Genres

Visitors Review

david 2012-05-26 01:21:30

fun film

This is one of the most entertaining films I've seen recently. Thepiratesare believable; I enjoyed their antique English dialogue. I do notunderstand why the viewer ratings for this film are so low; I would giveitan 8 out of 10.

jnoblewright 2012-05-25 13:03:50

Poor. As in bottom of the dung-heap poor.

How does any script this absurdly construed actually get produced, letalone released to the theatres? Really, I want to know. I suppose c.1980 Peter Benchley's name was enough to attract the funds. But some atpoint during the production an actor like Michael Caine should haverealized that any honest, considered effort he put into this moviewould be totally upstaged the tragic circus that is "The Island".Watching this movie is like reliving a terrible, terrible dream. Maybeone day I will be able to vanquish the mental image of Michael Cainepumping rounds through a .50 cal machine gun at scores of pirates (yes,pirates) dressed in discount bondage gear... Thanks to digital cable Ididn't pay for it, which is good. But someone did.

Richard Willetts 2012-05-20 21:01:18

Great Movie

One of those films you have seen when you were younger and neverforget. Good story, and great ending, I would recommend this movie foranyone who has the fortune to come across it on a late night televisionchannel. Unfortunately, this is probably the only place you willactually get to see it, unless you can find it on VHS. Micheal Cainedelivers a great performance, as well as David Warner, who always seemsto have obscure rolls in movies. This actor should definitely receive alot more attention. This is certainly a little treasure to add to your"old movie" shelf. If you have the chance to read the book, it is greatas well.

alex-522 2012-05-20 08:17:08

See it!

This is a breath-taking caper bursting to the rafters with butchery, fun,adventure and dagger wit. If you're into art house films and intelligentdiscussion this movie has nothing to offer you. If on the other handyou'relooking to sink into an armchair with a can of beer this is a superbcaper,and a bible of idiocy. A fabulously entertaining fantasy with a horde ofunforgettable hilarious scenes. Excellent!

Corpus_Vile 2012-05-15 23:27:37

Offbeat fun as Caine mutinies

Michael Caine is a reporter who goes to Florida with his young son, toinvestigate the disappearance of hundreds of ships over a three yearperiod. While out fishing, they are captured by vicious pirates, whospeak pidgin English, live by their own set of laws and have been ekingout an existence by plundering ships for centuries. Caine's son israther partial to this lifestyle, and one of the pirate women has aneye for making Caine her new husband. will Caine's son grow up to bethe next Blackbeard, with Caine doomed (I guess) to being a piratechick's sex slave? Or will Caine manage to rescue his son and get backto civilisation?The Island sounds totally silly, and yes, it IS totally silly, but on aplus side it has David Warner as the leader of the pirates, and Warneris awesome imho. It also comes with some nice scenery and has aneffectively nasty and attention grabbing opening scene. As well asthis, it's surprisingly gruey in parts with some decently and wellexecuted bloody kills and a way OTT scene involving a heavy machinegun. There's some rather offbeat touches to The Island also, with someof the gory kills being played out to the score of swashbucklingmatinée music, as the Pirates plunder ships, as well as a hilariousspot of impromptu and wholly unexpected Kung-Fu.So overall, it's a dumb but fun flick which reasonably delivers.6.5/10 worth checking out for some decent kills, and an overall offbeatenough set up.

2012-05-15 14:32:43

Interesting but barely watchable actioner

Michael Caine is Blair Maynard, a somewhat too-intelligent-for-his own good writer for the New Yorker who gets caught up with carribean piracy in "The Island". Following up on tales of missing ships in the so-called "Bermuda Triangle", Maynard heads down to the Carribean with his 11 year old son, Justin in tow. Instead of UFO's or other mysterious phenomenon, Maynard finds the missings ships have fallen prey to piracy - in this case, a band of island-hopping cut-throats right out of "Pirates of the Carribean". Though existing into the 20th century (and remembering that there's nothing anachronistic about piracy today), the pirates here really are stuck in the 17th century - along with their clothes, manners and living conditions. Captured by the rogue band - led by David Warner - Maynard is kept alive until he can breed with the band's few women (imagine 300 years of in-breeding and you'll get the idea) while his son is brainwashed until he's led to believe he's one of them. Maynard tries to escape, but the region's natural dangers, an Island doctor who supports the pirates and his own son conspire against him.So what makes this flick so hard to take? The movie's biggest flaw is that it can't decide if it's playing it straight or as a parody. There's something hysterical about modern-day sailors falling prey to a bunch of primitive castaways - a sentiment that comes to a head when the pirates board a drug-running schooner - and the fact that these guys have been using the same genes for a few centuries is only one more reminder that you're watching "Treasure Island" meets "Deliverance". Also, Ennio Morricone's music is a quick and rousing riff on ye olde Hollywood pirate epics. But the flick is also dead serious and violent - including scenes of Justin shooting people and leading up to a fierce clash (ala Peckinpah) between the pirates and the crew of a Coast Guard cutter. It's jarring and it just doesn't swim. The rest of the movie makes little sense - the pirates appear in every way isolated from modern man. Though they've been scavenging off of us for three centuries, they're stuck with their ancient weapons, and appear clueless as to such things as cocaine (considering the geography, they probably find gobs of the stuff; yet when Caine explains to a pirate that it's a drug, the pirate asks back "what does it cure?") or anything else. Even their lair appears untouched by 3 centuries of loot (Tom Hanks used more in Castway, and he didn't have a bunch of matey's to help him get it). In short, this was a barely watchable movie, slightly redeemed by giving Caine a surprise victory, but otherwise something that should have been left untouched for 300 years.

2012-05-10 23:35:27

Don't waste your money!

This is absolutely the worst movie I have ever seen. I saw it at the theater 20 years ago and I still consider it to be the biggest waste of my movie money. I know this doesn't help much without movie details. I just remember expecting mystery and suspense - all I got was gore with no real story.

Space_Lord 2012-05-10 06:01:25

Pirates are ALWAYS cool!

This film isn't so bad as what the IMDb rating suggests! I found itrather entertaining! It has a solid story and great performance fromthe cast, and I usually can't stand Michael Caine!! Anyway, the film isabout a tribe of inbred pirates that have avoided society for threehundred years. The problem is they are so inbred that they are nolonger able to reproduce, so they abduct an investigative journalist(Caine) and his son to add new blood to their depleted gene pool.Caine's son is then brainwashed by the pirates and adapts to theirplundering ways with ease. Caine gets to stick around just to make ababy with one of the buccaneer women. What's wrong with that? They'llkill him after, that's what! Modern day pirates! That's what the worldneeds, I tell ya!

2012-05-03 10:35:27

Great pirate film. When will this film get an R1 release?

Great Michael Caine, David Warner film. Modern day pirates abduct Michael Caine and his disappointed son. The lead pirate (Warner) brain-washes Caines son -some great scenes here- while Caine is given to the woman of a man he killed upon their abduction. The pirates are living by by codes they'd originally enstated over 100 years ago. So, we have some very entertaining dialogue on this island. The US Coast Guard end up arriving for which the pirates have some daring plans. I won't give the storyline away, but when this film finally is released in the US there should be some rejoicing. Definitely one of Michael Caine's best films.

2012-05-02 13:22:48

Complete UnCut Letterbox DVD Please

Back when they knew how to make a Good Movie that wasn't FULL of FX.Why O Why is this not on DVD yet?The first Kill and The Finale were worth the price of admission alone.

steeplejack17 2012-05-02 05:13:24

Great Pirate movie

Where do, I begin... This movie was great from beginning to end for asmall budget and great plot. The only main historical error, I couldfind with the movie is you get the idea if you follow Pirate history isDavid Warner plays character Jean David Nau who obviously his ancestorwould be Francois L'Olonnais (Jean David Nau) who was shipwrecked withhis crew by Navidad. They seem to obviously survived the nativeattacks, the only problem, I have is when they hoist up there blackflag after taking the Coast Guard ship it is of Emmanuel Wynne's.Anyhow they made it a believable story of Pirates that survived on thisisland and started a colony for 300 years. Which you mix it up with theBermuda Triangle. Wow! It explains the shipping loss aspect. I am notgoing to ruin it with getting into the plot the other writers summed itup pretty well just wanted to give a bit of historical aspect of themovie and general opinion of the movie. Great characters and acting amovie worth being released on DVD and hopefully it will have an uncutversion of the movie and possibly deleted scenes due to the smallbudget..

Chicago_gangster 2012-05-01 16:32:21

Average movie with a few good scenes

This is an average movie but it has at least two great scenes that Iwould rate 10/10.The first one is the deliberately ridiculous, incredible parody scenewhere the Bruce Lee-wannabe drug smuggler fights with the pirates. Ifind it very funny (along with the "doctor's" comments on his death)and entertaining.The second one is, of course, the massacre scene where Michael Caine'scharacter finally gets the opportunity to annihilate them. What anunexpected and satisfying plot twist! (It wasn't their annihilationthat was unexpected, but HOW it was done.)

Paul Andrews 2012-04-29 21:16:00

"A bunch of ars*holes playing Long John fu*king Silver." I liked it more than I should have.

The Island starts as English magazine reporter Blair Maynard (MichaelCaine) convinces his editor to let him go to Florida to investigate theBermuda Triangle area where 600 ships & boats have vanished in the past3 years alone, he agrees & together with his 12 year old son Justin(Jeffrey Frank) Blair drives down there. While flying out to one of the100's of remote Caribbean islands the plane crashes & Blair & Justinare stuck, to pass the time they decide to go fishing but are capturedby modern day pirates who are descendants from 17th Century buccaneer'swho lived on an isolated island & attack & loot any unsuspecting shipsor boats that stray too near. Blair is taken & held prisoner while hisson Justin is being groomed to become one of them & add fresh genes tothe inbred pirates who are having trouble breeding, Blair isn't keen onthe idea though & desperately tries to find a way to escape theisland...Directed by Michael Ritchie I rather liked this overblown horror actionflick even though I probably shouldn't have. The script by PeterBenchley was based upon his own novel of the same name, after theenormous success of Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) producers DavidBrown & Richard D. Zanuck decided that another Peter Benchley sea-boundadventure would be a good idea even after The Deep (1977) which wasalso based on a watery Peter Benchley novel didn't exactly set thebox-office on fire so they turned their attentions to his 1979 novelThe Island which flopped at the box-office. I must admit I rather likedthis fun & sometime rather gory action adventure, I like the storywhich is pretty cool, the character's are pretty good apart from thekid but luckily he isn't in it much, I especially liked Michael Cainesdry British humour like the line in my summary or when he turns to hisson Justin & says 'Don't forget to tell your mom you went to DisneyWorld'! It moves along at a nice pace, it certainly never bored me &has some agreeably violent scenes in it. One thing I didn't like thoughwas the annoying hard to understand at times broken English spoken bythe pirates, while giving them their own language probably seemed likea good idea & in theory it was it doesn't quite work on screen as a lotof what they say seem to make little sense.Director Ritchie does OK but I'd have liked to have seen a bit morestyle here, this had a pretty big budget by 1980 standards & while thecostumes, the location filming & cast are very good it's a struggle tosee where all those millions of dollars went. While nowhere near astension filled or as scary as Jaws The Island has some surprisinglygory set pieces including slit throats, axes in peoples heads, slashedstomachs, peoples throats cut with razor wire, stabbings, torture & afantastic ending where Michael Caine uses a huge deck mounted machinegun to blow all the pirates away in an incredibly satisfying scene! Ifyour tired of the 'family friendly' Pirates of the Caribbean (2003 -2007) series & want something which is a little more representative ofhow pirates actually acted then The Island makes a refreshing changewith it's cold blooded brutality.With a supposed budget of about $20,000,000 The Island had a big budgetback then & I have to say it's hard to see where the money went, it'swell made but that's the least one would expect. It was shot in Antigua& Miami which make for pleasant enough locations. There's a good casthere, Caine is pretty good & makes for a likable hero, David Warnermakes for a suitably unlikable bad guy.The Island is a throughly enjoyable horror action adventure film, ithas pirates, it has gore, it has Sir Michael Caine & it's a lot of funif your in the right mood, what more do you want? Not to be confusedwith Michael Bay's mega budget sci-fi action flick The Island (2005).

gridoon 2012-04-29 07:30:08

Guilty pleasure!

A guilty pleasure if there ever was one. Michael Caine probably wouldprefernot to remember that he was associated with this film, but it may stick inYOUR mind for its sheer bizarreness. It's almost sureally offbeat, and(thankfully) Michael Ritchie plays most of it for laughs. Bloody climax!(**1/2)

Leofwine_draca 2012-04-25 04:45:48

What were they thinking?

Michael Caine has made a lot of dross during his lengthy career, butTHE ISLAND has to tie with JAWS: THE REVENGE as his biggest turkey.This adaptation of the Peter Benchley novel sees Caine playing aninvestigative journalist who goes off to track down some missing yachtsin the Caribbean. Eventually he discovers that modern-day pirates arethe culprits.Admittedly, the film starts off on a decent enough footing. Things kickoff with massacre featuring some outrageous gore effects (theaxe-in-the-head is an unforgettable cheesy moment). The stuff showingCaine travelling to the island had me intrigued. Once the pirates arefully introduced, it falls apart completely, and for the rest of thefilm we're stuck with a sorry rabble of overactors and a script thatforgets to be suspenseful or interesting in any way. For an hour wewatch repetitive situations over and over again until things pick upfor the brief, OTT climax which might well have inspired Stallone'srecent RAMBO.Caine tries to bury his head in the sand throughout and who can blamehim? He must have known this was a sorry state of affairs duringproduction. David Warner shows up in his most miscast role ever, whilevillain duties are mainly lent by LOVEJOY's lovable Tinker, DudleySutton! Zakes Mokae is the only one who comes out of this with anycredit and that's because he bags what is essentially a cameo role. Ifthe film had kept the same level of bloodshed as we saw in that cheesyopening it might have been a so-bad-it's-good piece of filmmaking; asit stands it's just so-bad-it's-bad.

Tsquare55 2012-04-24 12:39:51

Pirates Rule...

This movie should already be out on DVD, capitalizing on the piratefranchise and available for the home theater... The story line is solidand the plot line just twisted enough. In this day of the GPS andsatellite imaging it would be a tough premise, but having spent time inthe Caribbean and sailing the waters it not that big a stretch thatsome one could have pulled off this type of social engineering. Think"Lord of the Flies" as grown up pirates. It has been so long since Ihave seen this I cannot comment on the production value of the film,but I still carry several scenes in my head all these years later, andthe richness of the scenes are great, at least on the far reaches of MySpace.

2012-04-24 09:47:05

great dvd b movie

This review is from: The Island (1980) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ] (DVD) This film has been said to be one of the worst ever made,well yes its low grade entertainment but for a rainy sunday afternoon and brain in natural what else do you need,on the plus side it is very well photographed and in a blue ray dvd player this dvd is the best I have seen,in fact I thought it was hd copy.Ok the film is rubbish David Warner as a pirate takes some beliveing and not Michael Cain's greatest hour.But any film buff needs a dud in there collaction and anyone else likes a no brainer,buy this aus copy for the transfer alone

2012-04-23 22:05:33

This is an excellent film with lots of action and suspense. I have not seen it done before or since, if you are a fan of Michael Caine this one is a must!

This is an excellent movie before the days of CG characters when actorsreally could act. If you like pirates and drama and are a fan of M.Caine then this film is a must! A tale of intrigue and history thatspans into modern times. I have not seen this done before or since andI hoped the new film of the same name would pick up where this left offor be a re-make but alas it was not to be. In this version a man andhis son take a boat ride and end up meeting the modern versions ofBlackbeard! The story continues as they try to escape and the piratesdo what they are known for! Its realistic and believable. In short agood film with action and suspense. I love the ending! Be careful nexttime you are out boating!

2012-04-22 12:01:36

Bad movie, bad plot, bad acting

This has got to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I am sure the book by Benchley was good but something went wrong in the adaptation to film. Honestly, we never made it past the halfway point of this movie - it is that bad. Michael Caine has had some really good performances, but this is not one of them, in fact all the acting in this movie was so bad I think the actors couldn't even try to deliver the lines believable. If you want to see a good movie about the Carribean see "The Deep" or a good pirate movie see "Cutthroat Island" and be sure to skip this mixed up mess.

Nichole Clay 2012-04-22 03:08:39

"The Island" is the besthorror/suspense/adventure pirate movieever made.The modern daypirates,bloodshed,voodoo,all-in-between! Ilove that movie especially the head pirateplayed by cult favorite British actorDavid Warner is very excellent in thatmovie,exposing a lot of skin as the headpirate turns me on! I like the part whenhim and his terrorizing trio start havinga pirate boat war and doing pirate stuffI really recommend this movie better thansame-old-boring pirate movies,"The Island"got everything you really want to see!