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 protégé.
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 stealing a black stallion resembling Toronado, Zorro's long
deceased horse, and leaving 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 injured 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.
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