The Revolutionary Marathon

Today's marathon is all about experiencing REVOLUTION. Revolution through a series of legendary stories in the art of English literature with great heroes and villains. Themes of sword fighting, betrayal, forbidden love, masked identities and hidden truths, corruption and claiming what was once lost run throughout this marathon. We have on our menu for this evening:

Scarlett Pimpernel 1982, The Count of Monte Cristo 2002, Les Miserables 1998, The Man in the Iron Mask 1998, and The Mask of Zorro 1998

What do all of these movies have in common? They all have a lead male character who hides their identity and takes the role of either a vigilante who rescues victims of the French Revolution such as Anthony Andrews character in the Scarlett Pimpernel. While doing so, he develops a forbidden romance with a woman named Marguerite, whose also being wooed by the villainous Chief agent for the Committee of National security played by Ian Mckellen. The film The Count of Monte Cristo. revolves around the story of a man named Edmond Dantes played by Jim Cazievel, who ends up being betrayed by his best friend played by Guy Pearce and is wrongfully imprisoned, and becomes consumed by the thought's of vengeance. The third film Les Miserables is a 1998 version which stars Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes. In this story, Liam Neeson plays John Valjean, a heartless convict who becomes transformed by a single act of mercy. Uma Thurman plays the vulnerable prostitute who begs Valjean to raise her only child, Cosette played by Claire Danes. Valjean is pursued by an ambitious policeman played by Geoffrey Rush, who is determined to return Valjean to prison. The fourth film The Man In The Iron Mask, centers around a cruel king named Louis XIV, played by Leonardo Dicaprio, who has a secret twin brother that's been imprisoned by him. In an act of courage and defiance, the Three Musketeers seek to free the imprisoned twin brother and overthrow the evil King Louis from the throne. The epic finale The Mask of Zorro starring Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Bandera's, Catherine Zeta Jones and Stuart Wilson ties the whole marathon together with a young thief, seeking revenge over the death of his brother, is trained by the once great but aged Legend of Zorro, whose also seeking his own vengeance for the murder of his wife and the stealing of his daughter from his mortal enemy.

With each film, the stakes get higher, the action and drama increase as well as the passionate romance between the lead characters such as the Scarlett Pimpernel and Marguerite, the legendary Zorro and the beautiful Elena. This marathon has it all: action, drama, romance, comedy, and most importantly, all the films are period set pieces with revolution and defiance as the backdrop for the heroic stories of courage strength, honor and ultimately: Vengeance and Victory.