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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Yo ho ho, this is an interesting, surprisingly gory film, July 2, 2006
Now, here's a film that should definitely be available on DVD by now. By the time I got around to watching this, I had completely forgotten what it was even supposed to be about - but I put away any misgiving once I saw that it starred Michael Caine and was based on Peter Benchley's post-Jaws novel of the same name. Admittedly, the movie is a little out there and has a couple of weaknesses in the plot, but the whole thing is realistic enough to be plausible and features some pretty shocking violence for a 1980 non-horror movie - the opening scene is a particularly effective attention-getter. Michael Caine plays Blair Maynard, a New York journalist determined to get to the bottom of a rather shocking number of boats lost near the Bahamas in the last three years. As fate would have it, his son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) turns up in his office unexpectedly (the ex-wife having forgotten to even let Maynard know he was coming), so the two of them jet off to Florida for the weekend. In case you have any doubts as to the age of this movie, just watch a gun shop sell Blair a handgun for his twelve-year-old son upon their arrival. Anyway, the two take a most memorable air jaunt to a remote island, head out to do some fishing, and discover that being a Good Samaritan is rather highly overrated. Before you can say Yar, matie! the two of them find themselves captives of a rag-tag bunch of filthy pirates - actually, they prefer to be called buccaneers. Their archaic culture, which is a really weird mix of religion, ritual, and savagery, has survived for three hundred years out there in the middle of the Caribbean, hidden from the eyes of modern man (except for those they kill, of course). They keep Maynard alive because they need some new blood in the tribe - if you know what I mean - but the tribal leader has other plans for young Justin. Those plans greatly complicate Maynard's efforts to somehow escape from a seemingly inescapable predicament. Buccaneers will be buccaneers, which means there is plenty of violence every step of the way toward a real bloodbath of a conclusion. I have some issues with the way young Justin's story played out, but all in all I found this to be an intensely interesting movie. The storyline could easily have degenerated into something rather silly, but the director never let that happen. As amusing as some of the buccaneers' antics might be, this is a serious film (except, of course, for the second strangest kung fu sequence I've ever seen) that steadily increases in intensity throughout. It doesn't have the in-your-face life-and-death drama of Jaws, but for my money it's a mighty interesting - and undeniably unusual - movie experience.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
50. CALIBER CARNAGE!, September 23, 2011
Investigative reporter Blair Maynard is looking into the disappearance of recreational water craft and their passengers over a three year period in the Caribbean. Unfortunately for Maynard and his son, his journey will unlock the chilling 300 year old secret of "The Island" and its inhabitants. What is the Island? What terror awaits Maynard and his son on the Island? Can anyone escape the Island? In 1980 long before cable and satellite television would come to Windsor, we had decoder boxes hooked up to our televisions so we could receive the signal from ON-TV via WXON out of Detroit. Believe it or not, ON-TV was also the first network to broadcast the uncut version of the original "Dawn of the Dead" Thanks to ON-TV in 1980 I was able to see " The Island" starring Michael Caine and I've waited a long time to see this film again. Thanks to Universal Studios a legitimate DVD is finally available for fans via their MOD program. The disc is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media, so it's not the factory pressed DVD with the protective coating were used to buying. I'm not a big fan of the MOD disc program but this is the only way to get "The Island" on DVD until a proper release from Universal Studios takes place. Some fans will be upset that the disc is bare bones. There isn't a fancy menu at the beginning of the movie or choice of sound options. I put the movie in my player and walked away for a couple minutes and when I came back the movie was already playing. Sadly, there aren't any commentaries or bonus features for fans of the movie either. Fans will be excited when they see the video transfer that Universal Studios has given us for this MOD release. The 2.35:1 widescreen video transfer is worth the price of this DVD alone, I couldn't find anything wrong with the image at all. The picture is extremely clear and better than anything I expected to see. The colors are sharp and vibrant and I didn't notice any blemishes in the video transfer. The only complaint I have is with the sound level. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is crisp and clear but I really had to turn up the volume to hear what was being said.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Grotty modern day pirates loose in the Caribbean., March 1, 2002
Peter Benchley's novel about a surviving clan of 18th century era pirates still wreaking havoc in the Caribbean seems even sillier on the big screen than it did as a novel. Michael Caine plays an investigative reporter lucky enough to have the last name of Maynard, who, after practically abducting his estranged son, flies down to the Caribbean to look into some boat disappearances. What he uncovers is the aforementioned island 'society' of inbred pirate remnants who have managed to survive without any real contact with/knowledge of the outside world. That these toothless goons could pose any kind of real threat after such a long period, and with such an arachiac method of attack, never become believable. When The Island was first released in 1980, critics lambasted the film for its excessive violence and ludicrous plotting, you will find no argument from me on those points. But the movie has some things of merit. Albert Whitlock contributes some typically wonderful matte painting work, Ennio Morricone's score has personality to spare, and director Micheal Ritchie choreographs some effective action scenes. None of that makes movie any better, just diverting enough to maintain the bad movie buff's interest.
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