A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge.A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge.A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge.
- Director
- Writers
- Alexandre Dumas(novel "Le Comte de Monte Cristo")
- Jay Wolpert(screenplay)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Alexandre Dumas(novel "Le Comte de Monte Cristo")
- Jay Wolpert(screenplay)
- Stars
Videos3
Mairead Devlin
- Partygoer No. 2as Partygoer No. 2
- (as Maireid Devlin)
Luis Guzmán
- Jacopoas Jacopo
- (as Luis Guzman)
- Director
- Writers
- Alexandre Dumas(novel "Le Comte de Monte Cristo")
- Jay Wolpert(screenplay)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
'The Count of Monte Cristo' is an adaptation of the Alexander Dumas tale by the same name. Dantes, a sailor, is falsely accused of treason by his best friend Fernand, who wants Dantes' girlfriend Mercedes for himself. Dantes is imprisoned on the island prison of Chateau d'If for 13 years, where he plots revenge against those who betrayed him. With help from another prisoner, he escapes the island and proceeds to transform himself into the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo as part of his plan to exact revenge. —Anna <annachan@amazon.com>
- Taglines
- Prepare for adventure. Count on revenge.
- Genres
- Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated PG-13 for adventure violence/swordplay and some sensuality
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaScreenwriter Jay Wolpert came up with the idea, not present in the novel, that Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) and Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel) started out as best friends. His logic was that it would work better as a "buddy" film that turned sinister. Wolpert believed that when a friendship soured, the hate generated was both more terrible and more believable.
- Quotes
Edmond: Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you: as Albert Mondego, the man!
- Alternate versionsThe UK version had 6 seconds cut by the BBFC to earn a PG certificate instead of a 15. The cuts were to two shots of a man being hung.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Count of Monte Cristo: An Epic Reborn (2002)
Top review
Prepare for adventure. Count on enjoying this.
"The Count of Monte Cristo" is exactly what I expected it to be - entertaining. A classic? No. However it's far from a dud, and you could do a lot worse if you want to whittle away a bit of time watching a movie.
The movie version of the book leaves a bare bones plot, which is quite simple. Edmond Dantes (James Caviezel) is falsely imprisoned for treason, having been blackmailed by his friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) who covets Dantes' wife-to-be. Queue languishment in prison where he plots his escape and his ultimate revenge on Dantes in a highly fashionable style.
This movie is a neat little adaptation of the novel, seeing as it manages to retain some great pacing on screen. At times, admittedly, you feel there's certain pieces rushed (particularly towards the end as Dantes' plan unveils), but since it suffices to keep the story moving along swiftly that's OK. The script is nice and witty - there's a real sense of fun permeating the movie. While Caviezel is a serious actor, Guy Pearce is obviously loving his role as the dastardly Mondego, hamming and camping it up with a glee that's delightful to behold - he steals the screen every time he's on it. Other members of the cast similarily light up the movie, particularly Luis Guzmán as Dantes' side-kick Jacopo, and a wonderful turn by Richard Harris as the high-camp -prison-warder Abbé Faria (I found him hilariously nasty).
The direction on the movie is nice and smooth - there's no need for any fancy trickery here on the part of Kevin Reynolds. Indeed the smooth almost gentle nature of it all, including well paced sword fights, is a nice change from some of the more overly-excessive energetic work of today's movies.
Is the movie perfect? No. It's not smart enough, or quite well made enough for that. But it is a hell of a lot of fun, and most certainly enjoyable - and that's often all you want. With it's great sense of fun, and some lovely performances throughout, it's a worthwhile diversion for a while. I'll give it a 7.8.
The movie version of the book leaves a bare bones plot, which is quite simple. Edmond Dantes (James Caviezel) is falsely imprisoned for treason, having been blackmailed by his friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) who covets Dantes' wife-to-be. Queue languishment in prison where he plots his escape and his ultimate revenge on Dantes in a highly fashionable style.
This movie is a neat little adaptation of the novel, seeing as it manages to retain some great pacing on screen. At times, admittedly, you feel there's certain pieces rushed (particularly towards the end as Dantes' plan unveils), but since it suffices to keep the story moving along swiftly that's OK. The script is nice and witty - there's a real sense of fun permeating the movie. While Caviezel is a serious actor, Guy Pearce is obviously loving his role as the dastardly Mondego, hamming and camping it up with a glee that's delightful to behold - he steals the screen every time he's on it. Other members of the cast similarily light up the movie, particularly Luis Guzmán as Dantes' side-kick Jacopo, and a wonderful turn by Richard Harris as the high-camp -prison-warder Abbé Faria (I found him hilariously nasty).
The direction on the movie is nice and smooth - there's no need for any fancy trickery here on the part of Kevin Reynolds. Indeed the smooth almost gentle nature of it all, including well paced sword fights, is a nice change from some of the more overly-excessive energetic work of today's movies.
Is the movie perfect? No. It's not smart enough, or quite well made enough for that. But it is a hell of a lot of fun, and most certainly enjoyable - and that's often all you want. With it's great sense of fun, and some lovely performances throughout, it's a worthwhile diversion for a while. I'll give it a 7.8.
helpful•5934
- Aidan McGuinness
- Apr 23, 2002
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $35,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $54,234,062
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $11,376,150
- Jan 27, 2002
- Gross worldwide
- $75,395,048
- Runtime2 hours 11 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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