The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Deleted Scenes-4 + Introduction Featurette-Sword Choreography Multiple Angles-En Garde: Multi-Angle Dailies (3) Featurette-Layer-By-Layer: Sound Design Audio Commentary-Kevin Reynolds (Director)
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	125:52
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (88:00)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Kevin Reynolds
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Jim Caviezel Guy Pearce Richard Harris Dagmara Dominczyk Luis Guzman James Frain
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Edward Shearmur

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Spanish Italian Croatian Portuguese Greek Hungarian Slovenian Hebrew Italian Titling Spanish Titling Italian Audio Commentary Spanish Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    This version takes a few more liberties with the novel than many recent adaptations of classic literature, and screenwriter Jay Wolpert sticks by this approach, proudly disclaiming that "we were making a movie, not filming a book". To a large extent this approach works - this is a well-crafted piece of cinematic storytelling that has both a strong story and very good character development. It is, in fact, the lack of slave-like devotion to the novel that gives this film room to make changes to the story and helps it play more satisfactorily.

    The general outline of the story still largely follows that of the novel. A man - Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel) - is arrested for treason because he accepted a letter from Napoleon. Despite being totally innocent of any charges against him, he is thrown in the hell-hole prison Chateau d'If, where he is supposed to slowly rot away, while the friends who caused his imprisonment - including childhood friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) - take advantage of the situation. The problem for his "friends" is that while in the Chateau, Edmond meets long-term inmate Abbé Faria (Richard Harris), who not only teaches Edmond the ways of the world, but eventually aids in his escape from the prison. Once free, Edmond seeks out the treasure of Enriqe Spada, a search that leads him to the Isle of Monte Cristo. Using his new-found - and unimaginably vast - wealth, the self-made Count of Monte Cristo seeks revenge on the friends that sent him to the Chateau d'If 14 years before.

    Probably the first thing to note about this film is that it is really more of a revenge drama than a swashbuckling adventure. During his interview, screenwriter Wolpert comments of the novel that "while everyone in The Count Of Monte Cristo carries a sword, almost no-one actually draws it", and to a large extent that is true for the movie as well. There has been an attempt at adding more action and visual interest for the movie, but as there is a lot of story and character development taking place, it leaves little room for action. This is, obviously, a good thing, as the action - when it comes - then feels more natural and far less "forced", giving it greater resonance. The Count Of Monte Cristo also delivers something that many recent adventure and action films have been missing - a sense of fun. This is a story meant first and foremost for entertainment, and it shows, as it is truly enjoyable to watch.

    The weakest aspect of this film are the performances, or more precisely, the voices. The actors assembled for the lead roles in this film - Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris, Luis Guzman, and Dagmara Dominczyk - all talk in a very similar fashion, being precise and very much sounding like they are reciting lines. This can become very distracting at times when there are large amounts of exposition to make while the actors are staying still, as it ends up looking more like a play than a movie. Other than that, the performances are solid if not spectacular, although Jim Caviezel has yet to convince me he can be a truly charismatic leading man, and this film does nothing to change that. Amusingly, Michael Wincott returns here playing the exact same character he took from Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves to The Three Musketeers, albeit aged a little - he should probably start worrying about typecasting. The biggest accolades however should go to director Kevin Reynolds who has managed to turn out a film that looks a lot more expensive than it actually was (the film was made on the small-for-Hollywood budget of $35 million US). The sets, shot composition, and visual presentation are all opulent, lending the film a grand and epic feel. All this is very impressive for a film that took only 65 days to shoot. A side note to this is that while the main production finished shooting in November of 2000, the film's release was delayed for almost a year waiting for the opportunity to re-shoot the final fight scene, leading to the eventual early 2002 release.

    The Count Of Monte Cristo is a very enjoyable and rather refreshing revenge drama that for once does not shove the moral of "revenge is bad...OK" down the audience's throat, instead relying on a far more subtle variation. The extra attention to story and character makes the included action carry more weight than in many flat-out action movies. Fans of adventure and swashbuckling movies should do themselves a favour and check this out. Even non-fans should have a look - it may just surprise.

Video

    Presented at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is slightly soft for the most part, although there are a few scenes, such as from 24:34 to 24:48 that are extremely clear and sharp. There is an almost constant presence of grain, and on a number of occasions it becomes extremely heavy and quite distracting, such as from 12:43 to 12:54. There are also a number of scenes that appear very hazy, or contain smoke or steam, all of which add to the atmospheric nature and look of the film, but the fact that none of these are handled particularly well, nor do they help with the sharpness of the transfer, does cause problems. Shadow detail is quite good, and as there are a large number of night scenes, that is a bonus. There is no low level noise.

    Colours are one of the strongest aspects of this transfer, with the dusty Mediterranean look of the early parts of the film well contrasted with the bleak greys of the prison cell, and the more lush appearance of the Paris region later on.

    There is a small amount of pixelization when the grain levels become very high, with the most obvious being from 12:43 to 12:54. There are also a few instances of slight motion blur, usually in poorly lit scenes. The softness of the transfer means that aliasing is only a minor issue, as while there are a number of instances of aliasing, most will slip by unless looked for. The worst instances are on the ropes holding the balloon at 74:51 and from 75:03 to 75:10. There are very few film artefacts in the transfer, with only small specks, such as at 35:24 to worry about.

    The subtitles are word-for-word accurate, produced in large type, and are easy to read. They may not be the most visually attractive subtitles ever produced, but a least they do their job.

    This is an RSDL formatted disc with the layer change taking place at 88:00 during Chapter 21. It is one of the worst placed layer changes I have seen, occurring right in the middle of a scene, and breaking up a music cue.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are four audio tracks present on this disc. These are the original English dialogue and Italian and Spanish dubs, all in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 384 Kbps), and an English audio commentary track in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (at 192 Kbps). Somewhat annoyingly, the soundtracks are locked for changing within the film, and can only be selected from the main menu.

    Dialogue, with the exception of certain characters with thick accents, is always clear and easy to understand. The effects and music are well blended, and never create any issues. Audio sync is mostly good, although there are a few instances, such as at 16:05 and 66:43 where it slips out slightly.

    The music is credited to Edward Shearmur and has an appropriate period feel to it. There are a number of occasions where the score is solely responsible for carrying the sequence, and it does this very well. It is well matched to the tone and intent of all scenes, and is a very good overall effort.

    The surround channel use is where the soundtrack comes crashing down. For such a recent film, and one with a decent spattering of action in it, it is disappointing to find a soundtrack that has such a minimalist approach to surround use. In fact, there are only two occasions where the surrounds can be said to be effectively used - during Richard Harris's entrance, and with a thunder-clap towards the end of the movie. Other than those occasions, the surrounds get some work from the score, and a little ambient sound, but mostly sit dormant. A great pity, and a wasted opportunity.

    The subwoofer does a much better job than the surrounds, coming into play only when necessary, but never missing an opportunity. It occasionally backs up the score, but largely adds punch to the beat of racing horses, or makes the presence of fireworks felt. A nice and controlled track.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Deleted Scenes (11:38)

Sword Choreography (3:05)

En Garde: Multi-Angle Dailies (3 angles x 3:03)

Layer By Layer: Sound Design (4:48)

Audio Commentary - Director (Kevin Reynolds)

• Alexandre Dumas Featurette: The Pen
• Screenwriting Featurette: Adapting A Classic
• Production Design Featurette: The Napoleonic World
• Stunt Choreography Featurette: The Clash Of Steel

• Sword Choreography

    The video quality is both good and bad. While it is very atmospheric and film-like in appearance, it is far below the best on offer these days.

    The audio is very disappointing, staying anchored to the front soundstage for the majority of the movie. A poor effort.

    There is a good selection of interesting extras present here. While they are not enough to promote the disc to those who are not fans, they are more than enough to please those who are.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall