Zorro Complete Series

With his black cape, eye mask, and signature rapier-inflicted mark, Zorro has been a popular cultural icon for nearly 100 years. In this adaptation of a familiar tale, Duncan Regehr stars as the mild-mannered Don Diego de la Vega and his swashbuckling alter ego. Originally televised on the Family Channel from 1990 to 1993, the 88-episode series, which was filmed in Spain, depicts a mythical 19th-century outpost in southern California populated by corrupt or lazy officials, chivalrous gentlemen, pretty señoritas, simple but honest peasants, and other stock characters. This family-friendly fare, recommended by the National Education Association at the time of its airing, is formulaic and predictable. A bonus disc contains "The Mark of Zorro," a full-length version of the 1920 silent film with Douglas Fairbanks in the title role, along with the pilot to this series and various theatrical trailers. Of potential interest to fans of the original series or those who follow the different iterations of the man called Zorro. [The Disney series starring Guy Williams, which ran from 1957 to 1959, is also available in numerous editions, for those truly nostalgic.—,Ed.]—,Linda Frederiksen, Washington State Univ. Lib., Vancouver Copyright 2011 Reed Business Information. No doubt that the release of all 88 episodes of this fondly remembered 1990 Family Channel series will exert the same irresistible nostalgic pull on Generation Y as the classic 1950s Disney series has on Baby Boomers. But while Duncan Regehr (the cult fave Monster Squad), as the dashing Zorro, is no Guy Williams (forgive the generational bias), this entertaining family-friendly series is a worthy addition to the prolific Zorro canon that dates back to 1919. You have to get eight episodes into the first season for the four-episode arc that reveals how Don Diego de la Vega was compelled to become the legendary outlaw who fights injustice in 19th-century Spanish California. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. provides some old-school Hollywood glamour as Don Diego's father, who wishes his bookish son were more like Zorro. He was replaced Darrin-style in season two by Henry Darrow. There is mild love interest in the feisty form of Patrice Camhi Martinez as the independent, strong-willed Victoria. Juan Diego Botto provides added kid appeal as Felipe, a young mute who keeps Don Diego's heroic alter ego a secret. And stealing his scenes is Zorro's horse, Tornado. The series boasts good production values, swashbuckling action, hissable villains (Michael Tylo as the tyrannical mayor Luis Ramon in the first two seasons), corny humor, and some curious guest stars, including Adam West as an inventor hired to devise a trap for Zorro ("The Wizard"), Philip Michael Thomas as a runaway slave ("Pride of the Pueblo"), and future 007 Daniel Craig as a ruthless tax collector's lieutenant ("The Arrival," "Death and Taxes"), not to mention wrestlers Andre the Giant, Jesse Ventura, and Roddy Piper (in separate episodes). For aficionados, the real fun is on a disc full of bonus Zorro-abilia, including the 1920 silent film The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks, the first chapter of the 1939 serial Zorro's Fighting Legion, an alternative version of the series pilot episode starring Patrick James, and Zorro trailers. --Donald Liebenson

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