The Mask of Zorro (1998)

This movie is one of those 1990s movies you may have watched, at one point or another, in Spanish class in school. I know I certainly did. Me and my sister suspect that the reason we always watched this movie was because our teacher, Bertha Garcia-DeBurke, who hailed from the Mexican city of Guadalajara, had a major crush on Antonio Banderas.

Summary
-After his brother is brutally murdered by an Army captain, a young thief seeks revenge and is trained by the once great hero of the people, Zorro, who is seeking revenge of his own

Cast
-Diego Sieres: young Joaquin Murrieta
-Jose Maria de Tavira: young Alejandro Murrieta
-William Marquez: Fray Felipe
-Stuart Wilson: Don Rafael Montero
-Tony Amendola: Don Luiz
-Anthony Hopkins: Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro
-Antonio Banderas: Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro
-Julieta Rosen: Esperanza de la Vega
-Victor Rivers: Joaquin Murrieta
-L.Q. Jones: Three-Fingered Jack
-Matt Letscher: Captain Harrison Love
-Jose Perez: Cpl. Armando Garcia
-Catherine Zeta-Jones: Elena

Did You Know?

-Joaquin Murrieta was not only a historical figure, but was also thought to be the inspiration for the literary character Zorro

-At first, Anthony Hopkins refused the role of Don Diego de la Vega because of massive back pain. But after undergoing a laser treatment, he was able to take the role.

-Professional sword trainer Bob Anderson, who trained Errol Flynn, remarked that Antonio Banderas was the most talented sword fighter he has ever worked with since Flynn. It also helps that Banderas trained with the Spanish Olympic team for four months

-In the scene where Elena and Zorro are fighting in the stable, Elena's dress falls off after being sliced by Zorro's sword. To pull this effect off, a wire was attached to her dress to pull it off
-Antonio Banderas was strict about performing his own stunts, to make it more authentic
-The Addams Family actor Raul Julia was originally supposed to play the role of Don Diego de la Vega, but he died before casting begun.
-Catherine Zeta-Jones was cast because Steven Spielberg enjoyed watching her in the 1996 Titanic miniseries and suggested her

-If you look close enough, there are subtle differences in the Zorro costumes worn by Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) and Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins). The costume designer for the movie claims that de la Vega's costume reflects his Spanish heritage while Alejandro's reflects his Mexican heritage

Anthony Hopkins

 

Antonio Banderas

-Three of the possible considerations for the role of Elena was Latina pop singer Shakira, Latina actress Penelope Cruz and actress Salma Hayek

-In a nod to the Zorro series, Antonio Banderas voices a character called Puss in Boots in the Shrek series. Essentially, this character is a feline form of Zorro, who wears a hat, boots and fights with a sword.

-Only when Alejandro dons the Zorro mask does he use one of de la Vega's swords. Up to that point, he had been using his own sword
-Three of the considerations for the role of Alejandro Murrieta were Mark Anthony, Joaquin de Almeida, Andy Garcia, Elmer Figueroa Arce
-Giancarlo Giannini, Lance Henriksen, Sam Shepard, Edward James Olmos, Scott Glenn were all considered for the role of Don Rafael Montero
-In the movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones play father and daughter and in real life are actually Welsh-born. They are the only Welsh-born actors present
-Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Spaniard Don Diego de la Vega while Spaniard Antonio Banderas plays Mexican Alejandro Murrieta
-Ironically, Antonio Banderas is Spanish in real life instead of Mexican. He has more in common with the antagonists than the protagonist

-The characters Joaquin Murrieta, Alejandro Murrieta and Three Finger Jack were all real-life bandits from Northern California during the 1849 Gold Rush. Joaquin Murrieta was Mexican, born in Sonora and moved to California to find fortune with gold. After American gold miners beat him and robbed him, he swore to see vengeance. He found a group of bandits and lead them through the California wilderness, killing anyone who posed a threat. Americans saw him as a reason to hang anyone who spoke Spanish while Mexicans looked at him like a folk hero. Three Finger Jack was a Mexican named Manuel Garcia, who was Murrieta's sidekick. He was supposedly killed on July 18, 1853 by Captain Harry Love, who preserved Murrieta's head in a jar of alcohol and Three Finger Jack's hand as proof they were dead.

Captain Harry Love

Joaquin Murrieta

 

The Legend of Zorro (2005)

This is the second movie in the Zorro series.

Summary
-Alejandro de la Vega, also known as Zorro, has made a promise to his wife Elena to stop wearing the mask and take on duties as a father. He breaks it and Elena leaves, falling for a French count. When a threat to California's statehood turns out to be linked to a mysterious explosion in the desert, it's soo discovered this mysterious French count might be related to that case

Cast
-Julio Oscar Mechoso: Frey Felipe
-Gustavo Sanchez Parra: Guillermo Cortez
-Adrian Alonson: Joaquin de la Vega
-Nick Chinlund: Jacob McGivens
-Antonio Banderas: Alejandro de la Vega
-Catherine Zeta-Jones: Elena de la Vega
-Rufus Sewell: Count Armand

Did You Know?
-Adrian Alonso, who plays Joaquin, didn't know English. He learned all his lines phonetically, just as Antonio Banderas had done for his role in The Mambo Kings
-Between The Mask of Zorro and this film, Alejandro had changed his name from Alejandro Murrieta to Alejandro de la Vega to avoid using the name of a wanted criminal

Antonio Banderas

This is one actor that makes my sister's heart melt! He is, alongside Johnny Depp, one of my sister's all time favorite actors.

Birth name: Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas
DOB: 8/10/1960
Where: Malaga, Spain

Trademark
-Strong Spanish accent
-Deep voice
-Often works with Robert Rodriguez

Trivia
-He is the ex-stepfather to Dakota Johnson
-He became a father for the first time at age 36 when wife Melanie Griffith gave birth to Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith on 9/24/1996
-In Spanish, his surname translates into "flags"
-Is a supporter of the Malaga soccer (futbol) team
-When he tried to make the risky attempt at breaking into Hollywood, he had to learn English phonetically because of Hollywood's hesitation at hiring heavily accented actors and actresses
-Has appeared in five films with Salma Hayek: Desperado, Four Rooms, Spy Kids 3: Game Over, Puss in Boots, Frida

Filmography


The Mambo Kings (1992)
Nestor Castillo

Philadelphia (1993)
-Miguel Alvarez



The House of the Spirits (1993)
-Pedro

Desperado (1995)
-El Mariachi



Interview with the Vampire (1994)
-Armand

Miami Rhapsody (1995)
-Antonio



Assassins (1995)
-Miguel Bain

Never Talk to Strangers (1995)
-Tony Ramirez

Evita (1996)
-Che



The Mask of Zorro (1998)
-Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro

The 13th Warrior (1999)
-Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan

The White River Kid (1999)
-Morales Pittman



Spy Kids (2001), Spy Kids Series
-Gregorio Cortez

Original Sin (2001)
-Luis Antonio Vargas



Femme Fatale (2002)
-Nicolas Bardo

Frida (2002)
-David Alfaro Siqueiros

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
-El Mariachi



Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Shrek Forever After (2010)
-Puss in Boots (voice)



Thick as Thieves (2009)
-Gabriel



The Skin I Live In (2011)
-Robert Ledgard



Day of the Falcon (2011)
-Emir Nesib

Haywire (2011)
-Rodrigo



The Expendables 3
-Galgo

Black Butterfly (2017)
-Paul