Rating: 
Summary: Lovely
Review: This is an excellent movie. Even though it is "a typical Holly Wood production", it didn't mutilate the plot so much you couldn't even recognize the title of it. Edmond Dantes is protrayed perfectly but Mercedes' actress doesn't look like the real Mercedes. The film shows every thing that gets the theme of the book across, and the changes made fall into place. Even though I had my hands clutched in terror during parts of it, I still laughed and cried. It was a wonderful movie and the ending is so sweet. Even though the book's ending was sweet, this one has the 'happily ever after' part added to it. And all the subplots were eliminated, so were many characters so it is much easier to follow. And even though the film goes by so fast, the actions of the characters results in a lot of development.
Rating: 
Summary: Oversimplified and unaccurate version of a great story
Review: I must say I was very disspointed after watching this film. I am not the kind of person who thinks that a movie based on a book must be 100% accurate in describing each character and situation, but this one goes over the limit!
I started watching, the very first scene has nothing to do with the book. Ok, I said to myself, keep watching. Mondego and Dantes firends? NO WAY. Mondego is the son of a Count, not a poor Spanish fishermen??? It was just 10 minutes and I was feeling unconfortable. Then, Dantes is sent to prision knowing who accused him! And after that it is a rollercoaster of mistakes, differences, simplifications, and trying to bring the movie to the present times with the real effect of making it stupid. I can see that the romance, action and hero-opponent characters were enhanced in order to make this a 'selling' movie, but the effect is the contrary.
Bottom line, the characters are inmensely changed, not going at all deep into them and making them easily identifiable as 'bad' and 'good'. People turn dead when they shouldn't, are friends or foes when the book tells otherwise. A lot of secondary characters are not included, but a lot of the main ones too! The story itself is turned JUST to an easy, immediate and unplanned revenge tale!
I started watching the extras, and heard the screenwriter say it is very difficult to adapt a story with an elaborate plot and so many characters into a 2 hour movie. My advice is, next time, don't try!
Rating:
Summary: Revenge is Sweet! A great role for Jim Caviezel.
Review: I had last seen Jim Caviezel in 'High Crimes' playing a horrendous role as a sensitive, yet not-so-bright ex-military guy who turns out to have murderous schizophrenic skeletons in his closet. Imagine the 'Manchurian Candidate' (a Frank Sinatra movie about wartime brainwashing) set in the 21st century and you'll get the idea.I therefore did not have high hopes for this movie - but I was very pleasantly surprised! Jim's sensitivity serves him well in the first half of the film when he plays Edmond Dantes, a guileless soul who is railroaded by his best friend - and who takes years while in prison even to realize the depth to which he has been betrayed. Fortunately, in the second half of the film he emerges as the suave Count of Monte Cristo who is both brave and conniving, yet not immune from the swelling breasts of Mercedes, his voluptuous love interest played warmly by Dagmara Dominczyk -- who looks, with her gorgeous cheekbones and deep-set eyes, like a younger version of Monica Bellucci ('Malena,' 'Tears of the Sun'). Richard Harris appears in a great role as Edmond's mentor in prison. And Guy Pearce (who reminds me of Brad Pitt), as Dante's backstabbing friend, is someone you truly loath from the get-go! There are some interesting twists along the way - the best ones provided by Dagmara, which leads to an extra happy ending! And no one, strangely, appears to age very much during the sixteen years Edmond was held in captivity. The Count of Monte Cristo, in his day, was wealthier and more powerful than Warren Buffet and Bill Gates - combined! For a richly detailed retelling of Alexandre Dumas' classic, this latest rendition of the 'Count of Monte Cristo' was immensely satisfying. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Ehhhh, It's Ok.
Review: Well, there's one thing that's hard to go wrong with and that's a classic story. It's hard to fault the plot, when it's based on a renowned classic like Dumas' The Count Of Monte Cristo, even if it is a simple revenge tale. Unfortunately, none of the acting rises above the page. None of the leading men are quite manly. James Caviezel who plays Edmond Dantes and Guy Pearce, who plays Fernand Mondego both come across a little weak as swashbucklers. Caviezel tends to be a blank slate anyway, but I really liked Pearce in Memento, so I was a little disappointed to see his be such a weak character. You do dislike Fernand Mondego and want to see him meet his demise, but Pearce could have taken it much further and given Caviezel more distance to grow as a character. Richard Harris may have walked through this role, but he delivers the best performance of all the actors. Overall, it's a good Saturday movie if you want to watch some guys sword fight a little bit and not have to think to much.
Rating:
Summary: Never Read the Book .......
Review: I never read the book, so this story was entirely new to me. I loved it. Like all movies, there are a few plot holes but the overall feeling and effect of the film are fantastic. The story centers on a young man wrongfully sent to prison after being betrayed by his best friend for the love of his fiance. The man, long thought dead, spends many years in prison where he meets another inmate. This inmate teaches him to read, write, fight, and gives him the location of a great treasure. The scorned man uses this treasure to regain himself a life and seek out revenge on those responsible for his misery and torture. The plot twists and thickens and keeps you entertained throughout.
Rating: 
Summary: What I like about this movie
Review: I was going to leave a review saying something like, "Apart from the book, it's a good movie - but poor Mr. Dumas! If I were him, I'd rise from the grave to haunt those filmmakers for what they did to my story..." But then I saw all these excellent reviews here that had already addressed the subject and gave detailed explanations of how the movie was different from the book, what parts were changed the most, and whether those changes were justified. So I guess I will not repeat what has already been said so well; instead, I'll just tell you what I personally liked about the movie. First of all I would like to say that whenever the movie mentions God, it is done in a very appropriate way, neither profane nor preachy. Another accomplishment that goes along the same line is the portrayal of Faria, who is a believer and at the same time a respectable figure. There have always been jerks among Christians, but there have always been admirable people as well. Sometimes moviemakers seem to forget that part. Another reviewer mentioned that they appreciated not having to cover their kids' eyes because there were no sexually explicit scenes in the movie. I agree; there was one somewhat close, but it could have been so much worse since there is a love story involved. Overall, it is a good movie. Love, friendship, betrayal, long suffering, fantastic escape, instant riches, revenge - everything you need for a great adventure, plus a deeper meaning to ponder.
Rating:
Summary: A Monsterpiece!
Review: This is without a doubt one of the worst movies I have ever attempted to watch. I have a special place reserved in the back of my mind for tripe such as this. It is called the worst movie of all time list. On the list includes the likes of 8mm with Nicholas Cage, Happenstance with Audrey Tatou, and this sub standard pile of literary assasination, the newest installment in a long line of films claiming to be the Count of Monte Cristo. For those who did not notice i will point out first of all some of the glaring mistakes made on the part of the director and the writer. First of all in this version Mondego is made out as a sailor on a merchant vessal. This is highly unlikely if not impossible considering the dialouge stated that he was wealthy, very wealthy! Which brings us to point two, why was he hobnobbing with Dantes who's father in the movie is a shoemaker. This is France in 1815 not Modern Chicago or New York. There was a rigid social structure that determined the start and the extent of your social career. And what of Dantes himself? He takes five years to plot and plan his revenge but allows himself to possibly be discovered by Danglars and Villefort before he knows 100% that he can get to Mondego? no way! His character clearly both in the book and in the movie suggest that he is highly polished and poised. So why would he give himself away to them? Or to Mercedes for that matter. So then we come to the romantic hero, in order to make the relationship between Mercedes and Dantes more tawdry and 21st century hollywood we have an affair between Mercedes and Dantes. This affair produces a child. What is the purpose of this? Again, in early 19th century France. This type of activity would rarely have happened between respectable peoples. We are supposed to believe that Dantes was pure and naieve in the beginning of the story. This action is inconsistant with this character. All in all to keep from repetiton, I will say that this movie was a monsterpiece. On a very base level i could see how someone might enjoy the story, if they did not care to think about what was being presented to them. However for those of us who do not want to be spoon fed a story and like things to unravel with a sense of thought and reflection I highly reccommend that you stay as far from this movie as possible.
Rating:
Summary: Suprisingly watchable film for everyone.
Review: Having not remembered this film when it was released, we did not know how long it would take before hitting the Stop button. This is actually a very good movie and okay for most of the family as well. Not having read the book, I assume it strays somewhat, however it is still worth seeing.
No real language, no nudity, no extreme violence, good plot, great sound and great videography. The moral message is very good and very un-Hollywood as well, even when you abandon God, he will not abandon you.
Rating:
Summary: At last...a romantic movie without the dirty smut
Review: You don't have to cover your kids eyes while watching this movie. And in these times, that is very rare. The story for this movie is very good. It has a lot of character developement. You watch the star go from a poor, uneducated peasant to a wealthy count, and he uses his wealth to get revenge on those who got him imprisoned in jail for the past 11 years. If you liked Frequency, or The Time Machine (same actors), then you'll enjoy this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: eww
Review: this movie was a bit away from the book which should be read!
although if you were to never read the book the movie is okay.
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