The Mask of Zorro is a swashbuckler film directed by Martin Campbell, and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stuart Wilson. In over 80 years since the creation of the Spanish masked swordsman, Banderas was the first Spanish actor to ever portray Zorro, who is called a Californio from Las Californias. Hopkins portrayed the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega who was popularized by Guy Williams on the Disney TV series of the same name.

This epic, filmed in Mexico and Orlando, Florida, was both a box office success and critically acclaimed. The Legend of Zorro, a sequel also starring Banderas, Zeta-Jones and directed by Campbell, was released in 2005.

Plot summary

In 1821, the Mexican Army is on the verge of liberating its country from Spanish colonial rule. In the area of Las Californias the cruel and ruthless Spanish Governor, Don Rafael Montero, is about to be overthrown. In a last ditch effort to trap his arch-nemesis, the masked swordsman Zorro (Anthony Hopkins), Montero prepares to execute three innocent townspeople. With assistance from two orphan brothers, Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta, Zorro releases the prisoners. Zorro rewards the Murrieta brother with a special medallion he wears, and escapes on his horse, Toronado, after cutting a "Z" into Montero's neck as a parting gift and warning.