hvdam I loved the book, read it "to pieces". Yes the adaptation is slow-paced and a number of stories have been left out, but in all reality, the selection made is excellent. The atmosphere is great, it is truly romantic and the chosen stories are excellent. Unfortunately there are a lot of deviations from the book, which results in a (in my taste) "cheesy" ending. Overall however, there is a lot to enjoy. The soundtrack is excellent and full of subtle details. Spoiler Alert: When Heloise enters Valentines room for the second time, to check whether she had been successful, she hums a melody (not in the book). This melody is very well chosen: The theme is the slow movement of Schubert's String Quartet No 14 "Der Tod und das Mädchen" (Death and the Maiden).

John Bale Gérard Depardieu has lavished much care and attention to detail on this production of the famous Dumas story. He is most impressive as Edmund Dantes who is falsely imprisoned by his "friends" in the awful Château d'If for some 18 years, then escapes, finds a vast fortune, and as the mysterious Count takes revenge upon those who betrayed him in a very complex series of intrigues. Bearing in mind the great length of the original novel, simplification of the sub plots are inevitable in any screen version, although the extended running time of this TV series allows much of the text to be brought to the screen faithfully. Using some quite stunning set pieces and beautiful scenes to background the action, the cast perform exceedingly well, dominated by Depardieu's portrayal of Monti Cristo. Although a rather overweight Count, his strength as an actor overcomes this minor flaw, and certainly its unlikely we'll see a better performance of the role for years to come. If you have the patience to view the extended version here, it is a rewarding and finally well crafted adaption of a most difficult subject.

George Parker This miniseries rendering of pulp novelist Dumas' 18th century "The Count of Monte Cristo" runs about 6.6 hours in length, all of it subtitled for non-French speakers. That's a whole lot of reading. However, the length allows this version of the oft filmed story to bring the characters to life in truer fashion and with greater depth than the many abbreviated knock-offs. The result is an expansive, in-depth telling the young French sailor, Edmond Dantès, who is wrongfully imprisoned for 14 years, discovers a treasure which makes him filthy rich, then uses the wealth to sustain his own cunning schemes as he seeks vengeance under an assumed identity as The Count of Monte Cristo. This film offers a fine cast with Depardieu providing a commanding presence as the charismatic Count and no one does French period films better than the French. Deficits are small, easily overlooked non sequiturs such as having to swallow the robust form of Depardieu as a man who lived for years on the meager sustenance of the dungeons of D'If...etc. An excellent but long presentation which trades the usual swashbuckling and action of the more abbreviated knock-offs for a more faithful presentation of the sagacious Count who seeks to understand who he's become and reconcile that with the man who lusts for vengeance. (B+)

mairhi 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.