At one time, this film was severely criticized and served as the final nail in the coffin of pirated films in the twentieth century. He buried the career of director Rennie Harlin, a native of Finland, who shot even one of the films in the Die Hard franchise. I didn’t come back to pirates for a long time. I remember from my childhood that there was a game for the console Sega, and even had to play. For a long time I did not return to this story. And now there is an opportunity to satisfy your curiosity and is ready to share with you impressions of acquaintance and some thoughts on this matter. Prepare hot drinks, we begin our review.
A narrative criterion or narrative. The plot corresponds to all the canons of the adventure genre. There is an adventurous enterprise, a brave girl and the romance of pirate craft. Ships plying the expanses of the seas and servants of the crown, leading the hunt for fribusters. Reading about it in books, a variety of pictures were drawn in my head, and we gave free rein to our imagination. In the cinema, this function is turned off, because everything has been presented for us for a long time. We compare our expectations to what we see. In the nineties, they were good at making genre films. Yes, it failed at the box office, but this did not negate the fact of working on conscience. It’s just that the film wasn’t provided with a normal word of mouth, and the studio was already on the verge of bankruptcy, very close to it. The dialogue is in style, and at the same time there is even a good humor. Many funny situations are endowed with commentary and strong words. All this blows like a vaib of some three Musketeers or the Marquise of Angels. This moment in the tape impresses me. The literature of the film may not be the strongest, but it corresponds to the genre and style of the chosen era.
Visual criterion or technical support of the tape. The tape looks cheap and angry, but at the same time, considerable funds were invested in it. Most of the money was spent on decorations and equipment, some ships cost a fairly large amount of money. The operator worked well with the frame and its filling. Marine species can mostly be observed either from the island or at night in a storm. At the same time, the picture does not look slick and some natural views of Port Royal or Tortuga are worthy of a desktop. Operator Peter Levy has shown that he is good at working with the camera, about this sentence above. Rennie Harlin can do action. He proved it in the second Hard. Even here managed to bring a few colorful explosions, and fencing is so a pleasure to see. Music decides a lot, and composer John Debney wrote powerful instrumental themes that create the necessary atmosphere and the right intonation of important scenes. A couple of themes are worth visiting your music collection.
Acting work deserves a positive mark. Gina Davis and Matthew Modine made up a good screen pair, although the first is said to be “wooden”, and the second role was not more significant. Modayna discovered much later, and therefore pleased with his role as an adventurer with humor. Gina Davis is also on top, catching the grain of the pirate role well. Frank Langella as the villain is great. A smart guy with a cold head makes difficult decisions. All actors played well, kept within the framework of the script images.
As a conclusion. Now the tape looks like a material artifact of its era. Nostalgia for childhood and times of green grass takes place. Therefore, I consider the journey into the past to have taken place. I would advise you to get acquainted, since we have one of the two representatives of pirate theme in cinema of the last thirty years. And just a good movie. All health, peace and pleasant viewing.
At one time, this film was severely spat on by critics and served as the final nail in the coffin of pirated films in the twentieth century. He buried the career of director Rennie Harlin, a native of Finland, who shot even one of the films in the Die Hard franchise. I didn’t come back to pirates for a long time. I remember from my childhood that there was a game for the console Sega, and even had to play. For a long time I did not return to this story. And now there is an opportunity to satisfy your curiosity and is ready to share with you impressions of acquaintance and some thoughts on this matter.
A narrative criterion or narrative. The plot corresponds to all the canons of the adventure genre. There is an adventurous enterprise, a brave girl and the romance of pirate craft. Ships plying the expanses of the seas and servants of the crown, leading the hunt for fribusters. Reading about it in books, a variety of pictures were drawn in our heads and we gave free rein to our imagination. In the cinema, this function is turned off, because everything has been presented for us for a long time. We compare our expectations to what we see. In the nineties, they were good at making genre films. Yes, it failed at the box office, but this did not negate the fact of working on conscience. It was just that the film was not provided with a normal word of mouth and the studio was already on the verge of bankruptcy, very close to it. The dialogue is in style, and at the same time there is even a good humor. Many funny situations are endowed with commentary and strong words. All this blows like a vaib of some three Musketeers or the Marquise of Angels. This moment in the tape impresses me. The literature of the film may not be the strongest, but it corresponds to the genre and style of the chosen era.
Visual criterion or technical support of the tape. The tape looks cheap and angry, but at the same time, considerable funds were invested in it. Most of the money was spent on decorations and equipment, some ships cost a fairly large amount of money. The operator worked well with the frame and its filling. Marine species can mostly be observed either from the island or at night in a storm. At the same time, the picture does not look slick and some natural views of Port Royal or Tortuga are worthy of a desktop. Rennie Harlin can do action. He proved it in the second Hard. Even here managed to bring a few colorful explosions, and fencing is so a pleasure to see. Music decides a lot and composer John Debney wrote powerful instrumental themes that create the necessary atmosphere and the right intonation of important scenes. A couple of themes are worth visiting your playlist.
Acting is good. Gina Davis and Matthew Modine made up a good screen pair, although the first is said to be “wooden”, and the second role was not more significant. Modayna discovered much later, and therefore pleased with his role as an adventurer with humor. Gina Davis is also on top, catching the grain of the pirate role well. Frank Langella as the villain is great. A smart guy with a cold head makes difficult decisions. All the actors played well, kept within the framework of the script images.
As a verdict. Now the tape looks like a material artifact of its era. Nostalgia for childhood and times of green grass takes place. Therefore, I consider the journey into the past to have taken place. I would advise you to get acquainted, since we have one of the two representatives of pirate theme in cinema of the last thirty years. And just a good movie. Good, good, and enjoyable viewing!
Cinema has long worked to romanticize piracy. Fights, adventures, adventures, treasures in the end – all this excited the imagination of the public.
Of course, over time, the scope of the film adaptation of the life of experienced corsairs only increased and, as I think, “The Island of Thugs” became one of the first large-scale projects on this topic. Still, the budget of $ 98 million as if hinted that the viewer is waiting for something global.
Surprisingly, such a scale did not save “Bullet Island” from getting into the list of films that failed at the box office. There at one time were “13th warrior”, “Water world”, trilogy “Fantomas” and many others, but we loved the picture.
The film, for all its disadvantages, which I will talk about later, is quite pleasant to watch. First, because of the picture. Cinematographer Peter Levy and director Rennie Harlin did their best. The footage is diverse, interesting and colorful. All this helps us immerse ourselves in the fairy tale of the adventures of the pirate Morgan Adams and her team in search of untold wealth. The battle scenes are sometimes even more interesting than in the licked Pirates of the Caribbean. The main highlight is that the film was not shot against a green screen. Perhaps that is why now the “Island of thugs” will still be relevant.
Secondly, the plot itself, though a little naive and to the end blurred, does not cause rejection. When viewing, you really want to know where all the parts of the map are, where exactly the treasure is hidden and how the heroes will get out of trouble. Not to say that the story with makings for something serious. Just an interesting "no stress" story. And philosophical reasoning in films, where the main thing is action, would look strange.
And now for the downsides, or rather the comments. Acting. I have nothing against Gina Davis, but in this film, her performance is not “balanced.” Now she embodies the image of Morgan Adams, as it should, then wildly overplays. Generally not critical, but still noticeable. The rest of the actors seemed to cope with their roles, although they did not require such an outstanding display of charisma as Davis.
The next one is frank story nonsense. I will not talk about them in detail, so as not to spoil the impression for those who are just going to see the “Island of Thugs”. I can only say that the illogical actions of some characters gave me several minutes of hysterical laughter. So, what does that mean?
In general, “The Island of Thugs” is a good movie for evening viewing and nostalgia. It doesn’t smell like junk, and it’s a pity that the Western audience didn’t appreciate the efforts of Rennie Harlin and the entire crew.
'The Island of Thugs' is a unique film of its kind. It can be called the last pirate film of the XX century. After the enchanting... failure of the tape at the box office, Hollywood forgot about the sea robbers for almost a decade, before Pirates of the Caribbean & #39; and by that time the cinema had already changed in the most radical way. New technologies, special effects, careful choice of the target audience, rigid commercial calculation.
Well, the company 'Karolko' which gave us 'Terminator' and 'Remember everything' The tape buried, $90 million in losses - this is serious.
Does that mean the movie is bad? Absolutely not. Now, when he is already in his third decade, and the viewer is not waiting for some mega-spectacle, but focuses on other components of the movie, everything looks great.
Making a pirate movie is a trick. The fact is that it is doomed to the most classical plots of all, to a set of ancient stamps, familiar to the viewer images. Otherwise, it just won't work. Need a wooden leg, 'Jolly Roger', ships, guns, monkey and a bunch of scumbags of all stripes. All this in 'Island' there.
In addition, there is a cheerful production of Rennie Harlin, which sometimes came with inspiration. And his wife Gina Davis, he could shoot. There are worthy for those times special effects, excellent work of stuntmen. Ships, cities, costumes, weapons and so on are reproduced with care and love - this is an American tradition, loved there since the time of Errol Flynn.
Also there is humor, bright characters, funny dialogues. The soundtrack is moderately pathetic, quite consistent.
Just note, 'Island' unlike PCM is an adventure, not a fairy tale. And here and there in the film flash little things, raising the age rating, there is no decorum and toys ' Pirates'. In my opinion, this is a plus, in the opinion of the distributor, a minus, as it narrows the target audience. What did not prevent the creators of PCM to borrow from ' Island' a bunch of scenes and images, by the way.
The actors. Gina Davis got into the role of the pirate-torva perfectly. A bit of a clunky rat, she looks great up to her ears in blood and soot, waving her butcher and pistol. Unlike, for example, Keira Knightley, who for all aesthetic perfection is liquid for such cases. And Gina's facial expressions will be faster.
Matthew Modine in the classic role of a noble crook is intelligent and accurate. Honestly, after him, the character of Depp from PKM seems somewhat caricatured, although there is a different genre, others and characters.
Brilliant is Frank Langella, the Chief Villain. Again, no jokes, no posturing - a real bloodthirsty infernal scumbag. That does not prevent him from regularly letting atomic jokes through his teeth.
The supporting roles and extras in the film are simply gorgeous. All pirates are extremely colorful guys, key remember in person, all are classic movie images. Special thanks for the boatsman with a tattooed face, performed by Rex Lynn - a genius find. Each appearance on the screen animates the picture, already not boring.
As a result, we have a great, classic in a good way, a pirate film that draws a line under the achievements of the genre in the XX century. Cinema has changed what the new pirates will be - it's not yet clear. The old ones are beautiful.
I decided to remember one of the films of my childhood, and at the same time to understand why a rather large-scale adventure movie (at least, I remember it that way) from a very good director failed so badly at the box office. And you know what? I get it.
To the very history, the scale of the shooting and visual design of claims no – here everything is classic for films of those years. Cardboard villains, bulging eyes, catchy phrases - it's all easy to say goodbye, because forgave John Depp that in "Pirates", he dressed like a dragged prostitute and after only a couple of steps on the ground makes it clear how a team of hundreds of men spends time without the opposite sex, especially on long journeys.
But here's what remained a mystery: for whom was this film made?
If the target audience was adults (or adults), then there is too much stupidity for them, fights à la “hello, passing Indian cinema!”, clumsy trick part and too childish narrative. If, on the contrary, the basis of the audience were children and teenagers, then the film has too many vulgar jokes, demonstrations of the crotch of the main character and frank outfits of most female characters.
It is believed that the fault was a talentless advertising company. I believe that it was solely the fault of the creators, and failed to decide who this film is addressed to.
Verdict: See, but not look.
7 out of 10
P.s. The moment Morgan pulled out of her underpants (pardon, pantaloon) her father's scalp with a map (not a spoiler!), dragging her half a day with him in the heat - a masterpiece! I can't believe I'm getting divorced from a stool. Well, at least I wrapped it in a cloth...
1668. The daughter of the famous pirate Morgan Adams is in the hands of a third of the map with the road to the island of Thugs, where the treasures of the Spanish galleon are hidden. They also want to take possession of her evil uncle Dog Brown. Having inherited a ship and a team, she sets out on her way. Also involved in the case is a fraudster and a doctor by training William Shaw.
This picture in the mid-90s sunk the studio “Carolco” and almost put an end to pirate themes in Hollywood. With a budget of almost $ 100 million, the picture collected just over 10 million. Nevertheless, the movie was not bad. And, by the way, it is much more popular in our country than in the West (compare the ratings of the film on the KP and IMDB). Well, in our latitudes, the love of pirate theme is well known, and she did not bypass me.
The plot is typical for this genre: all sorts of treasures, revenge, etc., and all this is not written too well. But the director of the hot Finnish guy Rennie Harlin balanced it with good dynamics and beautifully shot scenes of action.
The actors are a little worse. Gina Davis looks in the role of a pirate even more or less, but her partner Matthew Modine in the role of William Shaw is quite faint and uncharismatic. No wonder the guy’s career didn’t work out. I remember the monkey better than him. Frank Langella is a charismatic villain.
Not a bad pirate-themed movie, shot on a grand scale. All the ingredients of the genre are correctly observed, so that, despite the stamped script and not too expressive characters, the movie looks.
7 out of 10
The Island of the Thugs vs. Pirates of the Caribbean.
The novels of Jules Verne, Stevenson and Sabattini were some of my favorite adventures, read to the holes. And, since my youth fell in the 80s, I could only imagine all the pirate life, treasures, unknown islands and sea voyages based on my own fantasies, drawn from books and several illustrations to them, as well as Soviet film productions of works by the aforementioned authors. Video recorders were just appearing, and before the premiere of the first part of “Pirates of the Caribbean” was still very, very far away.
The time difference between the film premieres of Thug Island and the first part of PKM is eight years, but I still enjoy watching Rennie Harlin’s film and consider it the benchmark of a pirate film. Many will disagree with me. But there are two big nuances that I would like to highlight. The first is that in the classic adventure pirate film there is no place for any monsters and horrors. This is the fantasy of the authors, putting “PCM” in the section of fantasy pseudo-historical films. And secondly, the much larger budget of Pirates of the Caribbean, the huge marketing and promotion costs of the film, the huge development of the special effects and computer graphics industry over eight years, simply do not allow to fully compare these two films. I forgot to add more about the third nuance, in the process of writing the script of the first part of “PCM”, the authors and management of the Walt Disney Pictures studio initially did not exclude the possibility of making a sequel, unlike the authors, of the same “Island of Thugs”. Although, considering the positive and commercially successful experience of Rennie Harlin in the shooting of various sequels, such as “Die Hard 2” or “Nightmare on Elm Street 4”. The Lord of the Dream., it is unknown how many parts the sequels and prequels would have stretched out if “The Island of Thugs” were warmly received by film critics and showed good fees in theaters.
As you know, the film buried one of the oldest companies and became one of the most failed films in the history of cinema. But the bankruptcy of the film company "Carolco", due to the failure of the film, I will not discuss, I will focus on the film itself, its actors, etc. Still, reviewing this film, I can’t understand why it was so disliked by film critics and why it was so poorly received by audiences in theaters. Any normal person who had a normal, full-fledged childhood, and who had a normal head and imagination, should have voted for this project with the ruble (pardon the dollar). Well, the audience cannot be so strikingly divided in our country and in America! Out of ten film reviews, only one is negative! Maybe they're doing something different now, more special effects and more computer graphics, but in 1995, it was really a masterpiece. A full-fledged adventure film, with chases, large-scale natural shootings on land and at sea, beautiful scenery, historical costumes, built in life size by a pirate ship. Plus stunts, chases, a romantic love line between Morgan and Sheen, etc. Although the Oscar-winning play of the main characters Gina Davis and Matthew Madeine can not be called, as well as the rest of the characters of the cast. But I would especially mention Frank Langella. I think he was born at the wrong time. His face says he is a born pirate.
The film is more than twenty years old, but it is still perceived quite fresh and looks with interest. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely watch it. Two hours will pass like one moment. To return at least mentally back to your childhood, when fantasies and thirst for adventure are strong, expensive.
8 out of 10
One of the most expensive films of the 90s, and, concurrently, the first place among the most high-profile box office failures in the history of Hollywood, “Thug Island” was, first of all, the victim of the irrational use of the budget, which was initially not so huge. To almost 100 million dollars, he was inflated by the movement of the film crew from one end of the world to the other, from Malta to Thailand, in order to shoot all the scenes on life as it is, as well as countless adjustments to the script, with each time new writers, plus the dismissal of crew members due to creative differences, and even due to serious production injuries. Well, it was not without the waste associated with the marriage of director Rennie Harlin and the main performer Gina Davis right during filming (cool honeymoon, you can’t say anything). And in the second place – feeble fees at the box office, as a result of poor work of PR and marketers, who came up with the idea to officially release a picture with, after all, a summer pirate theme on Christmas Eve.
What happened to the already gaining momentum mainstream entertainer Rennie Harlin (“Die Hard – 2”, “Climb climber”), in fact, does not fall into the category of a completely failed movie. In general, the genre of pirated cinema was not lucky at the box office for more than a decade, when many adventure pictures of pirated themes were released - all of them for some reason drowned in the box office and were lost in the dump of film history. What happened to a huge amount of money for the shooting of this late summer blockbuster - we have already found out and figured out, so that, specifically, the resulting output - we can immediately say that "Island of thugs" (there is still a translation version closer to the original "Island of the Cut Throat") is a gaggy in form and naive in content, but, nevertheless, once again, a fascinating two-hour spectacle in which, over time, even get used to not quite suitable for their roles actors. Gina Davis is a good and characteristic actress, which proved her previous notable roles, whether it is a fantastic Kafkaesque thriller “The Fly” (1986), or the rebellious-feminist road movie “Thelma and Louise” (1991), but for the role of a pirate she is too gentle and the way she beats healthy men’s faces, throwing them to the right and left, causes only a touching smile. Probably, and this is one of the reasons for the failure of the film, because the film, where the main character is a woman, and even a pirate (albeit historically such phenomena have happened, but rarely) could not interest the mass consciousness of the viewer and prompt to buy a ticket for this unusual spectacle. Matthew Modine is too subtle for the role of a thief and a swindler - well, he does not have this perfidiousness and arrogance that would make him a charming bastard. The one who is more memorable here is Frank Langella (who, by the way, speaks very warmly about his image in the film) in the image of an antagonist uncle. In his performance skip pretty funny theatrical notes, which, in my opinion, even give an unusual charm to the antihero, although many find that he simply overplays.
In fact, it’s hard to imagine any serious villain in his place, while the production of “Thug Island” itself looks like a children’s costume play at the morning. The spirit of exciting adventures in the film suffers from some too frivolous performance and scripted simplicity (for this reason and “once again” is fascinating), delighting only with some scenes that, just, Rennie Harlin succeeds best – when something explodes and burns (for example, a spectacular boarding scene), or, for example, an incredible action episode with a chase, where Gina Davis performs a trick with a rolling over the roof and landing in a wagon. But the soundtrack of John Debney - that's what really came out to fame. It would seem that all the excitement and passion of adventure was understood only by the composer, whose work turned out to be rich, juicy and diverse. It seems that the director and the material he chose were not created for each other, and it was better for them, after all, not to intersect in this life. And, moreover, it becomes interesting what kind of project was conceived by the Dutchman Paul Verhoeven with the Crusade, which was rejected by the once famous film studio “Carolco”, in favor of funding this?
Alas, these plans have sunk into oblivion, as, in fact, the film studio itself, which, having made a fatal choice in favor of pirates, was sunk by colossal losses (the budget of the picture is 98 million, the fees at the box office are 10 million) and ceased to exist. No less sad was the fate of the actress Gina Davis, by that time, the winner of the “Oscar” – after the failure of “Thug Island”, she shone only once at her husband Rennie Harlin in the next film “The Long Kiss for the Night” (1996), after which her career suffered a real collapse, putting on the poor girl the brand “office box poison”. By the way, the main culprit Rennie Harlin got away with only an unrealized nomination for “golden raspberry”, as the worst director, but the studios, paradoxically, continue to allocate him funding for projects, each of which (with the exception of “Deep Blue Sea”) consistently suffers commercial losses – from small to great.
Only after 7 years, the genre of “pirate” cinema lifted from the bottom and pumped Gore Verbinski super-popular franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean”, which, just proved to the world that this genre is not enough that it has not yet died, but, obviously, has gained a second wind.
Pirates have always been popular in popular culture, right? But here's what is strange: when came out "Island of thugs", filmmakers for many years before the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean" forgot about the image of a one-legged and one-eyed beard with a boarding cleaver in his hand and a parrot on his shoulder. Yes, yes, thank you for this "Island" - its catastrophic failure at the box office for many years buried the pirate theme in the coffin. However, the film is actually not bad. Although they say that the stupid advertising campaign is to blame for everything + the viewers were bored with sea robbers, but we know the truth - just Rennie Harlin at that time already rolled into disgusting cranberry films about Russia, ha ha ha! Perhaps that’s why even playing a film on sega and super Nintendo was worthless!
Okay, I'm kidding: for this tape is really very hurtful, because it is shot in the best representations of the mass audience about pirates, and therefore people "in the subject" and "out of the topic" one way or another should like it. At least the color of that era is well known! And most importantly, there’s a spirit of adventure and treasure-seeking, which is why we all loved Stevenson’s books and Captain Blood’s Odyssey. If you like sea battles and boarding fights on the palaces, then most likely you will enjoy watching.
The main roles are performed by Gina Davis (Morgan) and Matthew Modine (Show). Dame Davis is more accustomed to somehow see in the image of a housewife, but here she surprisingly confidently copes with the role of a harsh and principled lady-pirate, who strictly judges people by their actions and often harshly deals with undesirable. Matthew Modine plays a nimble sleazy adventurer who is so slippery that he manages to get out of even the most hopeless situation thanks to rare luck. Although this luck is strange, because he still constantly gets into trouble. I would also mention the actor who played a lieutenant from Jamaica, who brings a significant amount of humor to the film (yes, the film is quite funny: not as humorous as Pirates of the Caribbean, but still).
The team of the ship Morgan "Morning Star" in search of gold is opposed by the team "Reaper" led by the evil uncle Morgan Dog. The actor who played it terribly overplays, but it’s even more good than bad, because it looks funny and generally delivers. But Chief Dog, Mr. Snellgrave, represents the most stereotypical image of a pirate that can be. In general, both teams are extremely diverse and colorful, if I may say so: in a word, thugs.
The positive side of the film can also be attributed very delivering music, but the staging of fights in places is limp and moreover on both legs - it is painfully unprofessional and even caricature characters wave blades; although who knows it, maybe it was so conceived. Just forget all your claims to historicity (if they were, of course) and then you will like the picture.
Rennie Harlin can definitely be called one of the most controversial directors of our time. The director, whose films did not bring the expected fees and most often failed, but still found their voice in the hearts of the audience and provided the director with not only a decent budget for the next film, but also star actors in the lead roles. That’s just what many did not forgive him, so this film, which literally destroyed the once insanely famous Carolco studio, under the wing of which such hits as “Terminator”, “Remember Everything” and “Basic Instinct” appeared, but also for a long time destroyed the desire of directors to create films on a pirate theme. Naturally, until the joint project of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski did not result in the insanely popular franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean”.
The film was horrific and incredibly ugly. Make a film master adventure genre Stephen Sommers, it would be something really interesting. In fact, Rennie Harlin and the project clearly did not coincide. Since using his signature style sharpened for thrillers and action films in the film, Harlin failed to beat the entire adventurous and eccentric lifestyle of sea robbers in the picture exactly as it appears when reading certain literature.
Visually, the film is really well shot. All these ships, the transparent blue waters of the sea and ocean depths and the locations of tropical uninhabited islands really tune in the right way. That's just in terms of entertainment, the creators of the picture overdid it very much and that's what fell on this film in a negative light. Since the spectacle in the picture was too much and all it was so unreal that sometimes involuntarily caused laughter, rather than admiration and defeat.
As part of the plot, the film corresponds to its canonical genre. There is a mysterious treasure hunted for. There are two captains who are trying their best to get to him first and all this develops in the best traditions of the genre. At the same time, reflecting not only quite an interesting plot, but also the traditional puzzles for this film with reading the map and even searching for treasures at the destination. What spoils history is the excessive surface of all history, which too subjectively divides everything into white and black. When pirates have always been interested in this, they are unpredictable and very often combine bad deeds with good ones. What in combination with very cardboard characters so completely deprived the history of any feature and former impressionability.
Gina Davies is just beautiful. Here you watch the whole film and really admire the beauty of this attractive person, but the image of the daring pirate captain did not suit her absolutely. Matthew Modine in the image of the main character turned out too sweet and not very convincing in the image of a pirate and adventurer. Frank Langella is so overworked with the game that his character begins to seem excessively formidable and because of this too far-fetched.
3 out of 10
The island of thugs is definitely the worst work of director Rennie Harlin, who failed to properly beat the huge potential of the picture and ended up with perhaps the worst film on the subject of sea pirates in the history of cinema in my memory.
Island of Thugs is a film by Finnish director Rennie Harlin.
The movie isn't bad in itself. All filmed qualitatively, in general, there is nothing to complain about, except that only some banality and stamping. The picture gives, in general, positive impressions, this is the type of cinema that is created for the entertainment of the audience, which this picture succeeded. There’s a romantic spirit in the film that reminds me of old black-and-white adventure films, but there’s something more modern, something I associate with the American and maybe Hong Kong action movies of the 80s.
Unfortunately, this picture suffered a complete failure at the box office. The film broke the record for the largest box office loss, returning only 11 out of 100 million dollars invested in it. The reason for the failure is a poor advertising campaign, as Wikipedia tells us. This box office failure led to the closure of the studio “Carolco Pictures”, which gave the world such films as “Rambo”, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and many others. There are films much worse, but successfully going at the box office, and even getting the green light to continue, such examples are the sea.
6 out of 10
No bitch, but a little bit of trouble. Good adventure action, but direct injection of endorphins into the blood did not work. All the elements are in place - costumes, shipwrecks, storms, an island, battles a la peef-puff and zip-push, jumping into the raging sea from a hundred meters high, a cave, skulls, a treasure map, a dead man's chest and a bottle of rum, betrayal, a smart monkey, love and the Decisive Fight first on the mast and then in the hold. To the best of all spectacles (explosions, falls, quicksands and erotic removal of a bullet from an appetizing female body, flowing into a passionate kiss). A couple of characters looks very charismatic - this is the main character and her predatory uncle, who do not harbor any kindred feelings towards each other. In general, everything is about the same as in Pirates of the Caribbean and in a wide variety of pirate newsreels. Even the monkey looks exactly the same as in "Pirates" (you might think that the same animal was shot, but it is unlikely - 8 years difference).
All pirate stories are the same. There is always a map, a treasure and an island. At least two competing teams of good and bad pirates are searching for these treasures, often joined by military and adventurers without clan or tribe. In the process of searching for despicable metal, which is full of dramatic misadventures, good treasure seekers find their love, and the bad ones find eternal rest in the underworld. All I mean is that the elements in Pirates of the Caribbean and Thug Island are the same, only the details and nuances of the plot differ. But Thug Island is the most loudly failed film in the history of film distribution. And “Pirates”, given their quadriquel character, is the most successful Corsaro adventurer in the history of cinema. Now let me make a bold point: if Johnny Depp had appeared in Thug Island, the film would at least pay for itself.
But I wouldn’t call this movie bad. One scene is certainly beyond praise:
Captain, we can't leave now: we have little food!
- So we need to make fewer mouths. (Shooting the captain into an alarmist immediately turns the discussion into a more practical one.)
Congratulations, Madame, you have destroyed another city!
Pirates. Severe sea wolves that plundered cities, drowned ships, drank rum on Tortuga, and only a few survived to old age. A theme that excites the minds and hearts of ordinary people, but cinema is not rich in films with this brethren. No, of course, you can recall the trilogy of Gore Verbinski about the brave captain Sparrow, the wonderful Soviet cartoon “Treasure Island”, as well as the cartoon of the American “Pirates of Dark Water”, you can also recall several films of dubious dignity, but in general there are criminally few films about pirates, sorry for the pun. And although there are few of them, and even fewer good films, but they sometimes occur. Today’s guest is a good example of that. So this is "The Island of Thugs."
The plot revolves around treasures from the Spanish galleon, who want to get everyone who is not lazy. This is the granddaughter of the pirate who hid the gold. Divchina is the captain of a pirate ship, and anyone who dares to drop the phrase that a woman is in danger of going overboard to feed the sharks. Meet Morgan Adams. Here and one of the sons of an old pirate, who was disinherited, in childhood he had no toys, and good manners he was not taught, and therefore grew angry and a little psychotic captain of pirates, who loves violence for the sake of violence, as well as gold. After all, all pirates love gold. Meet Douglas "Dog" Brown. Here and the captain of the fleet of Her Majesty and part-time Governor of Port Royal, who is not so much concerned with the pursuit of pirates, as his own enrichment. Meet Thomas Winsley. And then there is a crook, a thief and a crook who has neither an army nor influential friends behind him and also wants to snatch his piece of cake. Meet William Shaw. And all these motley brethren go in search of the legendary Island of Thugs. There will be no second place in this race and the winner will get everything. Well, gentlemen, place your bets.
Yes, perhaps the plot and does not suffer from originality, but in fact it has everything for which the viewer loves a movie about pirates. There are interesting chases and fights in inns and a colorful villain and the final confrontation between the two ships. Periodically, the truth flashes peaceful scenes in order to explain to the viewer where the characters go next, but in general, the picture is a non-stop action.
As for the heroes, it is less and less rosy. Morgan Adams performed by Gina Davis could not be remembered, and the actress did not try, obviously hoping that her more than average acting will hide special effects. We didn't. Yes, Morgan Adams looks like a pirate, talks like a pirate and commands pirates, but Gina Davis is constantly out of character, and her emotions for the most part look played. What can not be said about Frank Lagerre, who played the pirate captain - "Dog". This actor was clearly happy with the role that turned up for him and therefore gave his all. His crazy look, obsession with gold, and the principle that hopeless situations are not about him create a memorable image, from which I was impressed as a child, and now nothing much has changed. I was also able to please Matthew Modine, whose character Shaw is a thief, liar and womanizer. Is it for nothing that his character constantly gets into trouble, looking at Morgan Adams? Modine demonstrates both beautiful facial expressions and good acting, while it is clear that the actor is capable of more, but he restrains himself in order not to finally oust Gina Davis from the frame. As for the other actors, they just played. Someone is a little better, someone is a little worse, but in general everyone played average, and no one really remembered.
In general, before us there is an exemplary film on pirate themes. And even if it is neither a masterpiece nor a new word in the genre, but if you are not indifferent to such a kind of films, then I strongly advise you to watch this movie, you will not regret it.
7 out of 10
I love Rennie Harlin’s films, they always have an interesting atmosphere and a spectacular story. Harlene is one of my favorite directors, but this movie is not his best work, and for some reason the critics criticized this film, but I still watched this movie and enjoyed it. The film is not a masterpiece, but for those who love adventure films, it will be just right.
“The Island of Thugs” is an adventure film that showcases an exciting and dangerous, pirate story in which passion, love and thirst for adventure reign. We see the daughter of a pirate, who is eager to avenge the death of her father and find treasure, and she is waiting for an amazing adventure that will give her everything that real pirates are looking for.
I remember Gina Davis in this movie. I love this American actress and it’s always a pleasure to see her in movies. She is an interesting, temperamental actress who plays well-dramatic roles. Since she is the director's wife, this role was written exclusively for her, and Davis is delighted and delighted to play the role in her husband's adventure film.
Not everyone has seen this movie, but it deserves attention. Thug Island is a movie that plunges into the past, and we see a dangerous and interesting adventure that was invented and directed by talented director Rennie Harlin. Do not try to criticize this film, because it was already criticized, but just enjoy the story and play of the main character.
7 out of 10
In the pirate clan Adams came turbulent times. One of the four brothers decided to piece together three pieces of the map leading to the island of thugs to single-handedly take possession of the treasure from a sunken Spanish ship. To do this, he eliminates one of the brothers, taking possession of one part of the map. When trying to get the second part of the map, he mortally wounds another brother, but his daughter comes to his rescue. Before her death, her father tells her to take his ship and crew and go to the last of the brothers for the third part of the map.
Until now, this film is a great example of the adventure genre about pirates. It is doubly pleasant to see a beautiful young woman in the lead role, who is also no stranger to sea adventures. It can also be positively noted that the film safely avoided any unnecessary mysticism and damnation, which can not be said about the current films.
One can only guess what the film did not please the gluttonous American-European audience. After all, there is everything that is necessary. Magnificent field shootings, allowing you to enjoy the picture, real boarding fights, which are breathtaking, excellent acting, supported by a competent script and witty dialogues, as well as a children's rating, without unnecessary cruelty, for going to the cinema with the whole family. Despite the eloquent at the end of the tape, the letters “The End” from the film could easily be sculpted no less successful sequel, but the failure to collect buried all hopes.
8 out of 10