Hollywood Reviews and Movie Trivia

While this is far from being the first time Alexandre Dumas' classic tale of revenge has been taken to the big screen, this is most definitely my favorite version. Jim Caviezel plays Edmond Dantes exceptionally well, with Guy Pearce playing a considerably more sinister version of Dantes nemesis, Fernand Mondego, than Dumas had originally written. Richard Harris, fresh from his stint as Headmaster of Hogwart's, is perfect as Dantes mentor, Abbe Faria. In fact, the whole cast pulled together one rock solid production, worthy of the novel's standing in history, despite some minor liberties with the story and the elimination of several sub-plots. Cinematography throughout the picture leaves the viewer with quite an impression; a very cool explanation of the final scene is well worth viewing in the collection of extras. A few of the deleted scenes included as extras could have been left in the movie to help tie elements of the story together, despite the director's suggestion that they would have disrupted the movie's pacing. A fine collection of Alexandre Dumas historical detail adds to the feature-rich collection of extras on the DVD. If you are a fan of good cinema, and swashbuckling films in particular, you'll most definitely want this DVD in your collection.