Musketeers - BBC Discuss!

[Lowtardog]

Watched it last night, not dreadful however a few bits which were a little puzzling; Why are they all wearing leather, whats it with the shoulder pads denoting which regiment they came from?

the usual swashbucking one would expect. I did like the fact the weapons were pretty accurate including the pistols and musket, did cringe at the unifomrs though, BBC drives you nuts since they made Robin hood whihc should have been lost in the archives as a dire liberty

[gringo]

lowtardog...............the opening music catches your attention and for me it had a spaghetti western romp  feel about it which i enjoyed. The leather
"biker" jackets do jar a bit but on balance pretty enjoyable.All the characters are intersting though the king was a little too wimpy for me
and would be better  as slighhtly more "awe inspiring"!!
worth watching for sure.................
good to see they have made a big effort with the weapons..nice!!

regards
Ged
www.gringo40s.com
www.gringo40s.blogspot.com

[white knight]

Accurate weapons mean squat of course when faced with the complete fiction and jarring anachronism of the clothing.

[Lowtardog]

Accurate weapons mean squat of course when faced with the complete fiction and jarring anachronism of the clothing.

The clothes are pretty accurate in style ...just seem to be lots of leather!

[Galloping Major]

Well put mate  

Actually, not as bad as expected, but to paraphrase most comments on the BBC's old points of view: 'Why oh why oh ****ing why' do they insist on dressing the heroes so badly.

As you say, all that leather - more like an attempt at a C17 Village People, and those shoulder pads seem to owe more to Warhammer than any historical reference.
I wonder if the producers think that to dress them as 17th century soldiers from a well-off background wouldn't make them look "ard" enough? At least they didn't go down the usual idiotic route of not letting important characters wear hats  

Other than the main characters, the look wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Nothing near as bad as the appearance of each and every character in the Robin Hood series you mention   where as well as going to film in the former eastern block to save money, they also seem to have dressed everyone from charity shops and army surplus  

What I found most irritating was that, as the plot hinged very much around the baddies nicking the uniforms from murdered musketeers in order to carry out their dastardly deeds, and those "uniforms" being refered to regularly through the script, wouldn't this have worked better if some element of uniform (the well known blue tabards?) had been used? Some of the musketeers seem to have slung on a blue cape instead once in a while, but maybe they could have splashed out on at least the relevant Osprey book to use as a bit of a guide - or something better!

Still, I'll no doubt watch the rest of the series as OK, resenting the fact that it could have been almost brilliant with a bit more care about the look.

Cheers,
Lance

[Captain Blood]

The BBC costume department are obsessed with putting actors in leatherette for any period piece pre-Jane Austen.
I think they think it looks exotic and immediately provides a convincing look of 'period-chic' whilst still possessing a modern-day vibe, thus making these 'historical' characters somehow more accessible and relevant to the present day viewer. Patronising, isn't it?
It looks naff and anachronistic - but they keep on doing it.

The down-with-da-kids 'Robin Hood', as mentioned, the execrable 'The White Queen', and now 'The Musketeers' - all dashing around in faux-leather gilets and tight leggings. It may look sexy and tres moderne, but it is also faintly ridiculous. But it's clearly a groove the BBC are into at the moment when it comes to historical dramas...

[Cubs]

I think these boys got there first - http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=60804.15

[Captain Blood]

True enough, but I think that thread had sunk way down the board until AEG (quite justifiably) just bumped it.

Good idea to have just one discussion on this programme though, where we can all vent about how much we hated it (while secretly enjoying it) 

I'll lock the other thread to concentrate fire on this new one...

Thanks.

[Galloping Major]

And another thing  

Yes, pretty good use of weaponry I thought, and nicely put in the interrogation in the barn - but, when the musket "failed" to ignite (deliberately) it would have actually made sense if he had said he had forgotten to prime it, rather than forgotten to load the ball, as without the ball, all concerned would have known that matchlock would still have ignited and done the prisoner no good at all at that range. Just a small point, but when you're a bit of an obsessive almost lifelong target shooter and re-enactor....  

Overall, could have been a lot worse (as I suspected it would be) some of the settings were very nice.
For me though, the old 70s movies with Olly Reed et al have still to be equalled  (though I speak from a slight position of ignorance, having refused to watch the Brat Pack version some years back due to the seriously bad appearance of the main characters trousers tucked into boots in place of breeches etc   )

Cheers,
Lance

www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

[Galloping Major]

The BBC costume department are obsessed with putting actors in leatherette for any period piece pre-Jane Austen.
I think they think it looks exotic and immediately provides a convincing look of 'period-chic' whilst still possessing a modern-day vibe, thus making these 'historical' characters somehow more accessible and relevant to the present day viewer. Patronising, isn't it?
It looks naff and anachronistic - but they keep on doing it.

 

[gringo]

the fact is leather excess..and "overmodernisation" creates and inspires
a wealth of opinions and publicity for the show and has stirred many
"experts" on the 17th century to head to the forums, and like they say
all publicity is good even if the  comments are bad!!     ( i dont mean any of us here!!).....................and im sure a New Range of 28mm figures
will appear...(tempted...as always!) and i have no doubt we will all watch
the show till the end....
would have been good to see a blue tabbard or two with a nod to the
real guys.Still im hooked
Ged
www.gringo40s.com

[Malamute]

For me though, the old 70s movies with Olly Reed et al have still to be equalled  (though I speak from a slight position of ignorance, having refused to watch the Brat Pack version some years back due to the seriously bad appearance of the main characters trousers tucked into boots in place of breeches etc   )

Agreed, without doubt my absolute favourite version and as far as I am concerned the best cast ever: Spike Milligan, Roy Kinnear, a cameo appearance from Captain Peacock and not forgetting Raquel's ample bosom )

[TheBlackCrane]

For me though, the old 70s movies with Olly Reed et al have still to be equalled  

Hear hear! Although I would like the third film - The Return of the Musketeers - to appear on dvd as I can't recall ever having seen it.

[Galloping Major]

Hear hear! Although I would like the third film - The Return of the Musketeers - to appear on dvd as I can't recall ever having seen it.

I still have it on VHS, I too haven't found it on DVD - let me know if you do 

www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

[Galloping Major]

Agreed, without doubt my absolute favourite version and as far as I am concerned the best cast ever: Spike Milligan, Roy Kinnear, a cameo appearance from Captain Peacock and not forgetting Raquel's ample bosom )

Too right, and who could forget the last item 

Ged -you're right, I'll continue watching 


www.gallopingmajorwargames.com