Treasure Island

A Solid Cast And Gorgeous Locales Drives This New Interpretation Of A Pirate Classic
I had virtually no interest in seeing yet another adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island." I could recite the story forward and backwards by heart, and I just didn't have the passion to sit down to this two-part version as recently broadcast on the SyFy network (thankfully, though, they didn't make it--just premiered it). I relented, however, and was pleasantly surprised. As with many film interpretations, this one does take liberties with the book's narrative. If that's a huge issue for you, then you should probably just read the book again. What it does present, though, is in keeping with the story's tone and makes for a solid stand-alone film. An interesting cast and gorgeous location footage are among the highlights of this "Treasure Island," a dark and morally ambiguous vision.

I was instantly attracted to the movie's skewed feverish look and thought things got off to a great start. After introducing the cast of characters and getting...

Who on earth thought that the world needed a gritty, brutal rendition of "Treasure Island"?
"Treasure Island" is a classic of juvenile fiction. The hero is a young boy who takes on improbable challenges and invariably succeeds. He finds a treasure map, evades pirates, discovers a secret plot of mutineers, steals the boat single-handed, defeats the brutal ship's gunner in hand-to-hand combat, etc. etc. etc. It's a story for children, and I can't imagine that many people reading it in the 130+ years since it was originally published have thought "gosh, what this really needs is more brutality."

I've seen the 1934, 1950, and 1990 film and television versions of this story. Each takes some liberties to fit its medium, and each of those versions has merit. This version, unfortunately, doesn't pay off. I don't recommend it.

A very entertaining TV movie with the great Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver. I recommend this. Very good. I say B+.
"I will plan a venture Jim Hawkins and we will both profit wildly. Trust me boy." After Long John Silver (Izzard) is double crossed by his captain Flint (Sutherland) he only has one thing on his mind. Retreiving the treasure he feels is rightly his. When finding out that the only one who can get a ship to the island where the treasure is is a young boy named Jim Hawkins (Regbo) he makes friends with him. I have never seen any of the other versions of this nor read the book. I knew a little of the story but to me this was about 90% new to me. Even though this is a made for TV movie it is much better then most of the theater movies that have been released recently. Izzard is a perfect choice for this and I think is on par with Depp. This movie is very entertaining and I recommend it. This is a pirate movie that can stand side by side with the first "Pirates Of The Carribbean" movie, and may actually be better in some ways. This is a movie well worth your time. Overall, best pirate movie...

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