Rating: 
Summary: G. Depardieu glows
Review: This movie was recently shown for 4 nights on tv - it was so beautifully filmed, gorgeously costumed, and touchingly acted that we were riveted every night. For the French students in our house the language was a chance to practice what they were learning in school. For the parents it was an historically accurate trip to the early 19th century, as well as a philosophical journey guided by Victor Hugo. By all means, watch this production.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Good!
Review: As a big fan of the novel, I did not know what to expect with this adaptation, but I was pleasantly surprised. Gerard Depardieu would not be my first choice for Dantes, but he does a fine job, and the supporting cast is excellent. Overall, the movie remains fairly true to the book. A great viewing experience if you are a Monte Cristo fan!
Rating:
Summary: For fans of literature, horror, mystery, & indies - STELLAR
Review: I have never read the book "Count of Monte Cristo", so I can't say how closely the film follows it. But I caught this flipping through channels one night and got hooked. I'm stunned at how good this is: great cinematics, costuming, casting -- first rate production that takes its time developing like "I, Claudius" or other classic lit pieces. But what's fun about the story is that the Count(Depardieu)is like an early detective -- a cross between Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. He's a wonderfully enigmatic and complex character -- out for revenge yet unable to help being a decent guy. He dabbles in alchemy, swoops through the night, dons various disguises. The story contains several sub-plots that are like mini "cases" the Count resolves, all within a longer, continuing theme. The count's side-kick, Bertuccio, was a wonderful character as well, played by a charmingly original actor. All in all, this is one worth buying and playing over and over, whether you're into costume dramas, A&E Mysteries or romance. And if you're a Depardieu fan, you're *really* in for a treat. He's wonderful in this.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch everything except last half hour.
Review: It's a superb production in many ways. The detail, the acting (it really doesn't matter that Depardieu is large as some other reviewers mention; he still owns the part), fidelity to the novel. Until the last half hour when the director for some reason decided that it needed a happy (!!!) ending. Mr. and Mrs. Romeo and Juliet are alive and well and living on the beach somewhere...
Rating: 
Summary: Just a little more info, the end already ruined
Review: It's faithful to the book except that: the book has more detail, of course; there is an introduction of another female character who "teaches the Count to love again and forget his revenge" which is supposedly the reason he can forgive Mercedes enough to be with her again; Haydee, the princess, is there, but only to serve witness against the count's enemy (as opposed to also being his lover and the woman he sails off with at the end of the book); and, while they do show the Count's use of disguises, it's a lot more played down in the movie than in the book, which is important because it had shown how truly intelligent and deceptive that the Count had become, that he could fool others who "knew" him into thinking he was a completely different person. There are other little differences, but the ones just mentioned are the ones I feel the most important. Otherwise it is fairly faithful to the book.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Adaptation To Date
Review: This adaptation of Alexander Dumas' work by Didier Decoin and Josee Dayan is one of the best to come to the screen in a long time. The episodes follow the traditional tale of revenge by Edmond Dantes after his betrayal by auhtorities and so-called friends.
Although Gerard Depardieu's physique hardly fools anyone as to his true identity, his acting skills truly shine in this series. Depardieu plays every nuance of the complex character's emotions and inner thoughts with the same brilliance as his performance of Cyrano de Bergerac several years before. The cast includes a variety of European actors who bring their own talent to the series.
This is probably the best rendition of Dumas' famous story to reach the screen in a long time. Being originally a mini-series, Dumas' plots and themes are treated much better than adaptations made for a 2-hour film. Even though this film's ending significantly deviates from the original story, I strongly recommend this mini-series to those who want to see a more detailed adaptation of the original story.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating Cristo
Review: This is possibly the best version of the Cristo story ever made, perhaps even surpassing the 1934 film version with Robert Donat. Gerard Depardieu is marvellous as the innocent sailor who is the victim of a cruel plot by four men who all, for different reasons,want him destroyed. Imprisoned for years in a bleak island fortress, he finally escapes and sets out to get his revenge on the ones who wronged him. It is wonderful to watch him meticulously destroy his former tormentors one by one. All the other performers in this series are also excellent, and there is an authentic period atmosphere. The series gives the story a more upbeat ending than the original novel, but that's all right with me, I prefer happy endings. Absolutely enthralling from beginning to end.
Rating:
Summary: Watch everything except last half hour.
Review: It's a superb production in many ways. The detail, the acting (it really doesn't matter that Depardieu is large as some other reviewers mention; he still owns the part), fidelity to the novel. Until the last half hour when the director for some reason decided that it needed a happy (!!!) ending. Mr. and Mrs. Romeo and Juliet are alive and well and living on the beach somewhere...
Rating:
Summary: Could have been much better
Review: This version of The Count Of Monte Cristo is my absolute favourite. It is completely in the French language, stars Gerard Depardieu and Ornella Muti and is eight hours long.
A perfect movie to watch if you're planning to stay up all night long. The DVD version is a 2-disc set, with two 2-hour long segments on each disc.
The basic plot is that of Alexandre Dumas' novel of the same name, however the movie starts out with Edmond Dantes in the Chateau d'If and having been there for 18 years.As the story unfolds, we meet the character of Abbe Faria, who teaches Edmond facts about many things and reveals that he was imprisioned by Villefort's father.
Villefort had imprisioned Edmond for the possibility of reading a letter and carring out the motions to get Napoleon back on the French throne.
Wanting to protect his father, Villefort has no qualms about throwing Dantes into prison and letting him rot. What he wasn't counting on was that Dantes would come back and give out swift justice.
However, there were two other people who wanted Dantes out of the way. One was Ferdnand Mondego and the other was Eugene Danglars. Mondego wanted the girl that Edmond was going to marry and Danglars wanted something else, I'm not exactly sure what it was but I think it had something to do with being the Captain of a ship. To get rid of Edmond Dantes, Mondego and Danglars wrote an anynomos letter denouncing Dantes and claiming him to be a traitor. Therefore, Dantes gets thrown in prison, Mondego gets the girl, Danglars gets what he wanted, Villefort gets promoted to head gazeek of the French justice system of the early 1800's, and Dantes comes back for revenge and makes them all pay for what they did nearly 20 years before. And then he gets to be with the girl he was going to marry.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the Meat?
Review: At least that is the feeling I was left with when I finished watching this movie. The movie focused just enough to scratch the surface but nothing more. Obviously when a book is translated into a movie, there will be a fair amount of "creative interpretation" and editing by the producer and director due to time and budget which is understandable and I was willing to accept that. But the book spends a fair amount time focusing on Edmond's relationship with Abbe Faria but the movie barely scratches the surface on that matter. I don't think this is something that should have been addressed lightly. This is a critical point when Edmond "the kid" becomes a "man" in the Chateau d'If. From innocent youth to the bitter and vengeful "count", this is what the producers/directors did not allow us to share with the main character. Abbe Faria, a friend, a father figure, turns this naive young Edmunds into a "man" by imparting knowledge (not to mention the location of the treasure) which would play a critical part in Edmond's revenge. If you never read the book, then perhaps you may not be as critical as I have become but if you read the book even with the understanding that the tv version was edited for time, it left me feeling empty. And one last thing, did anyone else think it was funny when Edmond (played by Gerard Depardieu) remained heavy set after escaping from the worst prison in France almost two decades later? Either prison life was good or the producer/director forgot to think about that, ha!
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