Il conte di Montecristo

I've been a fan of The Count of Monte Cristo since reading the book years ago, but I've struggled to find an adaptation that truly worked for me.

The films are too short to do the story justice, and while the popular 1998 French-Italian miniseries had its charm, it feels a bit dated now and takes some liberties with the plot.

I was actually anticipating the new 2024 French film adaptation when this English TV series appeared out of nowhere (though it is still a French-Italian production).

This series is the best adaptation I've seen so far. After watching it, I can confidently say I'm less excited about the film (although three hours long, it probably still not long enough to include all story elements).

It's been a long time since I read the book and I don't remember every detail, but the series seems faithful to the story and the eight episodes give the plot room to develop. It simplifies some secondary character and story arcs, but overall, it covers much of the novel.

My only critique is that the middle episodes did get a bit convoluted, and I sometimes struggled to keep track of the three families. (To be fair, I'm terrible with names, which didn't help.)

Regardless, I highly recommend this series, whether or not you're a fan of the book. My wife, who hasn't read it, loved the series just as much-and even asked to keep watching, which is rare for her.

This series is outstanding in every respect. Certainly, one of the best adaptations of Dumas' book that I have seen in my 61 years. The fact that it's an 8-part miniseries gives the production time to properly flesh out the characters and various plot strands.

Sam Claflin leads a top-notch cast (special mention for Michele Riondino, as Jacopo, and Blake Ritson, who is wonderfully evil in everything!), and the script is excellent.

Some wonderful locations and beautiful cinematography, along with excellent original music, by Volker. Bertelmann) complete what is an epic production.

I only hope it goes on to be seen by a wide audience, as it truly deserves to be seen!

One of the truer adaptations I've had a chance to watch. While it kept my attention due to familiarity with the source material, it was not without disappointments. The minor changes to character arcs or plot points are forgivable (Vampa, Valentine, the "midwife"). I can even forgive the rather considerable changes to Caderousse's character... I was undeniably impressed that a small detail such as the velvet purse made it into the screenplay.

A couple more positives: the sets, locations, and costumes were stunning. You truly felt transported to an era of silken extravagance. These painted a very sharp contrast against the barrenness and rocky depths of the Chateau d'If and the island of Monte Cristo.

However, what it lacked was reasonable human emotion from almost every actor. I find it hard to believe that such a talented cast struggled to muster realistic reactions in some of the situations they found themselves. (Hermine was likely the most emotive.) At key moments, when you'd expect ANY emotion but bland acceptance, the opportunities were completely avoided. For instance, while Edmond was being transported to the Chateau d'If, and all the way to his cell, he went without hesitation or resistance: what innocent person would willingly be transported to a notorious hellhole if they knew they were innocent? By contrast, in the book, he found out where he was going, made a break for it and had to be forcibly restrained at gunpoint. The "cold and calculating" Count shone through no problem, but the moments of despair, and of humanity and empathy that could have drawn the audience in were sorely lacking. His character's moments of redemption from the book (such as revealing himself to Maximilien) were sadly not part of the final release which was a huge disappointment.

I found the soundtrack distracting at times and at the same time, found myself wishing it could have added more emphasis to whatever scene it supported.

Similarly, while the locations were stunning, I was disappointed in the cinematography. Overall, I found it sterile and static. Some well thought out continuous shots might served well to draw the viewer into the action directly.

In summary, worth watching, but don't get your hopes up too high with the acting or expecting characters that grow in depth over time.

For those old enough to have witnessed the Alan Bardel 1964 version, glued to their flickering TV screens, transfixed by the gothic horror and grime, this one was going to be a hard act to follow. To film this, in a modern age, with all the demands of hi-res, colour and costumes was a very brave attempt, and for that I genuinely applaud the effort......... however, it could have been done a WHOLE LOT better, which probably suggests that even with all the EU tax breaks (and other backhanders) there simply were not enough Euros in the chest to really give justice to the Dumas classic. The UK actor Sam Claflin, as Edmond Dantes had screen presence, but arguably not enough ruggedness to really carry the role, in comparison with a persona of Jeremy Iron's gravitas (cellmate Abbe Faria). One big gripe was about the buried treasure. The chests, after having lain for 300 years would have been infested with guano, cobwebs and bat feces, if not totally decimated by Time, but looked like something recently bought on E-bay. Bad move, my continuity guys! Despite all - I'm watching to the end, and I will do my hardest to enjoy it!

I have seen less than 50 percent of Bille August work and never liked any of his movies, actually most of it made me wanna puke and think he is totally overrated. Mediocre movies that I feel are so poorly made but this one is just amazing.

Maybe it is because this Story is just so amazing, that his talent finally come to show. But this is the best version of the The count of Monte Christo I have ever seen.

Great acting, great flow in the story, cinematic experience was superb felt like a historical experience and the audio was amazing.

Our family, old and young, was glued to the screen for two days.

The only minus was the pretentious birth name of his daughter who had a minor role in the movie which she did, ok. So we withdraw the tenth star.