Fucking awesome.

I'm pretty sure this is the prequel to 'Hook'...

What a weird, awesome, fun movie. It's like Lost meets The Wicker Man meets Mad Max meets Hook meets The Island of Dr.Moreau/Lost Souls. Went into this fairly cold (aside from remembering the VHS artwork and knowing it was written by Peter Benchley) and was more than pleasantly surprised by this goofball horror/comedy/adventure genre mash-up. Starring Michael Cain and David Warner.

Modern-day pirate adventure, based on a novel by Peter Benchley, isn't director Michael Ritchie's finest hour, but it's much better than it's reputation suggests. These aren't Johnny-Depp-in-a-costume-shop pirates, but a more dangerous breed of thief with a corrupted culture and language that run raids on unlucky ships in the area. Michael Caine plays a reported investigating disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle kidnapped by the clan, who then try to brainwash his son into joining their ranks. The plot, adapted by Benchley himself, is messy but the film itself endlessly ambitious, with surprisingly gory attacks, breathtaking Caribbean locations and intense performances. There's may be a lot of production values in this one--plane explosions, pirate weddings and naval fleets springing into action, but Ritchie's hard cynicism beats underneath, keeping the action well grounded.

Wowza! "The Island" has it all! Right when I would start to lose interest - the movie would twist and turn and surprise me. What genre is this? Part Indiana Jones adventure. Part Slasher. Part Pirate movie. All parts equal a really good time! And the explosive finale is quite the pay off!

Piratas como los del siglo XVII en 1980. La idea suena loca, y en efecto lo es. Una mezcla de aventuras, terror, survivalismo, drama paterno-filial… y paro de contar porque me emociono. Y Michael Caine como héroe de acción. Imprescindible.

Pirates like those in the 17th century, but in 1980. The idea sounds crazy, and indeed it is. A mixture of adventure, horror, survivalism, drama with daddy issues... I have to stop counting because I get extremely excited. And Michael Caine as an action hero. Unmissable.

First time seeing this. Was surprised at how violent it was. I enjoyed it enough.

The first half of the film could easily be mistaken for a horror movie, complete with cheesy scare chords, jump cuts, and all the standard “make the audience jump” tactics. But if it weren’t for the fact that those scenes set up the plot, it’d be easy to believe they weren’t even part of the same film. The second half is more of a standard adventure film. There’s a significant disjoint between the tones, and in-between there are some frankly uninteresting sequences to get Caine’s character into place. The film also has a somewhat abrupt ending, that doesn’t provide much in the way of details on the aftermath. Read full review.

Wowza! "The Island" has it all! Right when I would start to lose interest - the movie would twist and turn and surprise me. What genre is this? Part Indiana Jones adventure. Part Slasher. Part Pirate movie. All parts equal a really good time! And the explosive finale is quite the pay off!

Piratas como los del siglo XVII en 1980. La idea suena loca, y en efecto lo es. Una mezcla de aventuras, terror, survivalismo, drama paterno-filial… y paro de contar porque me emociono. Y Michael Caine como héroe de acción. Imprescindible.

Pirates like those in the 17th century, but in 1980. The idea sounds crazy, and indeed it is. A mixture of adventure, horror, survivalism, drama with daddy issues... I have to stop counting because I get extremely excited. And Michael Caine as an action hero. Unmissable.

Pirates! Goofy but entertaining.

Man, late producer Richard D. Zanuck must've been drinking Redrum when he decided to greenlight "The Island." Adapted from the novel by nautical author Peter Benchley, he probably figured he'd hit box-office gold with another "Jaws." Well, "The Island" is no "Jaws," and actually bears more in common with John Frankenheimer's misbegotten (yet loopily charming) take on H.G. Welles' "The Island of Dr. Moreau." Michael Caine plays a newspaper reporter investigating a rash of boat disappearances (with his son en tow); one day, while fishing in the middle of the ocean, they're hijacked by modern-day pirates. The concept is so far-fetched, the performances so flamboyant (particularly David Warner's emaciated pirate ringleader), and the sets so cluttered with junk that I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

Wow! This film has a little bit of everything. It starts as a horror movie, continues as a pirate movie (with some Lord of the Flies elements), and it ends as an action movie (almost Rambo). All done by Michael Ritchie, best known for comedies (Fletch, Bad News Bears). I loved it. It's gutsy and is a lot of fun.

First time seeing this. Was surprised at how violent it was. I enjoyed it enough.