In "Treasure Island" 1999, Jack Palance follows such notables as Robert Newton, Orson Wells, and Charelton Heston as Long John Silver with this second-rate knock-off of the R.L. Stevenson classic novel. An unfortunate attempt at film making, this version plods along dutifully telling the story without the passion, mystery, and intrigue penned into the pages of the novel. Pretty much a waste of time unable to live up to the precedent set by Disney.
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=G=23 October 2001
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Bezenby23 June 2016Ain't Treasure Island the best story ever about a bunch of adults trying to kill a child? This is a version from the nineties that I picked up for seven pence, with Jack Palance as Long John Silver. I'm still holding out for a copy of that Italian one set in space, because there's no way that can't not be not good.
You know the story: Some fud called Jack works in a doss house in Cornwall while his mum lies in bed claiming Employment Support Allowance. One day this tosser turns up and gets wasted and tells Jack to watch out for a guy with one leg (whom I'd imagine is also claiming some sort of disability benefit). Then this blind guy turns up (more disability benefit) and curses the other guy. Before you know it loads of guys turns up and try and kill everyone and Jack ends up with a map and so on and so forth.
After nearly being killed several times by various pirates, Jack ends up on a ship with a small crew of English gentleman and a much larger crew of obvious pirates who are definitely not just waiting to kill the gentry and get a hold of that map. Jack Palance shows up as definitely not the leader of the pirates and they all head of for some island.
Following some man on man love action that was cut from most versions of this film (they are at see for months you know and no one likes to be alone), they all finally get to the island so they can start killing each other. By this time Jack's run off and met this arsehole called Ben Gunn, Silver's got his pirates up against the gentry, and there's a battle on the beach where only a few live to travel the sea once more. The End.
What you'll notice first is that the island is this version of treasure island is a bitÂ…Nothern European. I had it pegged as Ireland but it turns out to be the Isle of Man (you know, that island where everyone has three legs). You'll also notice that they didn't bother doing anything with Bristol and just used the city as it looks today (including the hookers). This story can't be ruined so it's a fair bet you'll enjoy this one.
Now go away, I'm overdue my injection of smack. (The preceding is a transcription of the 1996 episode of FILM '99 with Barry Norman) -
ma-cortes9 December 2021Very free version based on the appealing adventures starred by two fabulous and unforgettable characters , Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver , in which a young boy sets off on a voyage armed with a map to buried treasure. This astounding adventure with an attractive and fantastic starring , Jim Hawkins, and a nasty as well as likable pirate called Long Silver in search of the buried treasure of the buccaneer Captain Flint . Middling retelling filmed in television style with the literary heroes Jack Hawkins and the pirate Long John Silver undertaking several and risked adventures . Again we live the roaring adventure , this time set in a far island . We share the struggles , the heartaches , the laughter of courageous souls who leave their houses they love to dare the wrath of the angry pirates . Jim Hawkins encounters a map that leads to a distant Caribbean island where is a buried treasure . Enchanted by the idea of locating treasure buried by Captain Flint , a group formed by Captain Smollett , Squire Trelawney , Dr. Liveesy and Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage on a ship called La Española to a Caribbean island . Upright men and greedy pirates in conflict with their destiny by re-enacting the Robert Stevenson's thrilling story in search for the legendary loot of Captain Nathaniel Flint . Then , the young boy join forces with his friends and , of course , a boisterous , rogue Long John Silver (Jack Palance) sailing to the island of hidden bounty . The young cabin boy Hawkins (Kevin Zegers) has a treasure map and a boatload of kill-crazed pirates eager for the riches hidden on Treasure Island . Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver himself . Jim Hawkins matches with stick-legged , a notably snarly Long Silver and adventures go on . But even greater dangers lie ahead when Hawkins finds out that his trusted colleague Long John is actually a nasty pirate with mutiny on his mind . As young Jim Hawkins is torn between his loyalty to his benefactors and his affection for lovable rogue Long John Silver in their struggle to recover a buried pirate treasure . Along with Hawkins and Long John Silver also appears some classic but modified personages , such as : Squire (Christopher Benjamin) , Captain Smollet (Malcolm Stoddard) , Doctor Livesey ( David Robb) , Billy Bones (Patrick Bergin) , Ben Gun (Sparrow).
So-so and regularly paced story with plenty of thrills , adventures , intrigue , fights and noisy action . The whole piece of adventure teems with emotion , humor , exotic atmosphere and being pretty amusing, but extremely mediocre . Resulting to be an unappropriately adventurous rendition of Robert Stevenson's often-filmed and spine-tingling tale . In the picture there is humor , rip-roaring adventures , swashbuckling , but resulting to be extremely average . Jack Palance's last feature picture , playing in his usual style , I miss Robert Newton's vintage acting , his featured performance as Long John Silver is so iconic that it is thought by many to be the origin of today's stereotypical laced pirate patois, including Sparrow's Jonny Depp . Evocative cinematography shot on various locations in Castletown, Isle of Man , Colby Glen, Isle of Man , Port Erin , The Sound ,Isle of Man , Ireland . Functional as well as moving musical score composed by means of synthesizer . This very free adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson adventure classic was regularly directed by Peter Rowe . Rating : 4.5/10 .
Other renditions -being multitudinous remakes- , as there are many films made of it and based on this classic novel, turning out to be the following ones : Classy version (1934) by Victor Fleming with Jackie Cooper , Wallace Beery and Lewis Stone. Walt Disney take on (1950) with Robert Newton, Bobby Driscoll, directed by Byron Haskin , being a respectable full-blooded second-best the classic Fleming version ; it was followed by a sequel titled ¨Long John Silver¨ also directed by Byron Haskin with Robert Newton , Lloyd Berrell , Grant Taylor , Rod Taylor ; in addition , ¨Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 29, 1951 with Bobby Driscoll reprising his film role . Furthermore , European retelling (1974) by John Hough with Orson Welles , Angel Del Pozo , Lionel Stander and Kim Burfield. This ¨Treasure Island¨ (1999) with Jack Palance , Patrick Bergin and Kevin Zegers. TV recounting by Fraser C Heston with Charlton Heston , Christian Bale and Richard Johnson . ¨Muppet's Treasure island¨ (1996) and recent rendition (2012) by Steve Barron , starred by Eddie Izzard , Rupert Penry-Jones , Daniel Mays , Donald Sutherland and Elijah Wood . Besides , "Treasure Island in Outer Space", TV miniseries (1987) set in space directed by Antonio Margheriti with Anthony Quinn as Long John Silver , David Warbeck as Doctor Livesy and Philippe Leroy as Squire . And Disney top-notch cartoon-Sci-Fi version Treasure planet (2002) splendidly directed by John Musker and Ron Clemens . -
*** SPOILERS ***
(I'm not sure if SPOILERS really applies to a story that's about 150 years old, but I don't want to overstep the guidelines. If you don't know how "Treasure Island" ends, and you want to find out when you see the film, then skip the rest of this message.)
*** SPOILERS FOLLOW ***
What can you say about a version of "Treasure Island" where Captain Smollett blackmails the Squire and Doctor into giving Jim's share of the treasure to him? And where Jim really does end up joining the pirates in earnest, because he overhears their conversation? And where ALL the "good" guys -- the Captain, the Squire, the Doctor, and all the rest of them -- get killed in the last five minutes, and Jim, Long John Silver, and Ben Gunn go off by themselves with the treasure in tow?
Not to mention where Long John has a wooden leg and an occasional crutch instead of NO leg and a truly can't-move-without-it crutch?
The Captain comes to a particularly painful end, with a broadsword (thrown through the air like a spear) through the guts. Another good guy gets a jarringly nasty wound in the face, basically blasting his left eye away -- something you get to see for a brief moment before he falls.
This is without question one of the WORST literary adaptations ever filmed. I don't mind filmmakers making changes to a story to make it flow better on screen, or even just to be more engaging or interesting, but the changes made here are simply bizarre.
It's a shame, because Jack Palance could have made a great Long John Silver. And the locations (I think on the Isle of Man) are wonderful. But save yourself the trouble and give this one a pass. The only reason to watch a film of "Treasure Island" is for the story, and this one will give you heartburn. -
The titles say the film is "based on" the novel by R. L. Stevenson. That seems to mean they chose the same names for the characters. As the film progresses, the plot diverges more and more from the novel. The end is completely different and gave me the impression the budget ran out and they had to kill the cast off and finish the film as quickly as possible rather than stick to the story. I watched them making the film on the Isle of Man and bought the DVD to see what they had produced. I can't think of any other reason to buy it.
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DriftedSnowWhite21 March 2023What could be truer than the 'good guys' being in it for profit, just like the pirates. Greed was everything. All ethics and morals abandoned for treasure. I liked it that Jim fought back physically. He had, after all, been tending a bar in the middle of nowhere. How could Jim not have learned how to handle himself. And boy, does he in this movie. I liked the ending. It was the right ending, as the truest-of-the-true won. (That they could not possibly have sailed.a barque that minimally required a crew of 10, but I'm sure they eventually arrived - somewhere).
The casting was interesting. Actors who fit the time era more aptly cast in present-day ventures. But everything in this film is out of place, save foe the really good guys winning in the end. I admit it was a bit tough to see Jack Palance's Long John Silver portrayed as a down-on-his luck, defeated character, but this, too, was in keeping with the intent of this film.
The scene with the tart was the only "off" note, and not a little creepy, as she did seem to be offering her services to Jim, and served no purpose. Much of her character must have hit the cutting room floor.
The treasure itself, I won't elaborate on, even though this is marked as a Spoiler, but, yet again, the producers of this film illustrate that the 'good' guys, from whom the treasure was stolen, weren't so very 'good' after all.
This movie was not the 1934 film with Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, and Nigel Bruce. But it didn't have to be, and couldn't be. Nor is it "the book." The book is the book. This is a movie.
PS the Muppet characterization of Smolett kept popping to mind. -
culmo8029 February 2012Stevenson's classic is loved by generations for many reasons and this retelling of the story cuts all those reasons out.
Spoilers: First, the treatment of Jim by the Doctor, Squire, and Captain is all wrong. They take advantage of him, sell him out to the pirates, cut him out of his share of the treasure and try to kill him. What? Jim was never in league with the pirates and the gentlemen (Doctor, Squire, and Captain) remain honest and help Jim in the story. Only when he slips away to get to the ship do they think he may have gone over to the pirates.
The action is also a bit lackluster. The group's escape from the ship felt anti-climatic...almost like a leisurely departure with a few shots.
Then there is no assault on the stockade, which was a major part of the original story.
And the bargaining between the Doctor and pirates isn't quite explained...why would they give up the map for Jim, whom they already have disowned? In the book, they exchange the map for free passage out of the stockade (already knowing that the treasure was gone because Ben Gunn had joined them).
And just where did they film this movie? It looks like it could be off the coast of Newfoundland or something...hardly the tropic environment of the original story.
The only redeeming value of this film was Jack Palance. Too bad they couldn't have built a better film around him. -
blumdeluxe15 March 2020"Treasure Island" tells the story of a young boy who one day receives the map to a big treasure from a strange man and naively forms an alliance with some very dangerous men in order to get to it.
Some reviewers criticize that the plot is rather loosely based on the novel. That might well be true but I don't think it does much harm. The movie is in no respect outstanding but it is one of those films that partially bring back to you the feeling of a lazy sunday as a kid when all you had to do was lay on the couch and watch the adventures pass by. This of course also means that the film looks way older than it actually is and the characters too seem like from a different decade of filmmaking but if you can ignore this you will get a solid adventure.
All in all I can understand why some people don't like this movie, however personally I had my fun with it and if you're open to a bit of change in comparison to the original, why not give it a try. -
awpaterek13 September 2007Ill tell you why. I was read the story when i was a little boy. And then my grandfather got me the 1934 adaption of it and i loved it. We would always watch it together. Even after he died i continued to watch it. When i saw the commercial for this one on TBS i thought, "Ok i know it wont be as good as the first adaption or the book but ill watch it anyway." So I'm watching the movie and so far its alright a few things i didn't like but then it took a huge turn for the worse. Anyway skip to the end and all the wrong people are dead!!!!!!!!!! And it ends with a corny, childish, watered down, happy ending of Silver, Ben, and Jim sailing off alone into the sunset! I couldn't stand it. It made the Doctor, Captain Smullet, and the Squire (couldnt remember how to spell their names) out to be the bad guys only after the treasure in the end! Completely unlike the book and the original movie where the doctor was a close friend of Jim's and his mother. I cant believe they took a childhood story and a movie that i used to watch with my grandfather, hacked it up, and served it to me as an obviously low-budget piece of garbage
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earendil-14 September 2001It's a well done adaptation of the famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson (although the final is different). The actors have made a good job of work, overcoat Kevin Zegers (Jim Hawkins); and there are beautiful images from the Isle of Man. Unlike other adaptations, it doesn't fall into infantilisms that only make laugh the children; however, I think it's a good movie to watch with all the family.
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tzer010 June 2011Don't watch this version if you loved the classic. Has virtually nothing to do with the original story. The heroes are turned into villains and killed off, along with most if not all of the original dialog. If only they had done this same with this film in pre-production. Having read the book recently, I've gone back and watched the original film and the Disney remake. I thought this might be fun for comparison. Fun is not quite the word. Jack Palance is about as good a substitute for Long John Silver as the Isle Of Mann is for a tropical island with a few hot house plants stuck in the background. What is going on in Canada? I'd say there were some strange films coming from there lately, but this is ten years old and strange doesn't begin to describe it. More like bizarre! And here is the Spoiler of Spoilers in a pre-spoiled mess. Instead of Jim Hawkins sailing back to England with the good guys and the treasure, they kill the bad guys and good guys, and he runs off to Panama with it with Long John and Ben Gunn. Wait? What? That's right. And Long John doesn't even know the names of the sails even though he's supposed to be a sailor. Huh? What? The bad guys are bad. The good guys are bad. Everyone dies. And the last two members of Flint's crew don't know anything about sailing.
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Travis_Moran5 May 2005Okay I ticked the "spoiler" thingy so you're warned about it eh.
This version strays far away from Stevenson's version, but it's cool. The Doctor and Squire are NOT the nice guys. Poor old Jim (played by Kevin Zegers---Hey I like this guy, Zegers, he seems to have some talent) has to keep EVERYONE from cheating him in this version.
Now it does have it's slow moments and I'm sure there was a lot of room for improvement on some of the characterisations. Read some of the other reviews for more details on the technical stuff.
What I really liked most about this version is that Jim (along with Ben Gunn and Long John) gets the treasure. And they all sail off into the sunset. What an awesome "feel good" ending. All the other greedy bastards kill each other off with the remaining three mentioned above caught in the crossfire and barely escaping with their lives.
This deviant version surprised me because I really expected just another copycat Stevenson version (although I like the Charlton Heston version pretty well). So, imagine my delight, when everything didn't go as expected, YES!.
Now, I know I'm probably in the minority in my liking for this movie because there are a lot of people who hate movies that deviate from their literary sources. Sometimes they're right too. This time though I think it's worth a shot to give this one a try. -
JohnHowardReid14 June 2015Jack Palance's last movie appearance finds him in the lead role of Long John Silver in this well-produced account of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel directed by award-winning TV writer/director Peter Rowe. The rest of the players are able enough, although it could be complained that Rowe's compositions are directed more to the demands of small screen TV rather than big screen cinemas. Nevertheless, Rowe makes impressive use of a real, full-sized sailing vessel, and there is plenty of action for young and old. The cast is credible and even more importantly, the script follows the novel closely and will not disappoint RLS's legion of fans. Jack Palance makes a superb villain and his son, Cody Palance, can be glimpsed in a full-screen close-up as Blind Pew. Available on an excellent New Concorde DVD.
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I bought this VHS tape years ago and watched it once, knowing then I wasted money on it. But recently, I have read the novel again in my old (middle) age, and still like it as much as when I first read it at 13. But I had forgotten the conversion this film takes until I watched it again, and I'd sure give the tape away for nothing.
While there are moral ambiguities in the story, personified in Long John Silver, this follows after Shakespeare's witches in MACBETH: "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" say they. The 2 characters in the novel who prevent blanket torture and murder of all loyal to the ship's command are Captain Smollett and Jim Hawkins. Smollett because he sensed that trouble was in the works when he was engaged on a cruise of secret 'treasure' with the secret out of the bag, a crew he did not pick himself, and the arms already stored under the bows (within easy grasp of the crew he distrusted). If his points of precaution had not been met, he would demand to be discharged; so to prevent delays his precautions were applied, and if it had not been so, it would have been easy mutiny, the pirates (if true to what pirates really were) would have cut off their lips and ears and roasted them, then made them eat them before their slow bleeding finally killed them. So it's rather angering to shift the story to where the pirates were the "good guys" and Smollett and those loyal were villains. The Japanese were more 'heroic' at Pearl Harbor! And as for Jim Hawkins actually turning traitor... this simply is not Stevenson's story. While we can sympathize, some, with his natural curiosities and desire for adventure in his 2 escapades in the novel, it was never in his consideration to join those he knew to be human trash who recklessly waste short provisions and maim and kill for the pleasure of it. That's a completely different personality than Stevenson's story-telling character.
Squire Trelawney is the one character of the "faithfuls" whom I wouldn't mind being given a more critical portrayal than most cinemas of this story. After all, it was only through coincidence (overused in the novel) that he happened to be right there at the discovery of the treasure map and was probably the only one who had the means to organize an expedition to find it. So he is a greedy opportunist. But he totally ignored his wiser friend's imperative to keep quiet about what they had found, and thus the crew he hired via Silver had the perfect opportunity to get 'their' treasure. But this movie does not develop that, and instead it goes after the one man of authority with foresight, the Captain, and makes him into a manipulative crook willing to let innocent blood be shed to make himself rich. That's low. It compares with making Joe Friday into a bribe-hustling cop. -
heresjay2 February 2002This two-hour commercial from the Isle of Man Tourist Bureau bears only a superficial resemblance to the Stevenson novel. At the end, all the wrong people are dead and you half expect the strumpet from the first half of the show to make one final appearance. The Isle of Man provides all the locations, even masquerading (poorly) as the tropics. Nevertheless a few good performances emerge from this hacked-up classic. Kevin Zegers gives us at least as good a Hawkins as Bobby Driscoll. The venerable Walter Sparrow shines as Ben Gunn. And Jack Palance rasps out an engaging Silver but it's disappointing to see his name spelt wrong in the credits. Palance fans might like to see him tackle one of literature's most famous old coots, but Stevenson fans should leave this one alone.
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Indigo5121 January 2005I've read the book a few times, I saw the movie from 1934, 1950 and 1972, and all of them were at least close to the book. This movie is really a big disappointment, the actors are bad, really bad. It starts with Jack Palance as Long John Silver, there is no charismatic and intelligent pirate leader. Captain Smollet, Officer of the English Empire bargains with Trelawney for a part of the treasure. The story details have totally changed - they really let the key characters, Trelawney, Smollet and the doctor die and Long John Silver, Ben Gunn (his enemy) and Hawkins get the treasure and sail the ship home. I really wondered that there were no alien-Nazis in the end.
Time for a mutiny! -
hulkskid1 January 2006This version of Treasure Island is poor for trying to hard to be original with an existing story. It's one thing to have new scenes at the beginning that show Captain Flint supervising the burial of his treasure, and Billy Bones inflicting Pew and Long John with their disfigurements. But it hurts the flow of the story that so much screen time is given to Black Dog who in the original story was a far more incidental character, and less vicious. Plus, his chase of Jim goes against the pirates' desire to keep their plot secret. It's also bothersome that this version of Long John is played out rather weakly, including how meekly he gave up leadership of the pirates to George Merry and how difficult he is to even understand in some scenes, how morally questionable the doctor, squire, and captain are in this version, how Jim and the doctor are more concerned with the map than in Mrs. Hawkins' death, how Jim joins the pirates, and how the whole ending is changed. In that, it doesn't make sense that only three people can sail the ship at the end, and that Long John doesn't resent Jim and Ben for not revealing earlier the locations of the ship and the treasure which would have avoided the battle and some of the deaths.
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That the story is such a classic and that it had Jack Palance in it were two reasons enough to give this much-maligned adaptation a try. Unfortunately, this adaptation of Treasure Island just doesn't work at all and by far the worst version, to me the only really bad one as well. It's a disaster as an adaptation, and judging it on its own terms(which this reviewer considers a fairer approach and always tries to use it) there's little to praise it either. The locations are beautiful indeed if not always tropical enough, the Hispagnola is fantastically rendered and the adaptation is well shot, the start is quite strong and there are a few good performances with Kevin Zegers' appealing Jim Hawkins, Walter Sparrow's humorous Ben Gunn and Patrick Bergin's gusty Billy Bones. Jack Palance is the big name here, he certainly tries his best as Silver and looks the part in a role that on paper he was perfect for but he deserved much better scripting and direction than what he got. Because what we got was a waste of a great actor's talents, there are numerous points where Palance is very charismatic and engaging but when the scripting is particularly poor there is the sense that Palance knew it was poor and gives up. The rest of the acting shows little enthusiasm either, in fact most of the cast go through the motions.
Characterisation is incredibly weak here and not really in the bland sort of way but in the grossly distorted sort of way, where we have the least frightening Blind Pew imaginable and interesting characters like Squire Trelawney now one-sided caricatures, and the less said about the good guys now bad thing the better. What was really disappointing was the lack of development in Silver and Jim's relationship, crucial to the story and very interesting and potentially poignant but hardly seen. And you know something's wrong when you can't really tell whether Silver is good or bad, no other adaptation of Treasure Island has had that problem. But other than the bizarre treatment of the story and characters the main problem with this Treasure Island adaptation was how lazy it felt. The script is one corny muddle with some parts only feeling like padding which only succeeds in slowing down the pacing, and the story is plodding and completely lacking in adventurous spark, intensity and mystery that would have been there if just a little if the stockade assault had not been left out.
When it comes to the changes, changes to a story is not a problem but it can be if the changes are basically useless and drag the adaptation down and that was exactly the case with this Treasure Island. It also depends on the nature of the changes and here it just felt bizarre in a way that you don't want to witness again. The adaptation is hurt even further by too much focus on Black Dog, a secondary character originally and it feels like it, an incredibly rushed and anti-climatic final battle and a very tacked-on and toe-curlingly cheesy ending that leaves a sour taste in the mouth. All in all, lazy and uncomfortably weird, a very bad version(even on its own terms) and not worth bothering with unless you are a fan of Palance or one dead-set on seeing every Treasure Island adaptation available. 3/10 Bethany Cox -
When a movie diverges this much from the book you have to wonder why they kept the same title!
It starts out faithfully enough but by the 2nd half the heroes and villains have switched sides and it ends not only abruptly but with so many ragged holes in the original plot it is VERY disappointing. 🤔 -
liberalgems22 January 2008This film does not stray from the original story until the boat lands on Treasure Island! It was a bit shocking at first, but Long John Silver's (Jack Palance) and Jim Hawkins' (Kevin Zegers) superb acting makes this a very enjoyable fantasy to watch!
This is a story of two very elderly men and a very capable teenage boy! Jim Hawkins, while polite, is incredibly resilient and thinks very fast on his feet. And Long John Silver is not some evil minion, but a man of honor who believes in democracy, no less!
My hats off to the filmmakers for having the courage to re-interpret a classic in such a dramatic fashion. It certainly makes you think about Treasure Island in a totally different way! -
lorenellroy19 December 2001Treasure Island seems to draw the attention of movie and TV people at reasonably regular intervals and it has even been "muppetised".This is easily the worst version of the lot,mainly due to a tired and lethargic stab at Long John Silver by the usually relaiable and compelling Jack Palance,who simply looks too old and frail to be right for the part..I see no reason ,other than the American film and TV industry'S anti-Englishness for so radically altering the characters of the Squire and Doctor from the stalwart types of the book to the cynical opportunists they are portrayed as here.I am enormously pro-American but hate the way Englishmen are shown in the media in the States.This particular instance is just another example of this The Isle of Man is a poor stand-in for the Caribbean and everybody seems to be going through the motions Perhaps it is time to give this particular book a rest until somebody comes up with the money to do it properly
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choco_aslan27 March 2008Jack Palance is magnificent as Long John Silver in this sparkling new adaptation of an old classic. Packed with a stellar cast of great British character actors and three Hollywood stars, it must rank among the top 5 versions ever made of Robert Louis Stevenson's legendary novel. Shame there's only one sexy female, but at least she was well cast - Sarah Holland played the saucy strumpet with a charm, power and sincerity that made me wish we'd seen more of her. It's true that the Isle of Man location left a lot to be desired, but it was fresh, different and added a surprise zing to the action. All in all, a cracking film worthy of more than a passing nod.
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vchimpanzee15 August 2006I've never read the book. In fact, the only version of this novel I knew was a comic book version where Dennis the Menace was Jim. And I don't even remember anything about that except that Long John hit one of the other pirates for showing Jim his long underwear, and that Ben Gunn looked like he hadn't seen another person in years.
And this type of adventure movie is not really for me. But it was all that was on, and I seem to recall it was a literary classic. Still, it seemed to be a family adventure if you don't mind the blood (personally, I could have done without quite so much violence). I thought Kevin Zegers did quite a good job as Jim, and while I was surprised Long John was so old, Jack Palance did a fine job with the role as it was written here.
I thought most of the actors did a good job, particularly David Robb as the doctor and Walter Sparrow as Ben Gunn. Sarah Holland had maybe two lines as a young lady who seemed to have less than a stellar reputation, but she still managed to impress.
I wouldn't rank this as one of the great movies. I also had trouble figuring out who was on what side--at times Long John seemed to be one of the good guys! But he was usually with the pirates. One thing is certain: most of the pirates seemed quite mean, ugly, dirty and unpleasant.
It's an interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I guess.