The Man in the Iron Mask

Name: The Man in the Iron Mask
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, History
Released: March 13, 1998
Duration: 132 min
Rating: 48
Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Gérard Depardieu, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Leonardo DiCaprio

1998

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 85 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 85 Ratings

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The Man In The Iron Mask

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Movie Details & Credits

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: March 13, 1998 | PG-13

Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Gérard Depardieu, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Leonardo DiCaprio

Summary: The Musketeers' most glorious, and dangerous, adventure begins with the rescue of a mysterious prisoner from a fortress island prison. But they soon realize that their mission may lead to the destruction of the very throne they serve. (MGM)

Director: Randall Wallace

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama, History

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 132 min

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Critic Reviews

Joe Garden

A mish-mash of accents (buffoonish Depardieu's French, somber Irons' British, and DiCaprio and Malkovich carrying the same voices they use for every project) are vaguely unsettling, and there seems to be too little swashbuckling for characters who are synonymous with the term. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Wallace, unfortunately, writes lazy, anachronistic dialogue, and the picture is abysmally shot (by Peter Suschitzky), with a prosaic, low-budget look that never allows you to experience the enraptured majesty of a fairy-tale historical setting. Read full review

Rick Groen

The result is the kind of picture you can sit through quite contentedly, the cinematic equivalent of an innocuous seatmate on an airplane trip -- it neither bores nor insults you, and, when the ride's over, is promptly gone and forgotten. Read full review

Barbara Shulgasser

Leonardo DiCaprio? Excuse me, Leonardo DiCaprio? I know he makes teenaged girls cry, but, I mean, Leonardo DiCaprio? Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

The only other adaptations I've seen of the Alexandre Dumas novel (which I haven't read) are the Classics Illustrated comic book and the 1939 James Whale potboiler, both of which I prefer to this vulgar and overwrought 1998 free-for-all, which makes you wait interminably for the story's central narrative premise. Read full review

Desson Thomson

There is nothing worth getting steamed over or particularly excited about. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

Not 10 minutes into the smeary mess that is The Man in the Iron Mask, the only sensible question to ask yourself is, "What am I doing here?" Read full review

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User Reviews

FilipeNeto

Feb 23, 2018

In this film, based on a novel of Alexandre Dumas, king's musketeers seek to replace the ruthless French king for a twin brother of him, that people don't know and that has been kept secret by state reasons. Directed by Randall Wallace, which also provides the script, has the participationIn this film, based on a novel of Alexandre Dumas, king's musketeers seek to replace the ruthless French king for a twin brother of him, that people don't know and that has been kept secret by state reasons. Directed by Randall Wallace, which also provides the script, has the participation of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne.

The script is good and makes an interesting adaptation of the novel. Initially, I had few expectations about the film due to Randall Wallace, who was involved in the disaster that was "Braveheart". In fact, this film is low in historical accuracy, but Dumas also invented quite in his own novel. The recreation of the court environments, costumes and sets, on the other hand, seemed to me more in line with historical reality and also fill the expectations of the audience, showing the splendor of the Sun King's court. Maybe Wallace has taken some positive lessons from "Braveheart" after all. The action scenes were interesting, and the swashbuckler style sword fighting's deserves a positive note. Leo DiCaprio was at the highest level and showed great talent, having to make two characters deeply antagonistic. Depardieu was not bad but not surprised except in humor. His character is the funniest and the actor was perfectly able to play with it and make him funnier. John Malkovich, Gabriel Byrne and Jeremy Irons incarnated the deepest and psychologically demanding roles, having made an inspired performance and showing great ability to collaborate with each other. After all, they are all veterans and established actors, they don't have to prove anything to anyone. The soundtrack accompanied the film faithfully and fulfilled her role with style.

Not being, nor by far, one of the best movies I know about this historical period, this film doesn't frustrate the expectations of the public and give him what he wants: fencing, old-fashioned chivalry, dances, the luxury of Ancient Regime and a story that combines, in the right measure, history, romance, drama and action.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

Kai82

Nov 28, 2021

A solid movie that has its moments but is not mind blowing. The great cast saves it in my eyes. The gold standard for all movie adaptions of „The Man with the Iron Mask“ is the 1977 movie with Richard Chamberlain for me. While I see this not as failure it never reaches the highs of theA solid movie that has its moments but is not mind blowing. The great cast saves it in my eyes. The gold standard for all movie adaptions of „The Man with the Iron Mask“ is the 1977 movie with Richard Chamberlain for me. While I see this not as failure it never reaches the highs of the better adaptations. While based on the third book of “The three Musketeers” from Alexandre Dumas the man with the iron mask is based on a real life prisoner. There was a mysterious man who was imprisoned for decades wearing a mask during Louis XIV reign without anyone of his wardens knowing his identity. There is a lot of prove for this and much effort and money was put into securing this man. A lot of various theories about this mans identity exists. However the iron mask is probably fake as a velvet mask is described. Back to the review. The story is set during the reign of Louis XIV who is called the Sun King. He is the poster child for a monarch and has his place in history. While he lives a live of extravagance he is also slowly bankrupting the country. There is huge poverty, starvation and riots. From the 4 musketeers only D’Artagnan is remaining as captain but he is also disillusioned of the king. When he saved the king from an assassination attempt the musketeers unite again as there is more to it than it seems and a secret of the past will be a key. This is the set up for the movie. Like I already said it is not the first movie adaptation of the story. The story works as it is a classic but it is nowhere near the gold standard. The cast saves this movie from a lower rating. With Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Leonardo Di Caprio, Gabriel Byrne and Gerard Depardieu you cant go wrong. I enjoyed their arcs and interactions more than the actual story. The other roles also have good actors and I say the cast is the best asset of the movie. The visuals are really good. I like the costumes, sets and style. They deliver the atmosphere and era. Overall this is a movie you can watch and will forget it existed. Only by accident I remembered it by reading about another topic. It is not a misfire but also nothing to write home about. I give a 6/10 because of the great cast and their performance.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

The3AcademySins

Mar 20, 2019

Dumb family friendly fun at some of it's finest. A very predictable script with some fun moments and good performances (minus the actress who plays Christine, who is just dreadful) The Man in the Iron Mask isn't a terrible way to kill 2 hours, but I am sure you could find some better alternatives.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

abrarqadir

Jul 21, 2020

the actual story is so good that it really should be remade properly. this version, however, is horrifically written & directed, and absent 3 great decisions, terribly casted. Jeremy Irons' marvelous voice carries the movie. Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne more than carry their weight asthe actual story is so good that it really should be remade properly. this version, however, is horrifically written & directed, and absent 3 great decisions, terribly casted. Jeremy Irons' marvelous voice carries the movie. Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne more than carry their weight as well. John Malkovich, however, inspires laughter, and Leonardo, if it wasn't for having talent acting with his eyes, would do the same. There was no consistency with pronunciation of words, or the accent being sought. Even Hugh Laurie ends up looking like a community college drama student in this. the actual story, the sense of dignity in the musketeers' aspirations, and some very pretty shots of ''the french countryside'' keep this watchable, and ultimately, a fun 2 hours. but i would absolutely LOVE to see this remade with an actually professional script and thoughtful casting choices.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MattBrady99

Sep 26, 2015

The Man in the Iron Mask is forgettable and quite dull to watch. The cinematography and the costumes were great, but DiCaprio was no King Louis and it sucks saying that because I know Leo is better than this.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

Oibaf

Aug 15, 2021

Three stars just because of the Beauties Parillaud and Godrèche: The main reason of my rating, instead of "0" ! And then three stars also to Director Wallace that allowed Byrne-Malkowich-Irons-Depardieu to spend a nice and funny holiday in France, not to mention the "double Leo", the mostThree stars just because of the Beauties Parillaud and Godrèche: The main reason of my rating, instead of "0" ! And then three stars also to Director Wallace that allowed Byrne-Malkowich-Irons-Depardieu to spend a nice and funny holiday in France, not to mention the "double Leo", the most ludicrous of them all (multiplied for 2 actually). That said, nice cinematography and stage costumes. Better let French deal with Alexandre Dumas...… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Jan 21, 2017

Je savais bien que c’était une daube ou je le subodorais fortement du moins… mais comme tout le monde, j’ai été appâté par la distribution vraiment très agréable et très judicieusement choisie : Di Caprio, Irons, Depardieu, Byrne, Malkovich, Parillaud, Sarsgaard… même la jolie Godrêche quiJe savais bien que c’était une daube ou je le subodorais fortement du moins… mais comme tout le monde, j’ai été appâté par la distribution vraiment très agréable et très judicieusement choisie : Di Caprio, Irons, Depardieu, Byrne, Malkovich, Parillaud, Sarsgaard… même la jolie Godrêche qui joue la godiche bien apprêtée se révèle charmante. C’est la foire aux beaux costumes et à la belle reconstitution, l’histoire est toute tracée (Alexandre Dumas, bon sang !) et il suffit de suivre le fil…

Mais non, Randall Wallace malgré sa caméra fluide, presque guindée, démoule hélas une… daube ! J’étais plein de bonnes résolutions et j’avais coché la case « bon public » dans un recoin de ma cervelle peu habituée à de telles pratiques. Mais impossible de tenir jusqu’au bout, j’ai les neurones qui fument devant des dialogues aussi imbéciles, notre Depardieu national qui enchaîne pitrerie sur pitrerie, la musique gnangnan à dormir debout et les graves lenteurs d’un scénario dont même une tortue ne voudrait pas.

Malgré la distribution, tout y est très compassé et maladroit, peu crédible et disons-le, carrément ridicule. C’est l’idée sans doute que se fait Hollywood des intrigues imaginées par Dumas à la Cour du Royaume de France : pédantes et grotesques. Un tel bling-bling partout, on se croirait à Las Vegas !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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64	#64 Most Discussed Movie of 1998
56	#56 Most Shared Movie of 1998