The film features the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega (Hopkins), escaping from prison to find his long-lost daughter (Zeta-Jones) and avenge the death of his wife at the hands of the corrupt governor Rafael Montero (Wilson).

He is aided by his successor (Banderas), who is pursuing his own vendetta against the governor's right-hand man while falling in love with de la Vega's daughter.

Executive producer Steven Spielberg had initially developed the film for TriStar Pictures with directors Mikael Salomon and Robert Rodriguez, before Campbell signed on in 1996.

Salomon cast Sean Connery as Don Diego de la Vega, while Rodriguez brought Banderas in the lead role.

Don Rafael Montero, Las Californias' corrupt governor, sets a trap for Zorro at the public execution of three peasants.

While the building burns, Montero takes Diego's infant daughter, Elena, as his own before sending de la Vega to prison and returning to Spain.

Alejandro agrees to undergo de la Vega's intense training in Zorro's secret lair underneath the ruins of his family estate.

Montero hints at a plan to retake California for the Dons and proclaim it as an independent republic by buying it from General Santa Anna, who needs money for the upcoming Mexican–American War.

Other actors in the film include William Marquez as Fray Felipe, Maury Chaykin as a prison warden, Jose Perez as the bumbling Corporal Garcia (a character originating in the 1950s American TV series), Humberto Elizondo as Don Julio, Fernando Becerril as Don Sergio, and Vanessa Bauche as an Indio girl.

In October 1992, TriStar Pictures and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment were planning to start production on Zorro the following year, and hired Joel Gross to rewrite the script after they were impressed with his adaptation of The Three Musketeers.

[23] Gross completed his rewrite in March 1993, and TriStar entered pre-production, creating early promotion for the film that same month at the ShoWest trade show.

Filming resumed in Tlaxcala, three hours east of Mexico City, where the production crew constructed the Montero hacienda and town set pieces.

[40] Sony sent David Foster to join the project as a producer to help fill the void left by Steven Spielberg, Walter F. Parkes, and Laurie MacDonald, who were busy running DreamWorks.

Foster and David S. Ward, who went uncredited, re-wrote some scenes;[41] the troubled production caused The Mask of Zorro to go $10 million over its budget.

[41][42] In December, the producers were frustrated by customs agents when some props and other items, including Zorro's plastic sword, were held for nine days.

[47] The soundtrack, released by Sony Classical Records and Epic Soundtrax, was commercially successful and propelled by the rising profile of the Latin heartthrobs of Marc Anthony and Australian singer Tina Arena.

The capture of Murrieta's right-hand man Three-Fingered Jack by Love was also historical; however, the real person was a Mexican named Manuel Garcia rather than an Anglo-American.

[52] As he did in the movie, the actual Harry Love preserved both Murrieta's head and Jack's hand in large, alcohol-filled glass jars.

Spain's King Juan Carlos I, Queen Sophia, and Princess Elena attended the first Royal premiere in Madrid in seven years.

[64] Richard Schickel of Time magazine praised The Mask of Zorro as a summer blockbuster which paid tribute to the classical Hollywood swashbuckler films.

"The action in this movie, most of which takes the form of spectacular stunt work performed by real, as opposed to digitized, people," Schickel stated, "is motivated by simple, powerful emotions of an old-fashioned and rather melodramatic nature.

"[3] Mick LaSalle, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle gave credit to Anthony Hopkins for his masculine portrayal of an older Zorro, adding that the actor's "performance presents a slight problem: The film asks us to believe that no one has figured out that Zorro and his real-life persona are the same person, even though they are the only guys in Mexico who talk with a British accent.

"[67] Todd McCarthy of Variety found the film's length to be "somewhat overlong" and lacking "the snap and concision that would have put it over the top as a bang-up entertainment, but it's closer in spirit to a vintage Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power swashbuckler than anything that's come out of Hollywood in quite some time.

"[68] In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers criticized the casting choices for the Mexican roles, which included Banderas, a Spaniard, as well as Hopkins and Zeta-Jones, who are both Welsh.

[69] Internet reviewer James Berardinelli compared the tone and style of The Mask of Zorro to producer Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Even though Zorro doesn't feature the non-stop cliffhanger adventure of Raiders," Berardinelli continued, "there's still plenty of action, tumult, and derring-do."

[73] With the commercial success of the film, Sony sold the television rights of The Mask of Zorro for $30 million in a joint deal to CBS and Turner Broadcasting System.