talair2000

I loved this series. Though I'm English speaking I have enough French to understand it. (I also later watched the English version with my parents but prefer it in french.)

This series is NOT superficial and unbelievable like soap operas are. My parents grew up in conditions much like this series portrayed, so we all found it very realistic. (My paternal grandmother gave birth to her last four children at home alone.) This series told it like it was for many families in this time period. Many diseases were not curable/controllable, and children died. Times were harsh, people were poor. We saw them as real people with all their flaws. This show spared no punches.

I also thought the entire casting was excellent. Because it was a series there was time to fully develop many characters and I cared about them all.

I have the first book in the series and have finally managed to obtain the series on DVD. I am looking forward to revisiting this excellent series.

I was very satisfied with this movie and although POTC: COTBP will always remain my favorite (for sheer fun) this one is a very close second and works for me on a different level than COTBP.

Just the scenes with Geoffrey Rush & Johnny Depp made this movie worth seeing as far as I'm concerned. The two of them play their characters so well off of each other. If any more Pirates sequels are made I'll be very disappointed if Barbossa isn't back.

Unlike with COTBP, I find the final battle scenes still interesting after repeated viewings and though there are a few areas in the movie that I would have shortened, for me this movie went by very fast.

However, it really bemuses me that people had such a difficult time with this movie. Is it because people today are spoon fed everything? Is it because they no longer can use their own imaginations to fill in the blanks? Is it because some people have the attention span of a gnat?

I had no trouble understanding the movie the first time I watched it and I enjoyed it very much (unlike DMC which for me was only enjoyable in the last 40 mins.) The subsequent viewings of AWE have allowed me to enjoy many details and underlying currents. I like the fact that it doesn't have a pat Disney ending. I like the fact that it makes one discuss and think of possibilities.

"At World's End" was never meant to be a movie like, say "Transformers," so I guess people going into it expecting mindless special effects with no need to pay attention to dialogue and visual clues will never like this movie. It's their loss.

Perhaps if you've never read the book it is possible to enjoy this movie, but it certainly has little in common with the real story from the novel other than the title and names of the characters.

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite reads. As a child I was first exposed to the story by the wonderful serial adaptation of the book on BBC Television. This movie version just doesn't convey the layers of the characters nor the emotion of the book at all. I kept hoping the movie would improve as it went along, but it didn't. Hollywood bastardizes another great novel.

So if you want something that is shallow and mindless this movie is for you, but if you want to enjoy a really good story, read the book instead.