7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Betrayed by his childhood friend Fernand, sailor Edmond Dantes is found guilty of trumped-up charges and sent to the island prison of Chateau d'If. Thirteen years later, having learnt the art of fencing from the Abbé Faria, a fellow inmate who also revealed to him the location of a vast treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo, Edmond realises that the time has come and carries out a daring escape attempt. Taking the treasure for himself, he reappears as the Count of Monte Cristo and becomes the talk of Parisian society; but he soon learns that Fernand has married Mercédès, Edmond's own childhood sweetheart, and starts drawing up his plans for revenge.
Starring: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Dagmara Dominczyk, Luis Guzmán, James FrainRomance | 100% |
History | 53% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Kevin Reynolds ' "The Count of Monte Cristo" (2002) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney/Buena Vista. The supplemental features on the disc include deleted and alternate scenes with audio commentary by director Kevin Reynolds and editor Stephen Semel; four featurettes; multi-camera look at the finale; alternative audio tracks for a specific scene; and an audio commentary by director Kevin Reynolds. In English, with optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Chateau d'If
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Kevin Reynolds' The Count of Monte Cristo arrives on Blu-ray courtesy Disney/Buena Vista.
The high-definition transfer used for this release might have been acceptable in early 2007, but in late 2011 clearly it is not - it is too inconsistent and too shaky, too soft and too filtered. To be honest, I would not be surprised if it was sourced from the same master the studio used for their DVD release of the film, which arrived on the market in 2002.
Detail and clarity fluctuate a lot. A few of the many close-ups in the film look rather decent (see screencapture #14), but the majority are disappointingly soft and filtered (see screencapture #11). The footage from Chateau d'If also looks anemic and soft, at times even notably dark. Before Edmond Dantes is arrested, there are also entire sequences where definition is completely lost. The daylight sequences generally look better, but again, the filtering is often overwhelming (see screencapture #16). Colors are also never as vibrant and lush as they should be, particularly during the final third of the film. The bigger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to also see a good dose of light noise and plenty of compression artifacts popping up throughout the entire film (see screencapture #19). All in all, there are still some small benefits here - for instance, the transfer is free of the macroblocking patterns that plague the DVD release - but the presentation is clearly not as good as it could and should have been. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).
There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Disney/Buena Vista have provided optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is strong. The bass is potent and punchy, the rear channels quite effective, and the high-frequencies not distorted. Clearly, during a lot of the action scenes there is plenty of depth and crispness that is simply missing on the DVD release of the film (if you still have the DVD, compare the opening scene where the soldiers fire at Dantes and Mondego). The dialog also appears better balanced with Ed Shearmur's score and easier to follow (on the DVD release I always had trouble with Dominczyk's lines). For the record, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, sync issues or audio dropouts to report in this review.
In my opinion, the best adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic novel remains Josée Dayan's nearly 7-hour long terrific TV mini-series, starring Gerard Depardieu, Ornella Muti, and Jean Rochefort. While rather entertaining, Kevin Reynolds' The Count of Monte Cristo will likely impress only those who have never read the novel and are unaware how far more richer and complex the story of Edmond Dantes is. The film is worth seeing but probably only once. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Disney/Buena Vista, is rather problematic. I would recommend upgrading your DVDs only if you find it on sale.
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