Customer Reviews

The Three Investigators and the Secret of Skeleton Island ( Die drei Fragezeichen und das Geheimnis der Geisterinsel ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When is this coming out in Region 1 dvd??? Haven't we waited long enough? Oh and while you're at it, release Terror Castle as well! The better of the two, though I enjoyed them both. If you're a fan, please join my facebook page at [...]

The movie gets started right away with a little suspense/action sequence in an elevator shaft that leads into another scene where the Investigators solve a mystery and introduce themselves. The title sequence then rolls and introduces the characters and then shortly after we're off to Skeleton Island. The story has very little to do with the book but I found it enjoyable, maybe because I hadn't read Skeleton Island since I was a kid. It had some fun "Indiana Jones" type action sequences, though I thought the movie could of used some more suspense and a little more action too. There were a couple small laughs and some fun *winks* referencing previous books for the fans that I thought were cool. They should of done a little more with that, but I thought it was great. The story was easy to follow and had some nice exotic locations. Though all the kid actors didn't quite fit the book descriptions, I thought they did a great job.

The movie cost about $17 million U.S. dollars to make, but I couldn't find out any box office numbers to see how the film did overall. They have made a second film based on Terror Castle but I know that this was a planned trilogy so I'm not sure if production was already under way before the first movie came out or not.

Overall I found the movie very enjoyable. If you're a diehard of the books you might find it less so, but if you just have fond memories of the books and haven't read them or even remember them much, I think you'll like this movie.

Fans of the THE THREE INVESTIGATORS books unite! Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews come to life in this live action version of The Three Investigators books we all loved as kids.

I'm glad this is finally available in Region 1 so the fans in the United States can see this. The movie gets started right away with a little suspense/action sequence in an elevator shaft. This leads into another scene where the investigators solve a mystery and introduce themselves. The title sequence then rolls and shortly after we're off to Skeleton Island. The story has very little to do with the original Robert Arthur book but I found it to be enjoyable nonetheless. It had some fun "Indiana Jones" type action sequences, though I thought the movie could of used some more suspense and a little more action too. There were a couple laughs and some fun *winks* referencing previous books for the fans that I thought were cool. The story was easy to follow and had some nice exotic locations. Though all the child actors didn't quite fit the book descriptions, I thought they did a great job. I loaned this to some friends who had kids under 10 and they were crazy about this movie! They loved it, even asking to borrow it again!

Overall I found the movie to very enjoyable. If you're a die hard of the books you might find it less so, but if you just have fond memories of the books and haven't read them in a while, I think you'll like this movie and of course if you have kids this is a must buy! There is a 2nd movie that was made based on The Secret of Terror Castle that is even better than this one. When it comes out on DVD early next year be sure to pick that one up as well!

I don't see anything about EXTRAS included on this DVD but if the producers of this DVD are listening, it would be great to get some behind the scenes stuff like deleted scenes, interviews and more!

On another note, be sure to check out my Three Investigators facebook page at [...] and if anyone has any original art from the books for sale, please contact me as I am a collector ... Thanks!

No idea why this has not been released in Region 1 (USA/Canada) format. And where is The Secret of Terror Castle? I saw BOTH of these movies on the Disney Channel a few months back (and REALLY enjoyed them), so I know they have "made it to our shore".

To withhold these movies from DVD release is insanity. And please make more movies before these actors get older and make the series already more unbelieveable than it is already (i.e. Harry Potter). I was hopeful when I saw it on the Disney Channel that they would make it into a weekly series and explore all of the 3I books. That would be absolute heaven and I would gladly re-subscribe to Cable-TV just to get the Disney Channel if that happened.

I guess the real fans of this genre will have to rely on our Aussie buddies to rip a Region 4 and re-encode it in Region-Free for us American blokes.

All the money being lost....such a shame.

-----------------Enough of that...My review-----------------

Although not true to the book, a very entertaining interpretation of a childrens classic series. The Secret of Skeleton Island is told in true Disney fashion; without harsh language or overt sexuality. A movie that the entire family can watch TOGETHER.

Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews, and Pete Crenshaw make the leap from book to silver screen and it's about time! I loved this series as a child in the 1970's and it's theatrical debut is very acceptable and encouraging.

Having no children, I am not familiar with children's books until they become movies. As an adult, I have found seeing the movie first makes reading the book easier as you already know the characters and plot.

The three investigators are far smarter than any child or adult on the planet. While this is all fun, it is extremely unrealistic. To add to the fun, spy music is played during the introduction. Our trio of bad child actors go with dad to the cursed Skeleton Island off the coast of South Africa where they plan to build an amusement park. The island is also the sacred ancient burial ground for a local tribe, of which one man guards the land. Realistically an amusement park would never get built on a burial ground, especially in South Africa today. This demonstrates that the screen play was poorly adapted from an older book to modern times. They drive modern vehicles, but there is a lack of cell phones.

As a mystery, this is strictly for kids as there are as many suspects as there are in a Scooby-Doo cartoon. The kids are able to make connections that don't exist. The kids do things I wouldn't want a child to do such as sneak around, breaking and entering, and creating disruptions. The movie does have a theme of racial harmony as we have an inter-racial kiss, something I didn't expect. Entertaining for kids, tolerable for adults.

If your child loves Scooby-Doo, they should love this film.

At first I was expecting this to simply be a little kids movie, but as it went along I was more and more intrigued by the characters and their talent and wit/cleverness.
Chancellor Miller plays Jupiter in an enjoyable story of three boys who love investigating and finding answers to the unanswerable. Jupiter's ingenuity is much greater than anticipated and was actually fun to watch for a person who is used to the best in detective shows and films. The two boys who back him, Pete and Bob, are entertaining and pleasant enough. Pete acts as the cautionary one who is always the first in the safe zone, but last into danger. Bob, whom some may recognize from Music Man with Kristen Chenoweth, plays the brainy sidekick. Oddly enough, he finds all his research through books, which is unusual to modern movie goers because all the slueth films today have the nifty computer gadgets. Supposing though that the movie was coming out around 2007 in Europe and 2008 in the US. Being made therefore before 2008, it can be guessed that this was around the time when computers and cell phones were just beginning to be a big thing (iPhones first came out in 2007).
A fun and enjoyable watch, great for any young slueths out there who want to sit back and take in an investigation!

A very entertaining movie based on the book series created by Robert Arthur. I grew up reading these books and enjoyed them much more than the more drawn out Hardy Boys. I have wondered for years why a movie has not been made on this amazing and very entertaining trio. I am hoping the DVD of Terror Castle will be released for the U.S. Region 1. Try reading the series after watching the movie. I believe you will enjoy them as well.The actors for this movie do great justice to the characters in the books.

Artificial acting by all parties from adults down to the child actors; not their fault as there are not that many in the Fannings, Moretz or Breslin mode out there. Been there, done that, unimaginative copy-cat storyline of evil developer and her cohorts wanting to build a resort on an ancient indigenous population sacred site which they, of course, are not too happy about. Kid detectives have all the exotic tools in their hidden junk yard, (cheaply appropriate) hide-away headquarters from which they conduct, beyond any reasonable expectation, the solving of Indiana Jones type mysteries. For the most part just cheap background, sets and props - a cave, a fake tomb, hidden messages. Just too predictable of an ending which you probably can guess at.