The Three Musketeers / The Four Musketeers 4K UHD (1973-1974) (Criterion Collection)

[MifuneFan]

Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974) will be released on 4K by Criterion in May. It will include a brand-new 2+ hour documentary, and Criterion have also confirmed the audio pitch issue that was present on the Studiocanal UK releases has been corrected as well (see below).

The Three Musketeers / The Four Musketeers: Two Films by Richard Lester 4K UHD

https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/79...richard-lester

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restorations, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• In the 4K UHD edition: Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features
• Two for One, a new documentary by critic David Cairns
• The Saga of the Musketeers (2002), a two-part documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew members
• The Making of “The Three Musketeers,” a 1973 featurette with behind-the-scenes footage of director Richard Lester
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek

New illustration by Mattias Adolfsson

The Three Musketeers

Richard Lester’s spirited adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s timeless novel immediately distinguished itself from previous film versions with its irresistible lightheartedness. It follows the brash, young wannabe musketeer d’Artagnan (Michael York) as he travels from the French countryside to Paris and befriends Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay), and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), famed swordsmen whom he must help to stop the conniving Cardinal Richelieu (Charlton Heston) and his plot to undermine the king. The Three Musketeers sweeps viewers away with its exquisite sets and costumes, chivalric romance, and breathless duels punctuated by the ingenious physical comedy that was Lester’s trademark.

The Four Musketeers

It may be “one for all and all for one,” but it took director Richard Lester two films to contain the sweeping spectacle of Alexandre Dumas’s swashbuckling adventure. This sequel—shot simultaneously with The Three Musketeers, since they were originally conceived as a single film—dials down the comic high jinks that distinguished the first installment in favor of a more somber tone, as our heroes are drawn into a deadly revenge plot orchestrated by the seductive Milady de Winter (a deliciously wicked Faye Dunaway). Upping the psychological stakes and deepening our sense of the characters, The Four Musketeers brings this beloved tale of honor and friendship to a close with a rousing emotional

The Audio pitch issue present on the international Studiocanal releases have been fixed. Credit to SpacemanDoug for the heads-up:

Thank you for writing to me and for your interest in our upcoming release of THE THREE MUSKETEERS and THE FOUR MUSKETEERS
https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/79...richard-lester

Our audio department investigated this and we can confirm that the audio pitch on our release is correct -- as a comparison, it is slightly lower than the StudioCanal 4K release version. The pitch of the audio that will be on our 4K releases matches the pitch of the 2003 DVDs, which you mentioned.

In short, we think you will be pleased with the final results.
Let me know if you have any further questions and thank you for supporting Criterion! Best,
Jon Mulvaney

[BuckarooBanzai]

Long awaited!

[Winslow Leach]

Finally! Two of my favorite films of all-time!

[CrimsonLegionVMCXIX]

Nice, will definitely buy this one.

[MifuneFan]

This will be in a plastic case for anyone wondering.

[Dingus1539]

Fantastic announcement, absolutely wonderful films, so glad I held off on picking them up in any form.

[Darth Marcus]

Will put my StudioCanals up for sale as those don't have Dolby Vision and these do.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

Will put my StudioCanals up for sale as those don't have Dolby Vision and these do.

Although not advertised, or mentioned in the database, they do appear to have DV based on these posts in the UK 4K thread

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=176

Originally Posted by lgans316

I am now fully inspired to watch these light cannon grades on a 10K nit Hisense 110 inch TV. I bet it will combat sunlight even in dark scenes

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00:00:00.000                             : en:Chapter 01
00:11:09.416                             : en:Chapter 02
00:20:04.333                             : en:Chapter 03
00:28:39.791                             : en:Chapter 04
00:40:18.375                             : en:Chapter 05
00:48:23.500                             : en:Chapter 06
01:01:37.041                             : en:Chapter 07
01:10:31.250                             : en:Chapter 08
01:19:43.541                             : en:Chapter 09
01:26:06.041                             : en:Chapter 10
01:37:33.125                             : en:Chapter 11
01:41:40.375                             : en:Chapter 12

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=177

Originally Posted by lgans316

The Four Musketeers

Maximum Content Light Level : 380 cd/m2
Maximum Frame-Average Light Level : 119 cd/m2

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Codec ID                                 : V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Duration                                 : 1 h 46 min
Bit rate                                 : 95.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
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Original source medium                   : Blu-ray

Audio #1
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00:41:32.958                             : en:Chapter 06
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01:13:12.000                             : en:Chapter 09
01:21:49.125                             : en:Chapter 10
01:29:55.791                             : en:Chapter 11
01:42:58.708                             : en:Chapter 12

[Nocheduro]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Although not advertised, or mentioned in the database, they do appear to have DV based on these posts in the UK thread

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=176

I can also confirm that the Studio Canals have DV.

[The Sovereign]

So excited to own these. Not sure I’ll make it to the July sale.

[mattaaron2112]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

Will put my StudioCanals up for sale as those don't have Dolby Vision and these do.

Can personally confirm that the StudioCanal discs actually do have Dolby Vision.

My question for the Criterion release will be whether the audio pitch issue is addressed. It sounded fine to me on my copies of the SC discs but I know there were pages of discussion about it when those came out.

[Olmo]

'The Three Musketeers, the most read book in the world.......after the Bible'.

Made me laugh anyway.

[spiltmilk]

SC discs have botched audio (pitch too high). Hopefully that will be fixed on the Criterion discs.

[Dr. T]

Originally Posted by mattaaron2112

Can personally confirm that the StudioCanal discs actually do have Dolby Vision.

My question for the Criterion release will be whether the audio pitch issue is addressed. It sounded fine to me on my copies of the SC discs but I know there were pages of discussion about it when those came out.

Originally Posted by spiltmilk

SC discs have botched audio (pitch too high). Hopefully that will be fixed on the Criterion discs.

You can contact Criterion about this at mulvaney@criterion.com

[Batman90]

As a big fan of 3 Musketeers is this worth a blind buy?

[JoeKryten]

Originally Posted by Batman90

As a big fan of 3 Musketeers is this worth a blind buy?

Depends on your outlook on the source material. Some find the Lester films a little (or a lot) too "jokey" for their tastes. But I always found the book to be equal parts humorous and dramatic and I thought Lester captured the tone perfectly, especially in the second film. For me Oliver Reed sets the bar for Athos that no one else has matched.

[Hammerlover]

In for it but that artwork stinks.

[NeilZ]

I just hope Criterion fixes the high pitch audio bug.

[Jorvic]

Originally Posted by Batman90

As a big fan of 3 Musketeers is this worth a blind buy?

Yes. For me these are the best film adaptations of the novel. Stellar cast, good humour and some very nice cinematography. Think I actually prefer the second movie more now. I already own the StudioCanal discs, which have a great transfer, but am tempted to buy the Criterions too.

[Deadend45]

Hopefully it will not have SC's green coloring grading although it cannot be counted on.