this film along with milady with arielle dombasle be the two best musketeer movie of the millennium . i be so glad there be so much more to offer in the way of musketeer film especially since i waste money go to see that horrible loosely base adaptation of the three musketeer call the musketeer ( 2001 ) . the acting performance be topnotch in this production . vincent elbaz be a fine dartagnan the right physical type just a little too tall and a little too mature but he give an excellent performance . dartagnan in the novel be very polite and sensitive but brave and would not back down from any duel . when dartagnan meet rochefort character in the novel ( a character not in this version of the story ) he be mad at rochefort for make insulting comment about his horse . vincent elbaz dartagnan unfortunately be a little on the obnoxious side . porthos be a little too short but he pull the part off just fine . emmanuelle beart milady de winter give a fine performance but i only wish they would have make this film ten to fifteen year before . i mean she be push 40 but she do look great and arielle dombasle who be in her late 40 also look pretty good in the rival production milady . i guess there be some truth to 40 be the new thirty and 50 be the new 40. emmanuelle beart be milady who have to be reckon with . she have the devil in her alright . heino ferch athos be true to the athos character and i appreciate that this film show athos hang her which be accurate in the book . what i do not care for about the production be young dartagnan see the episode in the wood . in the book athos and dartagnan first saw each other in monsieur de treville office and also in the book dartagnan be a gascon ( basque ) from the southern part of france and athos and the count de le fere come from a region not far from paris . karyo cardinal richelieu be in tune with the character . german actress diana amft be good constance bonancieux but not great . the actor play aramis turn in a fine performance a do the actress play anne of austria . the duke of buckingham be a in the novel a goodlooking man but by no mean mild mannered . buckingham have a temper be a womanizer and socialclimber and ambitious and by no mean a coward . i also appreciate that this film retain many of the minor character in the book . great set and scenery . some of the problem with this version be representthere be no chevalier or count de rochefort and no lord de winter a big mistake as far a the character of rochefort go . milady in this have no fleur de li instead she have a serpentine mark of the devil which appear on her skin after the devil resurrect her after athos have hang her . milady and athos do not have a child together and she do not sacrifice her child to the devil in exchange for her soul . milady son be by her marriage to her second husband lord de winter and his name be john de winter aka mordaunt and a worthy descendant of milady de winter he be an assassin and spy also and have his mother appetite for revenge especially against his uncle and his mother executioner and the 4 musketeer for deprive him of a mother . for more on mordaunt read the novel and sequel the twenty year after and try to get a decent movie version of the novel . french and russian version of the twenty year after be the best and so be the bbc version . richard lester give the mordaunt character a sex change in his version and the italian version be very loosely base . dartagnan be the short of the musketeer and be olive skin read the very first chapter of the novel and he be eighteen year old aramis and porthos be in their 20 and athos in his early thirty . for physical description of the musketeer they be fair and handsome men read the first part of the novel and the chapter the antechamber of monsieur de treville . milady de winter be 16 year old not twenty when she marry athos and athos be 25 read the chapter in the novel three musketeer call the wife of athos . when dartagnan first see milady in the beginning of the novel which start in the year 1625 and end in 1628 milady be twenty to twenty two year old and towards the end of the novel athos in the chapter call how athos find his outfit athos when he find out that his wife be still alive describe her a beautiful and tall and well make and blue eye with a strange look to them ( which might have inspire the screenwriter of this adaptation to make it appear that milady be a demon possess secret satanist ) and blonde who would be 26 to 28 year of age . milady de winter be not some small framed delicate little woman like emmanuelle beart or even faye dunaway who by far at least to movie critic and duma fan alike give the best performance of the character to date in the 1973/1974 richard lester film and follow in the best performance category mary peach of the 1966 bbc version and mylene demongeot of the french 1961 and not to forget lana turner in the 1948 mgm version . in my opinion this version be good but in no way compare with the more faithful version of the three musketeer represent milady ( 2004 ) and dartagnan and the three musketeer ( 1978 ) russian film and the three musketeer ( 1999 ) video stage play and bernard borderie 1961 2 pt franco italian production and the 1966 bbc production and 1953 andre hunebelle version and the 1948 mgm production . a film that should be own by any musketeer fan and i can only hope that the new three musketeer trilogy which include a prequel on the musketeer and milady life before dartagnan that will be come to the big screen in 2011 will be worthy of such a great novel .