Richard Lester returned to his double-barreled successes of the 1970s,
The Three Musketeers
and
The Four Musketeers
, with
Return of the Musketeers
, a film that was inexplicably shelved for several years, making its belated premiere on cable television. Based on Alexandre Dumas's novel
Twenty Years Later
, the film takes place (appropriately enough) two decades after the death of Milady de Winter. Though Milady may have died, her nefarious schemes have been taken up by her daughter Justine (Kim Cattrall), who maneuvers with the conspiring Cardinal Mazarin (Philippe Noiret) to gain control of the crown through Queen Anne (Geraldine Chaplin). D'Artagnan (Michael York) calls for his old compatriots Porthos (Frank Finlay), Athos (Oliver Reed), and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain) to once again go "one for all and all for one." But complications set in when Athos and Aramis take sides with the crown and Athos' adopted son Raoul (C. Thomas Howell) falls in love in Justine. The film is dedicated to character actor Roy Kinnear who plays Planchet, who died in an equestrian accident during the production.