Rating: 
Summary: Countless remake
Review: Workmanlike production, neither embarrssing nor engrossing. As always, the Dumas tale is enthralling, which is perhaps why this story has been made and remade over the decades. Judging the movie and not the Dumas plot, however, this production is lacking. The cast members look their parts and blend well with the superior costume and set direction, but their performances feel hasty and unrewarding. The production often looks as if it were filmed for TV and fails to evoke the potential drama. Even the sword duels seem strangely uninventive and thrown together, particularly when one considers that this film comes 30 years after Richard Lester's "Three Musketeers." If you enjoyed this version of the Count, take a look at any of the many others that have come before for comparison.
Rating: 
Summary: quite different from the book but still really good
Review: the count of monte cristo is a an exciting movie but it strays far, and i do mean far from the book. think of it as merely being based around the novel, keeping the character's names and themes but not the exact events. theres probably more things changed than kept the same. i think the ending was a nice sentimental touch, not as good as the original, but pretty enjoyable. i recommend it to anyone, read the book too, it's even better.
Rating:
Summary: Count by Numbers
Review: For all its production values and sweep this version of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO remains insipid. The characters are thumbnail sketches, which lack all the depth necessary to convey the true meaning of this story. There is no sense of revenge, lost love or even enlightenment of revealed secrets. Instead of really feeling sympathy for the wronged Edmund Dantes you may actually feel disdain for his naivete. Richard Harris brings some life and period humor as Dantes' mentor and prison mate. This portion of the film is very good being well developed and structured. However, when Dantes escapes and returns as the Count it seems like the rest of the film got compressed to fit it into a pre-determined time slot.
Rating:
Summary: The Count of Monte Cristo
Review: Awesome movie, I've seen it 4 times in the theater already. The son in the movie is expertly cast. Can't wait to see it again!
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Time Even if not accurate
Review: I had a nice time watching this film. Noting the errors, seeing the deviations from a truly great book was somewhat disturbing but the acting and the casting was worth the trip. I just treated it as a fantasy film that only used the title and the theme to write another movie which seems to be what everyone does these days instead of being original. What did all the original thinkers drop off our planet? Any students who decide to cheat and watch this movie to get out of reading the book will be in a lot of trouble come test time. None the less...I enjoyed the movie for the acting.
Rating:
Summary: never like the book
Review: Okay, some of this is directed towards the individuals who were upset about the film being so unlike the novel: DUH! Film versons of novels are NEVER like the book. It's just not possible in the alloted time to go into such depth or explain everything as a book has obvious time to do. At any rate, I have not read the book and for that reason I think the movie is excellent. Never expect a film to be very close to the book. That is why they call the film "an adaption of the novel".
Rating:
Summary: Old-Fashioned Movie Fun!
Review: This adaptation of Alexander Dumas's THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO plays out more like a big budget A&E 'movie of the week' than it does a major motion picture of swashbuckling adventure.However, there's a rousing and sweet joy in watching Edmund Dantes (played with infrequent success at achieving one accent by Jim Caviezel) carry out his plot to seek vengeance on those who stole his life away. Unjustly accused of treason, Dantes endures 16 years of solitude, most in prison, where he manages to meet a fellow prisoner (Richard Harris) and, together, they embark on an attempt to achieve their great escape. Guy Pearce (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, MEMENTO) is put to wonderful use as the villain, and he proves he can chew scenery with the best of them. Perhaps the only disappointment the film has is the lack of swordplay. In an interview, Caviezel stated that he took fencing lessons for six weeks (even learning how to fence with both hands simultaneously), but there's little swash to this buckle on the silver screen; in fact, Caviezel only picks up a foil three times. The climax duel between the rivals is far too short for my tastes; instead, I found myself enjoying the ride more than the destination.
Rating:
Summary: Revenge can kill you, yet it's what kept him alive...
Review: I was partway through the rantings of another reviewer about how much this movie strayed from a classic. And how bad this adaptation was. But you know what? I don't really care. I haven't read the book, and I likely won't. I happen to like the film. It has a decent plot, good actors and a theme someone simple-minded as myself can understand - "revenge". How often have we felt cheated in our lives? How often have we felt that we are the underdogs? This film shows us that good things will come to those who wait. That revenge is sweetest when it is well thought out and exacted with a fury. In this story a sailer by the name of Edmond Dantes is wrongfully imprisoned when his best friend Fernand betrays him in order to steal his wife. In prison, Edmond is about to lose hope when a fellow inmate teaches him how to read/write/fight and escape from prison. At his dying breath, he tells Edmond of a buried treasure that he should use to do good. Edmond, however, has other thoughts in his mind. Edmond transforms himself into the mysterious and wealthy Count of Monte Cristo. With systematic planning, he cleverly inserts himself into high society and exacts revenge from his enemies of the past. His goal is not to kill them, but to humiliate them and let them know what it feels like to have nothing left to live for. ... The movie was fun to watch, so watch it.
Rating:
Summary: Good adaptation
Review: I really enjoyed this movie. Richard Harris was great as the Abby. They took a few liberties in making the movie that weren't exactly what was in the book but I think that was to save time. The book is over 1400 pages long and you just can't develope that many characters in a two hour movie. On the whole, my wife and I really liked this picture. Read the book, it's awesome. Try to see the old made for TV movie with Richard Chamberlain, its good too.
Rating:
Summary: Well at least they can act.
Review: I'm going to keep this short and sweet. You probably already know about the plot so I won't talk about that, but I must say a few things. The actors did very well in the movie and the plot goes along very nicely. But within the first half hour I spotted the boom mic 4 times! Once you can see the whole arm, wires and everything and there is another shot were you can see 2 of them going in and out of the top of the screen it was like I was playing Wak-A-Mole! Other then the completely sorry editing it was a good movie. I can only hope upon its arrive on DVD it will be remasterd.
|
