2002 Directed by Kevin Reynolds
Edmond Dantés's life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are shattered when his best friend, Fernand, deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantés escapes with the help of a fellow inmate and plots his revenge, cleverly insinuating himself into the French nobility.
As a swiftly paced, populist adaptation that never pretends to convey the depth of the classic novel, it nevertheless entertains and engrosses through its sweeping character arc. It's a little too simplified and comical to take all that seriously (to my never-ending annoyance, my brothers would often comically quote this entire film), with an edit job that keeps characters and plot developments at arm's length, but it does capture the appeal of the novel whilst effectively drawing in a new generation of fans. It might be one of the more effective examples of the recent wave of Dumas flicks. For those with a soft spot for Reynolds problematic but functionally compelling, family-friendly films, this will hit the spot with some…
Having watched this adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo half a dozen times, I clearly enjoy it, quite a lot actually. Not that I’m oblivious to its faults, mainly some dodgy character acting and wig work, the actual revenge scenes lacking punch and the finale looking like they misjudged the budget and knocked it together in a weekend.
The central story is just so damn fascinating, I love everything in the Chateau d'if, the escape, beach scene and the creation of the count, with the opening and ending just pasting muster. Its also well performed by Caviezel, Pierce and Harris and the inclusion of Wincott, Guzman and superboy add to the interest. A guilty pleasure one might surmise.
Due…
“The Count of Monte Cristo” is a classic revenge tale that feels as if it was ripped from the Golden Age of Hollywood that stars Jim Caviezel as the Batman-esque Count.
PLOT
A simple merchant sailor named Edmond Dantes is wrongfully convicted of being a spy by corrupt officials (one of whom was his best friend) because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and is imprisoned in the hellish prison Château d'If for the remainder of his life. Just when Dantes is about to give in to despair another inmate named Abbé Faria tunnels into his room and the two form a friendship. Over the next eight years Abbé Faria schools Dantes extensively in science, language,…
Picked this one up at a yard sale today and can happily say it was well worth the dollar I paid for it. Very intelligent directorial and writing choices makes this a truly satisfying epic at a just slightly over 2 hour run time. I understand a great deal of changes were made to the source material (haven't read it) but I can say I really enjoyed this story told this way and would be interested to read the book. Director Kevin Reynold's who was behind the famously over budget "Waterworld" shows he can create a very sprawling authentic historical feel making a 35 million dollar budget look and feel 50+.
Acting wise Pearce is strong as the despicable villain…
Having read The Count of Monte Cristo, I can say with some verity that this should not be called an adaptation. Really, the book is too large and complex for one movie, even a two-and-a-half hour one. No, Kevin Reynolds' Count is an action hero at the center of an action movie, spurred along occasionally by heavy-handed ruminations on justice, revenge, and God.
Bad first: the script. It occasionally felt juvenile and, erm, cheesy. Otherwise, it was being, again, heavy handed. You just can't squeeze huge themes about the natures of man and justice and revenge into a movie that is primarily drawing on action scenes to keep the viewers' attention. Further, there was much more comic relief than in…
My favourite popcorn-film. Entertainment at it's finest - feels like a film they just don't make anymore.
It's a really solid adventure swashbuckler of the kind they don't really make anymore, or make terribly. I gotta say though I like the guy, casting Luis Guzman in this doesn't work. It's like casting Harvey Keitel in Last Temptation of Christ or casting Keanu Reeves in anything set before 1985.
Dar and Agnes saw In the Bedroom, but I wanted to wait to watch it with Karen. Agnes got mad, but Boaz took my side.
Fun swashbuckling adventure elevated by perfect casting.
Future Jesus Jim Caviezel is great as the naive Dantes who evolves into the eponymous Count. James Frain and Michael Wincott play to their strengths as a privileged ambitious little shit, and a cruel bastard respectively. Luis Guzman is typically charismatic. Guy Pearce however, steals the show with a gloriously flamboyant performance as the sneering, all but moustache twirling villain, Mondego.
I watched it before several times, but never with a keen eye and not in the last 7, 8 years, so I decided to look at it once again and I must say I was impressed, specially with the story. If Alexandre Dumas wrote half as well as he imagined stories, this book must be amazing.
Still, not all great books and stories make for great scripts, so congrats to whoever made the adaptation, as it really managed to capture the appeal of the novel (I assume).
The director did a good job with it also. There weren't any brilliant scenes (perhaps the balloon entry of the Count may fit into that description, not quite sure), but it was all…
This is a great story. The script is fine, too, and seems to highlight the parts of the novel that made it a classic to begin with. All the beats are there.
But the look of the movie -- while watching it, I assumed it was from the early 90s or late 80s. It looks cheap. It looks old. Which is weird, because some of the set-pieces are pretty extravagant.
With the advantage of hindsight, it's easy to point out that this would have been a better series than a movie. There's just so much going on. The good thing is that the pacing is fine, but the downside is that you never get a chance to resonate with much of it. It's the Clifnotes version of things.
So, I saw this movie twice today. You could possiblly say that I have a slight obsession. Haha.
This movie was no fluke because I loved it even more the second & third time around. Jim Caviezel took my breathe away again & my future husband, Superman is in here. Of course, I love this movie. Haha. I always feel like I need to do something life-changing after I watch this movie. I just feel so inspired by it for some reason. I would have loved a sequel just to see them living as a family.
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