A young thief seeking revenge for his brother's death is trained by the once-great, aging Zorro, who is pursuing his own vengeance.
In 1821 Old California, mysterious black-caped masked avenger of the oppressed, Don Diego de la Vega--Zorro--lands in jail after once again humiliating the evil Spanish governor Don Rafael Montero. With his only daughter raised by Don Rafael as his own, the grizzled swordsman makes a daring escape nearly two decades later, and takes under his wing the unrefined outlaw Alejandro Murietta to teach him the ropes and hopefully become the next Zorro. Now, the stage is set for a ferocious final confrontation, as the new young rapier-wielder prepares to thwart the despicable governor's sinister plans. Can Alejandro live up to legendary Zorro's name?—Nick Riganas
Elder Zorro has been in prison for many years, harbouring bitter feelings towards the man who cost him his freedom, murdered his wife and adopted his daughter. Don Rafael Montero is an evil man whom Zorro will once and for all foil his schemes. However, this means that the elder Zorro must train a new, young Zorro.
A retired outlaw vigilante trains a young thief to be his successor and stop an enemy lord from destroying a civilization and killing everyone in it. As that all happens, both of them also plan to get revenge after tragic events that happened to them in the past.—RECB3
The original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega (Sir Anthony Hopkins), is captured and imprisoned just as Spain concedes California to Santa Anna. 20 years later, his mortal enemy, Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson), returns to California with a plan to become wealthy at the expense of the peasants. The original Zorro escapes from prison and trains a new Zorro to take his place.—Afterburner <[email protected]>
In 1821, Don Diego DE la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) fights against Spain in the Mexican War of Independence as Zorro, a mysterious avenger who defends the Mexican peasants and commoners of Las Californias. Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson), the cruel governor of the region, learns DE la Vega's identity. Arresting DE la Vega in his home, his beloved wife Esperanza (Julieta Rosen) is accidentally killed by one of Montero's soldiers. Montero imprisons DE la Vega and takes his infant daughter, Elena, as his own and leaves for Spain.
Twenty years later, Montero returns from exile in Spain with Elena (Catherine Zeta Jones), who has grown into a beautiful woman, by his side. He is planning to turn California into an independent republic. However, his reappearance also awakens a long-dormant DE la Vega, who has spent two decades living in anonymity during his imprisonment. He escapes from prison, and as he plans his revenge on Montero, DE la Vega encounters a thief, Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas), who - along with his brother - greatly admired Zorro as a child and even had a small hand in the hero's last great exploit. After a brief period of deliberation, DE la Vega decides to take Alejandro as his protege. Inspired by the wish for revenge upon Captain Harrison Love (Matt Letscher), his brother's killer and Montero's right hand man, he endures the tough training regimen brilliantly.
After Alejandro steals a black stallion resembling Toronado, Zorro's long deceased horse, and leaves Zorro's mark at the scene, DE la Vega scolds him claiming that Zorro was a servant of the people, not a thief or adventurer. He challenges Alejandro to gain Montero's trust and pose as Don Alejandro Del Castillo y García, a visiting nobleman, with DE la Vega posing as his servant, Bernardo. Both attend a party at Montero's hacienda, where he gains Elena's admiration and titillation and enough of Montero's trust to be invited to a secret meeting. There, Montero hints at a plan to retake California for the Dons by buying it from General Santa Anna, who needs money to fund his upcoming war with the United States.
Alejandro and the Dons are taken to a secret gold mine known as "El Dorado", where peasants and criminals are used for slave labor. The plan is to buy California from Santa Anna using gold mined from Santa Anna's own land. Meanwhile, DE la Vega uses this opportunity to become closer to Elena: still posing as Bernardo, he learns that Montero raised her telling her that her mother died in childbirth. De la Vega sends Alejandro, as Zorro, to steal the map leading to the gold mine: he duels Montero, Love, and their guards at the hacienda. When Alejandro escapes, Elena attempts to retrieve Montero's map, but he uses his sword to strip off her clothing and seduces her, leading to a passionate kiss before he flees.
Terrified of Santa Anna's retribution if he discovers that he is being paid with his own gold, Montero decides to destroy the mine, along with all its workers, to better hide all evidence. De la Vega tells Alejandro to release the workers on his own so that he can reclaim Elena: he corners Montero at his hacienda and reveals his identity, but is captured. As he is taken away, Elena, inspired by a chance encounter with a woman who had been her nanny at the market, asks Montero the name of the flower that her mother had hung about her crib: when it is DE la Vega who tells Elena its name, she realizes he is her father. She releases DE la Vega from his cell and they proceed to the mine, which Zorro has begun to infiltrate. De la Vega stops Montero from shooting Zorro and the two duel. Meanwhile Zorro is confronted by Love and they duel. In the end, Alejandro avenges his brother by impaling Love with his own sword, and DE la Vega sends Montero to his death by dragging him off a cliff behind a gold laden cart which crushes Love.
Elena and Alejandro free the workers before the explosives go off, where they attend to the mortally wounded DE la Vega. He makes peace with Alejandro before dying, passing the mantle of Zorro to him, and gives his blessings for Alejandro's and Elena's prospective marriage. They re-build the DE la Vega hacienda and have a son named Joaquin, honoring Alejandro's brother.
