Special Review
This review is a special request from Discord user Michael in Seattle. If you'd like to join the server, click the button below. Visit DiscordAfter the success of Jaws, author Peter Benchley’s work was in high demand, and studios wanted to adapt his work. In 1976, Columbia Pictures and producer Peter Guber bought the film rights to Benchley’s novel The Deep before publication. Benchley wrote the initial screenplay, which Tracy Keenan Wynn and Tom Mankiewicz later rewrote. Off the success of 1968’s Bullit, the studio hired Peter Yates to direct with a $9 million budget. The Deep was released in July 1977 and was a commercial success, grossing over $100 million worldwide. With two back-to-back hits, producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown purchased Benchley’s novel The Island for $2.15 million. Universal hired Michael Ritchie, known for the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears, to direct on a $22 million budget. After a somewhat rough production period, The Island hit the big screen in June 1980.
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Synopsis
Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) learns about boats mysteriously disappearing into the Bermuda Triangle and wants to investigate despite some objections. He takes his estranged son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) to Florida, promising a trip to Disney World, and they go fishing. Unfortunately, a group of people invades their boat, getting kidnapped and brought to an unknown island. It turns a group of French pirates has been living on the island isolated from society for centuries. Their leader is the villainous John David Nau (David Warner), who decides to take Justin under his wing. Meanwhile, they force Blair to impregnate Beth (Angela Punch McGregor) since the pirates believe he’s a descendant of Robert Maynard. As time goes on, Justin starts accepting Nau’s indoctrination while Blair becomes increasingly desperate to find a way of escaping. Will Nau succeed in turning Justin to his side, or will Blair rise and save the day?
Review
Around this time, Michael Caine was in films solely for money, including The Swarm, Dressed to Kill, and The Hand. Even still, Caine refuses to talk about The Island, and it’s easy to see why given the final product. On paper, The Island is a movie that sounds like it would be an entertaining, somewhat hard-edged, swashbuckling adventure. Instead, what we get is a two-hour-long slog where nothing happens for a vast majority of its runtime. For one, Caine lacks any on-screen charisma, only showing one facial expression of contempt that never changes. While most of the pirates look appropriately dirty and ragged, David Warner is surprisingly normal-looking and feels out of place. You can tell that these two highly-respected actors try to make the most of the weak material. Unfortunately, even they can’t salvage this mess of a movie, though it does have its positives.
For one, the production design is certainly unique, with all the various huts made from sticks and other assorted junk. Plus, Michael Ritchie’s direction does help showcase how lived-in and grimy this community of pirates is. There are some fun moments, particularly towards the end where Caine mows down several pirates with a machine gun. However, one of the film’s most significant flaws is the tone, where it can’t decide between being dark or fun. For instance, there’s a scene where the pirates kill the crew of a coastguard ship, and the music feels off. Composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone, the score makes it feel like we should be cheering instead of being scared. It’s a shame the film turned out like this because it could’ve been some long-lost gem worth rediscovering. Overall, The Island is a wasted opportunity that’s best recommended for curious onlookers.
Buy The Island from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EeTv3o.
