The Count of Monte Cristo
by Kevin Reynolds
List Price:
Our Price: $5.57
You Save: $9.42 (63%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dagmara Dominczyk, Guy Pearce, James Frain, Jim Caviezel, Richard HarrisDirector: Kevin Reynolds
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Producer: Andrew Somper
Producer: Chris Brigham
Producer: Chris Chrisafis
Producer: Derek Evans
Producer: Gary Barber
Writer: Alexandre Dumas père
Writer: Jay Wolpert
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 131 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-10
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video
Product features:
- Jim Caviezel (High Crimes) and Guy Pearce (The Time Machine) give sizzling performances in The Count Of Monte Cristo - the greatest tale of betrayal, adventure and revenge the world has never known. When the dashing and guileless Edmond Dantes (Caviezel) is betrayed by his best friend (Pearce) and wrongly imprisoned, he becomes consumed by thoughts of vengeance. After a miraculous escape, he trans
Movie Reviews of The Count of Monte Cristo
Movie Review: "I don't believe in God!" "Doesn't matter...he believes in you."
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, let's get one thing out of the way. This film is an adaptation of a novel and as such it adds some new elements and deletes some others. (Note to book-to-film critics: Get over it.) A book and a film are two entirely different mediums and by definition one cannot be precisely parallel to the other, even if based on the same material. It's such a puerile, narrow-minded point of view to believe that a film has to mirror its source material with exact detail (something that, in many ways, is a wholly impossible task).
Screenwriter Jay Wolpert, in a feature on the DVD, is asked how he responds to charges that his script greatly deviates from the novel. His response is to smile and say "Thank you! It wasn't my job to stay true to the book. My job was to make a movie, not film a book. If you want a dead-on version of the book - read the book. It's a good book! It's just not a movie." The point is that, in the end, the only thing that matters is that an excellent film has been made. It's with great pleasure, then, that I note that "The Count of Monte Cristo" is an outstanding adventure film that harkens back to a lost era.
For starters, the film has a killer cast. Jim Caviezel makes for a pitch perfect Edmond Dantes. He adroitly conveys youthful, naive innocence at the beginning of the film and performs in an equally believable fashion as the older, wiser version of Dantes. You can see it in the way he walks, he carries himself differently, and he speaks with an assured resolve. Dantes time in prison has ravaged him to the point where he's left with only a single-minded determination to exact revenge at any cost. The transformation is sufficiently contrasted when Dantes first arrives back in Marseilles after his imprisionment. He's a slender, bearded, drab looking sort of fellow. At that moment, the film flashes back to Dantes earlier in the film, as the wide-eyed youthful boy who no longer exists.
Guy Pearce, with his capacity for displaying the most elite arrogance at all the best moments, masterfully portrays the character of Fernand Mondego. Pearce captures the essence of Mondego, who can appear at times as a properly slick nobleman, but who is in reality unbelievably petty and hopelessly envious of Dantes. The stunningly beautiful (and undercast) Dagmara Dominczyk creates a terrific interpretation of Mercedes, the fiance of Dantes and eventual wife of Mondego. In many ways, she undergoes as vital a transformation as Dantes during her unhappy marriage. She feels trapped and isolated to the extent that she is wearily resigned to her fate. It isn't until Dantes reappears that she realizes there is a way out, and watching her character come to life should bring a smile to nearly anyone.
The great Richard Harris, cast as Abbe Faria, is able to firmly establish the complexity of his character even though he is only in the film for about a half hour, a remarkable feat to be certain. Harris is one of the highlights in the film, and even injects a bit of levity into the story. For instance, when Dantes initially scoffs at the idea of Faria's idea of taking eight years to tunnel out of the prison, he responds "Does something else demand your time? Some pressing appointment, perhaps?" In his darker moments, such as when Faria is telling Dantes of his past misdeeds, it's clear that Harris delves deep within his own recesses to deliver the regret in his lines. Just listen to the well of emotion he is able to tap into when he delivers lines such as "I was ordered to burn down the church with them inside it." "Did you?", Dantes asks. "To my everlasting shame I did. . .I did."
Edward Shearmur provides an appropriately sweeping score, the type which remains in your mind long after the film has ended. As for the cinematography, it is extraordinarily gorgeous. Filmed primarily in Ireland and Malta, the feature takes great pains to capture the sights and sounds of the era. It's astonishing the effort and detail put into the sets and seems so regrettable that, as Guy Pearce mentioned in a feature on the DVD, it was all simply torn down after filming. During the same feature, it details some of the production work such as the fact that the crew had the massive, imposing fountain in the carnivale scene custom made in England and shipped to Malta specially for that one scene.
"The Count of Monte Cristo" is a sprawling story with dozens of characters and a myriad of threads. Any film is faced with quite a tall order attempting to condense the novel into only two hours of screentime. This film makes this massive missive into a concise and accessible package, which will no doubt encourage audiences to revisit the novel and take in all the extra nuances there. All the highlights from the novel are presented while all of the excess baggage is jettisoned. Further, the additions to the story (especially the revelation Albert's parentage) make for excellent cinematic moments. This film recalls the golden age of adventure films in that it is expertly paced, wonderfully filmed, and can be watched by audiences of any age.
The DVD contains four major supplementary features including a superb making-of special titled "An Epic Reborn". Spanning over thirty minutes, this feature covers the life of the author Alexandre Dumas, an interview with the screenwriter, a look into creating the Napoleonic world including some set design, and a segment with the swordfight choreographer detailing how he plans and executes the swashbuckling scenes. Also of note are four deleted scenes, one of which is actually an alternate version of a scene, and all included with (non-optional) commentary with the director and film editor. Rounding out the features is a split-screen scene showing the multi-camera angles used and one complete scene from the film with all the audio components on different tracks, allowing the user to switch between them. The only thing missing is a theatrical trailer, but with the advent of the internet this can be viewed any time one wishes anyway.
Summary of The Count of Monte Cristo
COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO - DVD MovieRevenge rarely gets sweeter than it does in The Count of Monte Cristo, a rousing, impeccably crafted adaptation of Alexandre Dumas père's literary classic. Filmed countless times before, the story is revitalized by director Kevin Reynolds (rallying after Waterworld) and screenwriter Jay Wolpert, who wisely avoid the action-movie anachronisms that plagued 2001's dubious Dumas-inspired The Musketeer. Leading a superior cast, Jim Caviezel (Frequency) expresses a delicate balance of obsession and nobility as Dantes, the wrongly accused Frenchman who endures 13 years of prison and torment, then uses a hidden treasure to finance elaborate vengeance on those who wronged him. Memento's Guy Pearce is equally effective as Dantes's betraying nemesis, and Richard Harris tops his Harry Potter wizardry with a humorous turn as Dantes's fellow prisoner and mentor. Filmed on stunning locations in Ireland and Malta, The Count of Monte Cristo easily matches Rob Roy for intelligent swashbuckling entertainment. --Jeff Shannon
Similar DVD Movies
HighwaymenNEW Line Home Video; Release date: 2004-08-24; Published: 2004-08-01; DVD
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Les MiserablesNEESON,LIAM; Release date: 1998-11-03; DVD
Best price: $6.63
Price in other shops:
The Mask of Zorro (Deluxe Edition)Sony; Release date: 2005-10-18; DVD
Best price: $6.96
Price in other shops:
UnknownGenius; Release date: 2007-01-30; DVD
Best price: $3.29
Price in other shops:
I Am DavidLION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2005-04-05; DVD
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops:
Angel EyesWarner Brothers; Release date: 2001-10-16; DVD
Best price: $4.30
Price in other shops:
FrequencyWarner Brothers; Release date: 2000-10-31; DVD
Best price: $5.69
Price in other shops:
The Three MusketeersBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 1999-08-24; DVD
Best price: $5.92
Price in other shops:
The Man in the Iron MaskDICAPRIO,LEONARDO; Release date: 1998-08-12; DVD
Best price: $6.37
Price in other shops:
OutlanderBlockBuster Exclusive; Release date: 2009-05-19; DVD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: