The Musketeer was a big-budget Hollywood production released in 2001 but wasn´t a great commercial or critical success. The film couldn´t cover the production costs and wasn´t nominated for any major academy awards.
Although the cast featured some top talent, the screenplay and the bold step into the future of classic film adaptation, combined with the introduction of martial arts, proved to be a mistake. The film was said to have no emotions and confusing fighting scenes.
Composer David Arnold
The only award nomination went to veteran David Arnold, a Grammy and Emmy award-winner, and very well-known Hollywood composer who has worked on five James Bond movies, Independence Day, Godzilla and many others. He received a nomination for the Gold Spirit Awards which are devoted almost exclusively to soundtracks and movie-related music. The award was just starting out in 2001 when the British composer for The Musketeer was nominated in the category Best Action Soundtrack, but came second.
The movie didn´t win any awards. The Oscar ceremony for that year, held on March 2002, saw strong winners such as A Beautiful Mind and the first movie of the Lord of the Rings saga. The blockbusters of the season also included the musical Moulin Rouge, Shrek, Monsters Inc. and a very young Harry Potter in the first movie of the popular saga. The Best Actor award was won by Denzel Washington for his fantastic work as a corrupt LA cop in Training Day, in which he co-starred with Ethan Hawke. The Best Actress award went to Halle Berry for the highly emotional Monster´s Ball.
The movie that competed directly with The Musketeer in the Action category that year was, without a doubt, Pearl Harbor, directed by Michael Bay and starring Ben Affleck and Josh Harnett. It was a huge success making almost $450 million in the box office. It also received serious acclaim among the critics getting nominated for four Oscars and winning one for Best Sound Editing.
An action scene from the classic film – a chase down from an ambush.
