Set in the turbulent days in which France was transitioning away from Napoleonic rule . This the Classic tale from Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo' with Edmond Dantes (Gerard Depardieu) , a sailor who is falsely accused of treason by his his nemesis , Montego (Jean Rochefort) , who wants Dantes' girlfriend Mercedes for himself . Dantes is imprisoned on the island prison of Château d'If for 18 years, where he plots revenge against those who betrayed him . While imprisoned, he meets the Abbe Faria (Georges Moustaki), a fellow prisoner whom everyone believes to be mad. The Abbe tells Edmond of a fantastic treasure hidden away on a tiny island, that only he knows the location of. After many years in prison, the old Abbe dies, and Edmond escapes disguised as the dead body . He escapes the island and proceeds to transform himself into the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo as part of his plan to exact revenge against his enemies as Villefort (Pierre Arditi) and Danglars (Michael Aumont) . Good and colorful rendition based on the famous novel with emotional highs and lows , in which Edmond Dantes is unjustly sent to prison for 18 years , with the help of another prisoner he escapes to reclaim his fiancée Mercedes , the gorgeous Ornella Muti , and revenge against Montego and other contenders . A fine but overlong remake of the Alexander Dumas tale by the same name . In the film there are adventures , action , love stories , derring-do and results to be pretty amusing . Although runtime movie is approx. 400 min and some ; it is neither tiring , nor boring but entertaining . Cast is frankly well . Gerard Depardieu interpretation is first-rate . Jean Rochefort plays correctly the evil villain Montego and Ornella Muti is wonderful as the fiancée , now married to Montego . Riveting Georges Mustaki in brief appearances as Abbe Faria , he makes a phenomenal acting . It packs a shining and glimmer cinematography by Willy Stassen . And an emotive and evocative musical score by Bruno Coulais with superb leitmotif . This splendid TV series was well directed by Josée Dayan . The flick will appeal to adventures buffs and emotions lovers . Rating : 7/10 . Good , better than average . Well worth watching . Other adaptation about this known novel are the followings : ¨Count of Montecristo¨ by Rowland V Lee with Robert Donat , Louisa Landi , Louis Calhern ; El conde de Montecristo" (1953) by Leon Klimomovsky with Jorge Mistral ; ¨Le Comte De Monte Cristo ¨(1961) by Claude Aunt Lara with Lous Jourdan ; TV retelling by David Greene with Richard Chamberlain , Donald Pleasence , Tony Curtis ; ¨Le Comte De Monte-Cristo" series (1979) with Jacques Wever , The Count of Monte Cristo (1992) Kevin Reynolds with Jim Cazievel , Dagmara Domincyk , Guy Pearce , Richard Harris.

One could say I am an old coot, geezer, at the age of 71. This wonderful series, starring the great Gerard Depardieu, pulled me back to my childhood at about eight years old. The two librarians in my little home town in Louisiana always pushed me to read books that were at least two grades ahead. At the end of the school year we were given the usual Summer Reading List. Presenting mine to the local librarians, they suggested a novel by Alexander Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo. I had never actually read a "novel" of that size. I was a bit over- come, but began to read this book right then and there, sitting in a bay window overlooking the little river that flowed past the library's huge windows. That experience changed my life from a casual reader to a dedicated and life-long lover of books. I learned that Dumas was French and had written many other books. I read them all that summer. Then on to Victor Hugo, Balzac, George Sand, and others, all recommended by those lovely ladies in the local library. I have seen almost every film adaptation of The Count, going back to the 1934 version with Robert Donat to the last one with Guy Pierce. THIS one, with Depardieu,is my favorite. Although many liberties are taken, as usual with movie producers and directors, it still is an exciting and involving tale. Dumas' story is so sturdy that any injury visited upon it would be only superficial. I found myself an eight year old all over again. Unlike some adaptations of Dumas' novels, this one had very little swash and even less buckle, being more character driven and fueled by last minute escapes and near fatal outcomes. The ending, as several other comments express, is a bit too up-beat, but so what? Life is full of wonderful and unexpected joys. Watching this made-for-television series was one of them. AND I found it on DVD so I can watch it over and over.

This movie is very long (almost 8 hours!). I recommend watching it in 2 hour blocks. It is set up this way as it was a mini series on the Bravo channel. Yes, it is in French. There are subtitles. (I enjoyed seeing how much of my high school French I actually could remember.) You can't beat it, however, for staying so true to the book. If you haven't read the book, you should before you see the movie. That will allow you to follow the story the first time at your own pace. It will also help to put some events into place in your mind.The movie will help you understand the book because the story can get confusing with some of the French names and titles. Having a face to put to those names helps. The book is incredible because of the plotting of the main character and the plot twists. Kept in in this version, those two things make it a great story and movie.

I first saw this at christmas about 3 years ago. I was ill in bed with flu and just wanted to die. I got up for a change of scenery and put the tv on. This was on. I spent the next three days setting the alarm for 3pm and getting up out of my death bed to watch this compelling series. I then found it on DVD, and bought it (the book was included and I have been reading that too). THe story is compelling and the characterisations by all of the actors are amazing. THe detail is fantastic and even though I don't normally "do subtitles" I have watched the entire series several times, finding something new and even more entertaining each time. I would recommend it to anyone - this would make kids WANT to learn french in school so they could watch it without the subtitles.