{2jtab: Movie Review}

Michael Ritchie’s The Island, written by Jaws scribe Peter Benchley and based upon his book, might have sunken quickly at the box office during its original deployment in 1980 but that hasn’t stopped it from coasting on a new wave of popularity in recent years.  The film has, in fact, garnered quite a sizable cult following who secretly wish all childhood trips to Disney World could be this … hilariously savage.

Blair Maynard (Michael Caine), an investigative reporter, takes on a Caribbean-sized challenge when he convinces his editor to let him investigate the disappearance of boats and their passengers.  While promising his unexpectedly dropped-off son a trip to Disney World, he travels to Miami and begins, with his son in tow, a high seas adventure that sees him captured by raiding pirates - a ragged collection of outcasts, thieves, and murderers led by actor David Warner – and tortured endlessly.  When his son joins the pirates and adopts their ways, Maynard must escape their clutches and rescue his son…with a machine gun.

Ritchie leaves the political satire of The Candidate behind and ignores the gutsy sports comedy of The Bad News Bears for most of The Island.  His action sensibilities are largely rusty and, if being nominated for the first annual Golden Raspberry isn’t proof enough, the film’s pacing is only best described as … ass-numbingly slow.  To complicate matters, cinematographer Henri Decaë’s use of shallow focus throughout the film falls in and out of focus as characters move across the field of vision.  Leave it to famed composer Ennio Morricone to add a bizarro tone to the film with a heroic theme for the pirate plundering that The Island condemns.

It’s just a weird film; a mishmash of father-son adventures, old timey pirate speak, a bit of ultraviolence, and much anthropological hooey all mixed into the same film.  No wonder it is also known as the summer blockbuster that never was.  The majority of filmgoers weren’t going to buy into what The Island is selling.  And there’s little to wonder why.  The terror on screen never finds its own rhythm and has large gaps in the logic it presents to an audience already skeptical of its brand of pirate brainwashing.

The Island is a nice place to visit for freaks and geeks of the cinematic world only.

{2jtab: Film Details}

MPAA Rating: This title has not been rated by the MPAA.
Runtime: 114 mins
Director: Michael Ritchie
Writer: Peter Benchley
Cast: Michael Caine; David Warner; Angela Punch McGregor; Don Henderson
Genre: Action |Adventure
Tagline: For 300 years, a terrifying secret has been kept from the outside world.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Are you wise enough to feel privileged by what you see here? You and I are the only living men to see what you lies before you now."
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Official Site:
Release Date: June 13, 1980
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: December 11, 2012

Synopsis: David Warner leads a band of modern day pirates who raid yachts and sail boats of people on vacation out in the Caribbean. Michael Caine is a reporter who goes out there with his son to investigate the mystery of the disappearing boats. He runs across Warner and his band of raiders and they decide to induct them into their tribe.

{2jtab: Blu-ray Review}

Component Grades Movie Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray Experience

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - December 11, 2012
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: 25GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); DVD copy
Region Encoding: A

The 1080p AVC coded transfer retains the film’s intended 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio, but is best described as problematic. Colors and detail are muted but consistent to the look of the film. Contrast is acceptable, with some crushing in the blacks during night sequences.  There’s a nice layer of grain that is salted with debris and some print damage.  The included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is a nice addition, but sometimes the ambience of the surround channels overpower the front channels and render the dialogue a bit thin-sounding.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

For a release of this nature, it’s surprising that the supplementals are so thick and informative. Obviously, everyone is proud of this film and its success. The actors gush over their director and the director gushes over the babes of this picture and its writers. The film actually has a pretty interesting history that is explained by the documentary – which comes highly recommended.

Whoops.  Anyone curious about the release of this film can keep wondering.  The only bonus materials included are trailers for The Island, Death Valley, and They Live, all in standard definition, and a standard definition DVD containing the same content as the Blu-ray disc.

{2jtab: Trailer}

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