Count of Monte Cristo

vania · #1 01-11-2002, 09:10 AM

Anyone heard any advance reviews of Count of Monte Cristo? I keep seeing the previews on TV and it looks amazing. Of course, the fact that two actors I love (Guy Pearce and Jim Caviezel) are in it doesn't hurt, either!

I love the story, too.

So... basically if this movie sucks I will be really disappointed.

(Then again, I'm easy to please. I even liked the Charlie Sheen/Kiefer Sutherland/Oliver Platt "Three Musketeers!"

Even worse? I liked Leo's "Man in the Iron Mask!

)

v.

**soxfan**[$] · #2 01-11-2002, 10:28 AM

The current issue of Premiere magazine gives it three out of four stars.

Ailsa

Redlass · #3 01-11-2002, 01:11 PM

Oh, Valerie, thank you! I liked the movie Man in the Iron Mask too. Hated the book, though. I may have enjoyed the movie more because at the time I had no clue who DiCaprio was and had never seen him act before. So I had no expectations and simply loved the interaction of the four Musketeers. Especially Porthos.

kurt_messick · #4 01-11-2002, 01:18 PM

It looks like an interesting film. I enjoy things set in that time period.

vania · #5 01-11-2002, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Redlass
Oh, Valerie, thank you! I liked the movie Man in the Iron Mask too. Hated the book, though. I may have enjoyed the movie more because at the time I had no clue who DiCaprio was and had never seen him act before. So I had no expectations and simply loved the interaction of the four Musketeers. Especially Porthos.

Wow. You're probably the only other person I've ever heard agree with me on this one!!

I liked the movie not for Leonardo DiCaprio (though he really isn't bad) as much as I did for the older musketeers. You really can't go wrong with John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons, Gerard Depardieu, and Gabrielle Byrne all in one movie!

valerie

quasar · #6 01-11-2002, 01:40 PM

Wow do I feel out of teh loop. I didn't even know they were doing another version of Count. It's a particular favorite of mine...wonder if it'll be any good...

Janice

Grouch · #7 01-11-2002, 02:46 PM

Has anyone heard when this will be released? The theatrical preview I saw last week said the ambiguous "Fall." Of what? 2001? 2010?

This is one of those movies where I hope it'll be good, but I fear it'll be bad--or, worse, mediocre (I'd much rather watch an entirely-bad movie, than something so bland I forget it before I leave the theater). Yes, the previews look good, the actors are first-rate....but the book was so good and so rich in plot, it's hard for me to see how they could make a credible movie which runs less than three hours. Call it the "Les Miserables" syndrome. The only decent version of that novel was the 1995 modern adaptation directed by Claude LeLouch.

kuuleimomi · #8 01-11-2002, 03:08 PM

The Premiere article suggests it's February 1.

I personally don't think anything can beat Le Comte de Monte-Cristo with Jean Marais.

Finn

vania · #9 01-11-2002, 03:12 PM

The previews I'm seeing on TV give Feb. 1 as the release date.

The Premiere link gave the film a pretty good review, so I'm hopeful on this one....

v,

eplovejoy · #10 01-11-2002, 04:31 PM

There was a "sneak preview" in Buffalo last night. That only happens when wide release is imminent.

In fact, it's likely already playing in the big cities (Chicago, L.A., Ashtabula).

#11 01-14-2002, 02:33 AM

I've got this one on my list. Guy Pierce was incredible in Memento, so it'll take a good effort by some ahck writer or abd director to cloud his talents.

Grouch · #12 01-14-2002, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by file13
I've got this one on my list. Guy Pierce was incredible in Memento, so it'll take a good effort by some ahck writer or abd director to cloud his talents.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Exhibit #1:
ahck [sic] writer Jay Wolpert was executive producer of the games shows The Price is Right and Match Game. Other than the TV series The Lot, this will be his first screenplay.

Exhibit #2:
abd [sic] director Kevin Reynolds has the following movies to his credit:
Waterworld
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Fandango

This is gonna suck worse than the 5th Annual Lemon Tasters Festival.

vania · #13 01-14-2002, 12:43 PM

Yeah but, without Kevin Costner, this one might stand a chance...

dijinn · #14 01-22-2002, 08:39 PM

to see the film two months ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The locales, the action, the acting, the intelligent story & especially the moral themes really make this a great ride for everyone. It's a must see in my humble opinion.

I can't really do it justice here... much too much to discuss. But I did do a review of it out on epins... I do think that most everyone (minus those who expect an exact replica of the book) will enjoy it very much. It made me laugh it made me cry it was better than Cats!

Dijinn

ebrown2 · #15 01-23-2002, 12:14 AM

that they'd do an adaptation of THE STARS MY DESTINATION by Alfred Bester. Gully Foyle is an interesting futuristic Count. It would be an incredible science fiction movie if done properly.

vania · #16 01-24-2002, 11:35 AM

I am excited to report that, so far, Count of Monte Cristo has earned a "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.com!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie-1110288/

(What that means is that 9 out of 12 reviews have so far been positive!)

valerie,
ever hopeful

dijinn · #17 01-24-2002, 11:51 AM

Seriously?
Rottentomatoes.com? And we trust this site do we? Wow. Bizarre, I've never heard of it. Must give it a bit of a perusal. And being rated as a 'FRESH' is ... good? Hrmmmm.

'Nearly 2 million readers each month use Rotten Tomatoes as a dependable resource and objective coverage of movies and videos. And no wonder. With more than 87,000 titles and 200,000 review links in its ever-growing database.'

(Time Lapse)
Wow... not quite what I was expecting! heh. Thanks for the site tip. So, all the 'Tomato' reviews are by respectable organizations? Magazines and what nots? Very cool.

I found one of the reviews ironic in that it stated that there wasn't enough swash-buckling. A fellow Epinionator ripped me up one side and down the other for saying that I enjoyed the sword fighting in 'The Count' and he (very correctly) stated that the Count wasn't involved in a single swordfight. Ahhhh... well yes... that is true. I guess you can't please everybody all the time.

Dij

vania · #18 01-24-2002, 12:45 PM

I love rottentomatoes because it gathers reviews from most of the major reviewers and conveniently links them all on one page. Plus, you can tell at a glance whether it got a good review or not. If a movie's good, it gets a tomato.... if it's bad, it gets a SPLAT!

heh.

v.

dijinn · #19 01-24-2002, 10:11 PM

I absolutely love the site now... (spent quite a bit of time on and off today running through tottenromatoes checking out who got splatted and who came out smelling like a rose. Seems like it's a pretty good concept - almost like a meta-review site... they compile a bunch of legit reviews and you get an uber-review.) but when I first saw the url I literally lauFfed out loud.

I don't do that often.

Anyway - thanks again.
Dij

dijinn · #20 01-28-2002, 02:44 PM

Alright... I have been watching this thread all weekend (cough) and wanna know where all the scathing/raving comments about the movie are... I figured somebody who saw it this past weekend would come back and drop a comment in the tin can. Just curious if I was that far off base about how good it was. Trying decide if I should go again and ruin the luster.

Dij

vania · #21 01-28-2002, 02:52 PM

Hmmmm....

Went and saw it yesterday, and I'm still trying to decide what I thought.

It was okay, but, honestly, it never really grabbed me like I thought it would. It could have used a little more depth, maybe. I can't really put my finger on what exactly it seemed to be missing...

BUT, Caviezel and Pearce were both great.

Hmmm....

v.

dijinn · #22 01-28-2002, 03:12 PM

I'm honestly surprised you didn't like it (check that, arn't sure if you liked it) Vania... A buck and a quarter says the difference between why I liked it and you didn't can be summed up in expectations. My viewing was a free sort of surprise... and you spent time researching and studying etc etc. I went in assuming they would trash the novel, and actually they fixed the same plot problems I had with the original book (Spoiler: Who the kid's pap is End Spoiler)

Looking back on it - I think the thing I enjoyed the most were the moral themes that were explored... most movies would have stayed skin deep. But at the same time it could have done with more pathos beyond the love triangle bit. hrrrm... definitely NOT watching it again then!

hehe...
Dij

CurtisEdmonds · #23 01-28-2002, 10:02 PM

My review:

CDE on the Count of Monte Cristo

pisces · #24 01-28-2002, 10:59 PM

I've been burned every time I go to see a movie based on a favorite book. Once bitten twice shy, and I don't think I could take it if I found that Hollywood had once again butchered what was one of my favorite books by Dumas.

Already, I'm finding out that they changed the ending to make it more a happy one from the book. I just don't know if it's worth it to me. And, this is my favorite book of all time. I just couldn't bare it if the movie didn't live up to it.

dijinn · #25 01-29-2002, 11:39 AM

Pisces,
That this is your favorite book - is rather interesting to me. I too enjoyed it, but I don't think I enjoyed it near as much as you did. (First can I ask a question... which edition did you read 'da big one or the 550 pager? I hear it matters, just curious. I've been thinking about going back and re-reading the longer version.)

I find it intriguing that this is your favorite book mostly because I found the ending to be so unsatisfactorily concluded. I thought it broke with the whole theme of the book to allow Edmond to walk off with a princess/slave type character. I just didn’t get that. But then again a number of people have commented to me that Haydee was their favorite character.

If you enjoyed the ending in the book I guarantee you won’t like the ending in the movie. So save yourself the pain. It ends nothing like the novel. There is no Mercedes living a life of poverty, no Haydee, Edmond and Fernand actually duel at the end… etc etc. You won’t like it if you loved the novel that much.

Dij