For all of our CGI -ed Johnny Depp blockbusters, we’ve forgotten how to properly buckle a swash, as it were — costume-action films are now either 99 percent digital hootenanny or buttoned-down Classics Illustrated adaptations. We forget that readers and theatergoers in the 19th century loved their life-or-death mano-a-mano and mad-dash escapes and preposterous physical feats just as we do, which is why pioneering pulp like Alexandre Dumas has never been out of print. Of course, in the ’70s, when the Richard Lester made the best Dumas movies back-to-back, stunts were performed by real people — even, sometimes, the movie stars themselves. And when action involves actual humans, it’s not just merely visceral thrill, but story.
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On DVD: What the ’70s-Era Musketeers Can Teach Us About Action, Bromance and Fun
