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The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

tomatometer

73

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 143
Fresh: 105 | Rotten: 38

Though it may not reach for any new artistic heights, The Count of Monte Cristo is an old-fashioned yet enjoyable swashbuckler.

67

Average Rating: 6.3/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 10

Though it may not reach for any new artistic heights, The Count of Monte Cristo is an old-fashioned yet enjoyable swashbuckler.

audience

85

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 184,670

My Rating

Movie Info

The classic tale of swashbuckling adventure by the senior Alexandre Dumas comes to the screen in its umpteenth incarnation, this time from Kevin Reynolds, directing his first feature in five years. James Caviezel stars as Edmond Dantes, an honest sailor who plans to marry his beautiful lover Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk). Edmond doesn't know that his best friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) secretly desires Mercedes for himself and schemes with fallen aristocrat Villefort (James Frain) to frame

PG-13,

Drama, Action & Adventure

Jay Wolpert

Sep 10, 2002

$54.1M

Touchstone Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (144) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (105) | Rotten (38) | DVD (23)

A preposterous, expansive and self-conscious attempt to resurrect the historical spectacular.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment (1)
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A big, vacuous, sometimes exciting glamour-puss of a movie.

July 20, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | Comment (1)
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

All in all, it's a pretty good execution of a story that's a lot richer than the ones Hollywood action screenwriters usually come up with on their own.

March 19, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment (1)
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Old-form moviemaking at its best.

February 3, 2002
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's a thin line between likably old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy, and The Count of Monte Cristo ... never quite settles on either side.

January 30, 2002 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment (1)
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A rousingly old-fashioned swashbuckler with an abundance of vigorous action and nary a trace of wink-wink irony.

January 25, 2002 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A thoroughly enjoyable movie for older kids.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

This is visually stunning and a masterpiece.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Cinema Crazed

Where Gladiator failed to give an adequate sense of how its hero grew and what he learned during his trials. ... Monte Cristo, on the other hand, takes its time.

December 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Looking Closer
Looking Closer

Strong supporting performances, from Harris in particular, help make up for the uneven performances of the two leads ...

January 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

You know you're in for a good ol' popcorn-munching time when the movie's tagline is a bad pun on the title of a piece of fine literature.

June 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies
Window to the Movies

While many would rightfully question why there is need for another take on Alexander Dumas' treasure, Reynolds has made a decent job of it.

April 29, 2003 Full Review Source: RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)

Dumas Lite: Less filling, still tastes pretty good

March 19, 2003 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

Apesar de algumas alterações lamentáveis com relação ao livro de Alexandre Dumas, o filme é interessante e se beneficia das atuações de Caviezel e Pearce.

February 23, 2003
Cinema em Cena

...A straightforward and beautifully accoutered period piece, rife with technical authenticity and eye-pleasing production values.

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online
Film Quips Online

Dumas would feel insulted that the characters he breathed life into were no more than charicatures prancing across the screen in a period action film.

January 29, 2003 | Comments (4)
Cinema Sight

... in a marketplace littered with films that studios have unloaded to make a buck or two... "The Count of Monte Cristo" stands out like a treasure chest half-buried in the sand.

December 29, 2002 Full Review Source: MovieCrypt.com
MovieCrypt.com

Will not top anyone's list of great literary adaptations, but it qualifies nonetheless as a swashbuckling guilty pleasure.

October 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Enquirer

This feature is about as necessary as a hole in the head

September 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Matinee Magazine | Comment (1)
Matinee Magazine

...everything a good, old-fashioned adventure story should be: daring, flamboyant, exciting, heroic, and supremely romantic.

September 2, 2002
Movie Metropolis

Kevin Reynolds's telling of the Alexandre Dumas classic delightfully evokes the halcyon days of screen swashbucklers.

August 29, 2002 Full Review

It's extremely well-made, even though all the guts have been sucked out in an attempt to make it politically correct.

August 12, 2002 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall
Shadows on the Wall

Opulent Parisian mansions, gorgeous Napoleonic era costumes, and artistic cinematography wowed me almost as much as those dynamic performances by Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce.

June 13, 2002 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Ofrece una buena oportunidad de cultura (aunque sea condensada) que bien vale la pena aprovechar.

June 11, 2002 Full Review Source: Moviola

Audience Reviews for The Count of Monte Cristo

The 2002 adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' book is remarkable nonetheless. The splendid and grandeur presentation as well as its climatic scenes were entertaining. Although it doesn't heighten and raise the artfulness to new levels, it is still solid enough to win most of its audience. 3.5/5
January 3, 2013
Eugene Bernabe

Super Reviewer

A somewhat promising first half, but the films "climatic" end unfolds like a terrible TV-drama so convenient in its staging and so static in its direction. YOU ONCE CALLED ME FRIEND, YOU BETRAYED ME, HE IS YOUR SON, BLAAAAAAAH!

Seriously?

The casting was great, but the un-profound script and cliche themes of classicism completely fails to give the story any credible depth. Nothing but a polished period piece of rehash.
September 22, 2011
Drake Tsui

Super Reviewer

    1. Fernand: What happened to your mercy?
    2. Edmond Dantes/The Count of Monte Cristo: I'm a count, not a saint.
    – Submitted by Dennis L (20 months ago)
    1. Abbe Faria: The stronger swordsman does not necessarily win. It is speed! Speed of hand, speed of mind.
    – Submitted by Dennis L (20 months ago)
    1. Edmond Dantes/The Count of Monte Cristo: I have seventy-two thousand five-hundred and nineteen stones in my walls. I've counted them many times.
    – Submitted by Paul E (20 months ago)
    1. Abbe Faria: But have you named them yet?
    – Submitted by Paul E (20 months ago)
    1. Jacopo: Once again, Zatarra, God sees you out of the corner of His eye.
    – Submitted by John K (23 months ago)
    1. Edmond Dantes/The Count of Monte Cristo: If you ever loved me, don't rob me of my hate. It's all I have.
    – Submitted by John K (23 months ago)

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Latest News on The Count of Monte Cristo

March 19, 2013:
David S. Goyer Directing The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count is returning to theaters again.
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