"The Count Of Monte Cristo": Book vs. Film(s)

I first got a taste of this Alexandre Dumas classic when I was watching the Children's-Introduction-To-Classical-Literature show known as Wishbone.  The Count of Monte Cristo is an amazing story of betrayal and revenge.

Basic gist of the story: At nineteen, French sailor Edmond Dantés has everything.  He's going to marry a beautiful girl named Mercédès (a Catalan), and he's been promoted to captain.  However, two men, Danglars and Fernand Mondego (another Catalan), are jealous of Edmond and they betray him.  Edmond is sent to a horrible island prison where he stays for fourteen years.  Eventually he escapes and sails to the island of Monte Cristo.  There, he uncovers an enormous treasure vault.  He claims the treasure and sails back to France and becomes the Count of Monte Cristo.  Now he wants only one thing: Revenge.  And he gets it in an amazing and subtle way.  

I have seen two film version; one from '02, and the other was from the Nineties, in French, starred French acting sensation known as Gérard Depardieu.  The first one kept the basic gist but made the story very different.  The French version was more faithful to the story, but had a few unexplained characters.  Both films ruined the ending.  The original ending is where Edmond goes off to make a new start with his ward, Haydée.  Both movies had Edmond being reunited with Mercédès (which didn't happen).  After being long married to Edmond's rival, as much as she still loved Edmond, Mercédès still would not marry him because being married to someone for a long time dies leave a mark on people.  Even though her husband is dead by the end of the story, she still won't go with Edmond.  That would cause scandal.  So, I found the endings of both movies incredibly disappointing.  I was expecting the films to be somewhat different, but not so different as to muck up the ending.  

Oh, and one film left Haydée completely out while the other only had her so that she could testify against Edmond's rival.  She did the same in the book, but she a somewhat larger role.  And she fell in love with Edmond and stayed with him.  Haydée is my favorite character in the story and that is the other reason why I don't like her role being either cut or reduced. 

My advice, skip the movies and read the book.  It's a good book, although it is a little long.