Count of Monte Cristo

Count of Monte Cristo DVD

In this highly entertaining beautifully photographed rekindling of the classic French novel by Alexandre Dumas director Kevin Reynolds choreographs a fantastic adventure replete with breathtaking scenery fiery swashbuckling battles lavish costumes and above all else sweet revenge. In 19th-century Marseille Edmond Dants Jim Caviezel is the optimistic but uneducated son of a sea captain. He cherishes his friendship with the son of a count Mondego Guy Pearce and is deeply in love with his fiance Mercedes Dagmara Dominczyk. Young Dants is so innocent and naive that it is positively shocking when Mondego turns on him accusing him of treason and having him sentenced to life in the dreary dungeon of Chateau D'If. Years of isolation and torture nearly defeat the revenge-thirsty Dants but with the help of invaluable lessons from the Abb Faria Richard Harris his luck slowly changes. An incredible prison break starts Dants on his way to a new life and from there Reynolds' COUNT truly takes off. Battles with pirates lead to hunts for sunken ocean treasure and soon Dantes is living in Marseille as the transformed newly rich self-proclaimed Count of Monte Cristo. Installed in a ritzy chateau he slowly unfurls his excrutiatingly careful plans to exact his revenge on Mondego and all those who ever wronged him.

The Count of Monte Cristo [VHS]

Revenge 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