The Count of Monte Cristo

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.

I'm extremely happy with how this series was made. Not only have they found a way to make it realistic, but they've also found a way to make the story so precise that it could have easily happened in reality. One of the few adaptations I can say is wonderful. The cast and locations are breathtaking in their authenticity.

I appreciate the fact that they changed the story just enough to make it more feasible, as compared to random. The issue with the original was always there were too many things that had to align just right for it to work. That's not the case with this series, they made it very believable.

!0/10 well done, truly fantastic work.

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!

Based in UK desparate to watch and lucky enough to watch on STV.

A beautiful mini series based on Alexander dumas novel. Stunning locations, architecture, music, art and most of all superb acting and directing.

Sam Claflin as Edmund/the count was absolutely hypnotic. Close up camera work on his eyes showed the pain, anger and loss of the character. Episode with Abe Faria (Jeremy Iron) was enthralling don't know where time went.

Actors playing Danglars, Vampa, Caderousse and Jacapo gave humour which I enjoyed too!

The villains of the piece played magnificently too.

A show not to be missed. I'm on my 3rd time round😁

By far the best adaptation of Monte C and closest to the book. Compared to French version this one is superior. Almost 90% is true to the book, the rest is light modifications, some good, some not very smart... Lacks the intensity of the stories in the book. Maybe one or two more episodes would give time develop all characters correctly!

Everything was covered, a lot of details, good cinematography, but a lot is left unsaid... Few characters were merged, and used poorly, but I gave it a high rating, because other adaptations did not even try to follow the book.

Solid adaptation of a great book!