictions of Zorro or not. The lack of budget and the fact that the film was made for TV are easy to overlook. These aspects of the movie will only bother those who require lots of special effects in order to enjoy a movie. Another commentator observed that the crowds were small. Yes, they are, but so what? That doesn't detract either. Enjoy!As a kid, I loved the "Zorro" TV series in the late '50's starring Guy Williams. I have seen the Tyrone Power film a number of times, too. I recommend all of these renditions, as well as "Zorro, the Gay Blade," for a more comedic spin on the legend. It features George Hamilton camping it up a la "Love at First Bite."

Are you kidding me? They could not even try for an authentic accent. Poor direction, poor choreography of fight scenes, poor acting. If you want to laugh at the campiness of this version, go for it like you're watching a beauty pageant and commenting on the talent portion. Richardo Montalbaum is authentic, right down to the tight pants (you may want to shield young viewers). Anne Archer seems just to desperate in each scene. If you would like a true authentic Zorro film to watch, catch Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Bandares in the first Zorro they did together. (The sequel doesn't contain enough "Z"'s for a Zorro fan.)

I've seen various Zorros and can never remember which is which; I vaguely remembered this as one of the good ones (which is not what you would expect from a 1970s TV movie) and tuned in to see when it was broadcast again on television this afternoon. To my surprise and pleasure, I still thought it was pretty good.I can't at this lapse of time remember how much the script takes from the famous 1940s version, but it's not only competent but admirable; I'd infinitely watch a low-budget film with a polished script than a big-budget blockbuster where all the cash has gone on special effects, and this undoubtedly falls into the first category! Don Diego, of course, gets all the quips, but Frank Langella does them ample justice, and is impressive in his dual role, especially in the two episodes at the beginning when you can see his intelligent Diego assessing the situation and coming up with his 'spineless fop' act more or less off the cuff, mid-scene. Ricardo Montalban wins the personality contest by a whisker -- although a really good villain always has an unfair advantage over the hero of the piece. Gilbert Roland doesn't get much to do; I was looking forward to seeing him in this, but had to look up the cast afterwards in order even to be certain which character he'd been playing...Anne Archer as the heroine was the only real disappointment, although the rather abridged plot here doesn't offer much scope for her to duel wits with her lover. Her performance seemed uninspiring, especially compared to Louise Sorel in the part of her vain, self-serving aunt.The main faults I'd find with this version are twofold; first of all, it seems to get more and more compressed as it races towards the end. The opening scenes are expansively paced, but once the Zorro identity has been established, the masked avenger hardly has time to do anything before it's time for the finale! He tears down one notice, pays a nocturnal visit to frighten the Alcade, meets Esteban in his father's house... and then an aristocratic revolt breaks out, and the final duel is due. Not much of a heroic career, really, and I assume this is the result of a TV time-slot and budget.The second problem, possibly related, is that the actual swashbuckling action -- with the exception of said final duel -- doesn't impress very much. We get one of the parody-prone sequences where the villain's henchmen unintelligently attack the hero in ones and twos and are duly dispatched, and a similar old chestnut of a horse chase, where the hero hides behind some bushes and watches the pursuit thunder obliviously past, and that's about it. There's nothing wrong with sticking to the good old conventions, but this isn't the most inspiring rendition of either trope. The duel, however, *is* well done... even if I can't help feeling that killing your enemy by revealing your true identity and then attacking while he is still off his guard with astonishment isn't quite cricket, Diego old chap! Very practical tactics, though.Anyway, on the whole I liked it a good deal. At the beginning of the film I'd probably have considered awarding it an 8, but sadly Anne Archer's 1970s starlet performance and the rather rushed timing later on reduce it from that level. Watch for the Ricardo Montalban/Frank Langella/Louise Sorel triangle, if nothing else; Inez is a wonderfully self-centred character, and the two men play well off each other.

Don Diego returns from Spain to his family in California to find that his father has been replaced as ruler of the area by the dastardly and cruel Don Luis Quintero. Despite being a bit of a swordsman, Diego downplays his skills in front of the wicked Captain Esteban and shows himself to be a bit of a clown in front of his family. However secretly Diego picks up the sword of justice as Zorro and fights to return justice to the region and his people.I taped this film because I honestly expected it to be a silly film at best; at worst I feared it would be an awful mess of a film that would hopefully make me laugh. However I was very pleasantly surprised to find a film that, although a little cheesy and dated, was actually quite good fun to watch in an unassuming way. The film has a sort of cheesy tone to it that reminded me of badly dubbed movies from Europe in the 70's but this was actually much better without taking itself too seriously.The story is pretty faithful to the original films and it has recognisable parts in spades. While it is never funny it does manage to be enjoyable in the way it is playful as well as having a bit of swash and buckle about it. While the majority of it only hints at action, the final swordfight between Zorro and Esteban is more fun than I expect it to be (as one who has grown accustom to CGI and so on).The cast really helps the whole thing to be as much fun as it is. Langella has a habit of being a bit too heavy and serious but here he gets everything just right. His Diego is a comic fop while his Zorro is suitably heroic and upright without being dry or dull. Middleton is reasonable enough but it is the wonderful Montalban who enjoys the best villain role. He doesn't have that much to do at times but he has a good presence about him and has real charisma. It was a surprise to find Anne Archer in the support cast but she is good as well.Overall this film quite took me by surprise because I enjoyed it. Of course it's not perfect and of course it's all a bit cheesy and silly at times but it enjoys itself and has a real sense of fun about it. The short running time plays to it's quick pace and to it's benefit as I think much longer and the faults would have begun to impose themselves, however as it is it is short, punchy and a lot more fun than I expected it to be!