Product Details

• Actors: Michael Caine, David Warner, Angela Punch McGregor, Frank Middlemass, Don Henderson (II)
• Directors: Michael Ritchie
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 1, 1992
• Run Time: 113 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300182363
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,960 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Peter Benchley followed his massively successful novel Jaws with another commercial success--but of an infinitely sillier nature. And the movie, directed by Michael Ritchie, isn't much better. Michael Caine stars as a New York reporter who is following a hot lead about the Bermuda Triangle--and gets his story, if he can only live long enough to report it. Because, in fact, there's nothing supernatural going on--just the descendants of 18th- and 19th-century pirates living on an uncharted island. And, naturally, they're able to wreak havoc with modern sailors because they have the element of surprise on their side--not to mention the willingness to perform unspeakable acts of violence. This is less Hollywood product than byproduct. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 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

By	Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The best "Island" movie around..., September 14, 2000

By	Kenny Cross "pagan-rhino" (Seal Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I saw this movie when it first came out in theatres. Not a great movie, not that bad either. An amusing movie at the time - considering the stuff that was coming out then - it ain't all that bad. Perhaps if I saw it again now I might see what those below hate about it - but I don't think so. This is one of the movies that I saw back in the late '70's and early '80s that stuck with me as a movie I really liked.

So check it out - you'll be entertained at least - better than the ..... they show on television at any rate.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Gore !, January 1, 2007

By	S. Mitchell "samintx" (Tyler, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked this movie...but I like Michael Caine. Parts of this bloody movie I had to close my eyes on but rewatch Island every so often for the adventure. One of the few scary creepy features that isn't done on a shoestring and Italian.

Escapism but a good one. Too bad it isn't out on DVD