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Reviews
Le Comte de Monte Cristo (1998)
accurate but lacking
I am a fervent fan of the book and have seen most of its film adaptations. This version is alternately the best and the worst. *SPOILER* The movie practically starts from Dantes' escape; he escapes perhaps within the first thirty minutes of a six hour movie. We hardly meet the Abbe Faria. The rest of the film involves Dantes' elaborate revenge scheme. This scheme is remarkably accurate and is fully satisfying in its step-by-step depiction. This, for me, was the film's best aspect-- a reenactment of the book.
In other ways, however, I was severely disappointed by the film. Although I greatly admire Gerard Depardieu as an actor, Dantes and the film in general lacked true emotional involvement. I didn't feel the rage of Dantes, his connection (good or bad) with others, nor his gradual degeneration. With the exception of Maximilien/Valentine and perhaps one scene with Camille de Richardais, I did not feel at all emotionally invested in the movie. In this, even the rather deplorably inaccurate versions are, in fact, better movies, even if they are inaccurate adaptations.
In sum, see this movie if you're a fan of the book and want to see very accurate adaption. Except for the very end, it was remarkable in its faithfulness. The movie lacks emotional connection, however, and is not a great movie outside of its connection to a great book.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo (1998)
accurate but lacking
I am a fervent fan of the book and have seen most of its film adaptations. This version is alternately the best and the worst. *SPOILER* The movie practically starts from Dantes' escape; he escapes perhaps within the first thirty minutes of a six hour movie. We hardly meet the Abbe Faria. The rest of the film involves Dantes' elaborate revenge scheme. This scheme is remarkably accurate and is fully satisfying in its step-by-step depiction. This, for me, was the film's best aspect-- a reenactment of the book.
In other ways, however, I was severely disappointed by the film. Although I greatly admire Gerard Depardieu as an actor, Dantes and the film in general lacked true emotional involvement. I didn't feel the rage of Dantes, his connection (good or bad) with others, nor his gradual degeneration. With the exception of Maximilien/Valentine and perhaps one scene with Camille de Richardais, I did not feel at all emotionally invested in the movie. In this, even the rather deplorably inaccurate versions are, in fact, better movies, even if they are inaccurate adaptations.
In sum, see this movie if you're a fan of the book and want to see very accurate adaption. Except for the very end, it was remarkable in its faithfulness. The movie lacks emotional connection, however, and is not a great movie outside of its connection to a great book.
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
good if you haven't read the book
"The Count of Monte Cristo" is one of my favorite books so I was excited but wary to see yet another movie interpretation. I have to say that I was very disappointed. The glaring inconsistencies with the book were too shocking for me to enjoy the movie. I don't know what book the movie was based on but it wasn't the same one I read. Most movie interpretations change many small details and even several large points in the plot to hollywood-ize the movie. The changes from the book were so large, however, that ALMOST NOTHING was the same. Not only did they change the plot so much so that the themes changed, but they also altered several smaller points that would not have affected the movie. For example, Valentine is the daughter of M. de Villefort in the book, but, although this daughter isn't in the movie, the movie has Villefort's wife's named Valentine! This change accomplishes nothing besides irritating fans of the book. To be fair, however, my friends who hadn't read the book very much enjoyed the movie. Thus, this movie is pretty good as a movie as long as you forget that it's supposed to be based on the book. So my advice is to see this movie if you haven't read the book but avoid it at all costs if you have.