Visitors Review

oscar-35 (2012-05-24 00:03)

A rather good updated version

*Spoiler/plot- 1990, A boy and his mother have a country inn on theocean cliffs. An old sailor moves into the inn and is dying. Hebefriends the son of the inn keeper with is stories of living on ships.One night a strange blind man arrives and marks the old sailor fordeath from a pirate brotherhood with the 'Black Spot'. During a cutlassfight, the boy finds a treasure map in the sea chest of the dyingsailor. He takes the map to the local authorities that know about itand set up a ship and crew to find the treasure. Once the ship,'Hispaniola' leaves the port with mostly a secret pirate crew aboard;they arrive at the Treasure Island. The crew takes over the ship andattacks the obedient crew members trying to get the treasure for them.A marooned sailor helps the obedient crew members to find and stow thehidden treasure aboard the ship to go back to England for justice.'Long' John Silver shows that he is an able conman, pirate, liar,double-crosser, and schemer through this whole treasure huntingexperience.*Special Stars- Charlton Heston. Dir: Frasier Heston*Theme- Men will look for treasure even if they suffer for it.*Based on- Robert Louise Stevenson's famous pirate novel*Trivia/location/goofs- TV series remake condensed into a feature film.The "Hispaniola" ship used for the film is actually the "Bounty" a shiporiginally built for the MGM classic film with Clark Gable and CharlesLaughten. The pirate dialog is a joy to hear and understand.*Emotion- A rather good updated version of the Stevenson pirate movieusing Mr. Heston's strong leading man charisma and acting talents. Thisfilm is a very nice example of Heston's later screen appearances andexcellent casting with an authentic West Country English accent andlanguage colloquialisms of the 17th century seamen. Well worth yourtime and very entertaining.

poe426 (2012-05-23 13:59)

Superb...

Along with George C. Scott's performance as Scrooge in A CHRISTMAS CAROL,Charlton Heston's performance as Long John Silver will go down as one of thehighlights of 20th century television. In an utterly amazing turn, Hestonmetamorphosizes chameleon-like into one of literature's most enduringvillains. This is the kind of performance that needs to be seen to bebelieved- and believe it you will! Had Heston chosen, he could very wellhave become one of The Silver Screen's leading villains. (THE THREEMUSKETEERS and THE FOUR MUSKETEERS are also offered in evidence.) Superbwriting and direction by Fraser Heston in aid of must also be noted.Must-see telemovie.

Josef Tura-2 (2012-05-21 21:18)

By far the best adaption

The care taken in this movie to remain true to the spirit and words ofRobert Louis Stevenson's novel is rare for the adaption of any novel. Ireadthat this was the director's favorite book as a child and his passion foritis immediately obvious to the audience.The characters are presented exactly as the novel describes them. Theinfamous Long John Silver is not simplified or turned into a hero butpresented as complex as Stevenson wrote him. A ruthless pirate, capable ofgreat generosity and Machivellian cruelty. Heston gives one of the bestperformances of his career and considering his past performances that issaying a great deal.Jim Hawkins is played to perfection by Christian Bale. The characters thatthey actors create actually seem capable of the actions that they take, arare trait in a film.It is too bad that this film was not released in theaters, I feel that itshould have been nominated for several academy awards for acting, directionand, without a doubt, best adapted screenplay. Anyone who believes thatgreat books can't be translated into films will be pleasantly surprised bythis anomaly.

ers-11 (2012-05-21 13:45)

Treasure Island (1990 version_

If you hated watching Robert Newton and his ARRRRR, Matey! approach tothe role of Long John Silver, and you hated watching a brat (Bobby D)play Jim Hawkins, and you like to watch a movie about boats and shipsfeaturing actors who actually know something about sailing, this one'sfor you. It's the best version of Treasure Island ever filmed. Not onlyare you treated to a charismatic, cunning and completely amoral LongJohn, and a young man coming of age playing Jim, you get to hear anincredible soundtrack by the Chieftans! Wish I had a copy of thescore...The Chieftans build the perfect OST for this movie. You may not likeCharlton's politics, but who cares-- it's just a movie. I'm pretty surethe director is Heston's son, and he does a good job. From the openingmoments when Captain Billy Bones comes in to the harbor close hauled,you know you're seeing real sailors. No other film version even comesremotely close to this one. Check it out. A bit hard to find, but outthere.

Adams Douglas (2012-05-21 14:12)

Great Movie, Great Score!

I just want to add a mention about the terrific score created for thisexcellent film by The Chieftains. They've created a sense of period usingtheir classic instruments while adding an orchestral score which trulyembodies the spirit of swashbuckling adventure.

steve-perry (2012-05-20 20:59)

An awesome version of a Classic!!! WHERE'S THE DVD?!?!?!?

(it would be 10 for 10 if this were released in WIDESCREEN DTS !!!)This TNT backed (probably made for TV) version had me hooked from thefirst minute. Faithfully following the tale of pirates treasure, wefollow young Jim Hawkins from his fascination with Captain "BillyBones" (a picture perfect performance by the late Oliver Reed) to hisadventures aboard the Hispaniola and eventually Treasure Island. Thecasting is magnificent. Charlton Heston plays his Long John Silver withan air of jaded humanity that we almost empathize with him. The "goodguys" are also humanized and show some of their "darker" sides in thecourse of the telling of the tale. I just wish this would be releasedon DVD. It is truly an effort of love and a tribute to the great RobertLouis Stevenson. Truly wonderful, Mateys!

hattjam8 (2012-05-19 22:07)

One of my favorite movies and I wish it were on DVD

This is one of my favorite movies. I was introduced to it by an oldfamily friend who had copied it when it was originally broadcast oncable. My sisters and I ruined the tape with watching. My father hasdeclared this movie his very favorite, and we all have the music fromit (yay, Chieftains!). It is an incredible movie, which was myintroduction to Christian Bale. I like this one even better than Empireof the Sun. My only gripe is that they have stopped printing thismovie, even on VHS. It is a bear to get hold of a copy, let alone adecently-priced one. I hope that someday, a DVD will be made for all ofus devoted fans of this brilliant movie.

ateelah (2012-05-19 09:56)

My favorite version

I have to agree with everyone who has lauded this film as the bestadaptation of Stevenson's novel. "Treasure Island" has long been one ofmyfavorite books and this is the first version that comes closest to myvisionof the story. Fraser Heston obviously knew and loved this book, it'sevident in every frame. The costumes, the sets, the actors and the musicallcombine to create an unforgettable cinematic adventure. When I firstheardthat Charlton Heston was going to play Long John Silver, I was skeptical,but his performance was spot on. He was able to communicate the moralambiguity of Stevenson's character without making him comical. He comesacross as a man who is at once dangerous and compelling.Christian Bale was a great Jim Hawkins, coming closer to the way Ipicturedhim in the book than any actor previously. The scene on the ship whenIsrael Hands is chasing him up the rigging was exactly the way Ienvisionedit, with all the urgency and tension it required.Let me just take this opportunity to say that, while I wasn't familiarwithPete Postlethwaite before this film, his portrayal of George Merry reallymade me pay attention. All the supporting actors were perfect.ChristopherLee's Blind Pew is the stuff of nightmares and Oliver Reed as Billy Boneslooked closest to the way I had always envisioned him.The musical score by the Chieftains is one of the most perfect for any TVmovie I have ever seen, and better than many for big screen films. It'soneof the few scores I purchased on CD so that I could just listen to themusic.In spite of a few continuity errors, this film captured perfectly the lookand feel of Stevenson's tale. It's one film I never tire of watching andIhighly recommend it.

blackhawk66 (2012-05-19 07:26)

Vote for a DVD release at TCM

More superlatives from me are not necessary. I will only say that Iagree with the other commenters who consider this the best version ofTreasure Island made so far. What would make a difference is for it tobe released on DVD. If you would like to see this version of TreasureIsland released on DVD, as I do, then please go to this link:http://tcmdb.com/title/title.jsp?scarlettTitleId=14882 and vote for it (on the right hand side of the screen).If the link does not work or you don't care to use it, then do a Googlesearch for Turner Classic Movies, then search on the site for TreasureIsland (1990). Maybe if enough people vote for it, it will actually bereleased on DVD. It can't hurt.

eringobragh-1 (2012-05-18 15:05)

Beyond any shadow of a doubt, the single greatest adaptation available!

I read the book about 20 times a week as a kid. I saw every adaptationfor the screen. Disney's was crap! Muppet was a joke. Every animatedversion was dumbed down. Only this one was faithful to the book. Evenbetter, the actors were perfectly cast across the board. Each and everypirate was terrifying. Each and every good guy seemed nice enough untilthe fights started, at which they were badass!This movie made me investigate the actors and I was so disappointedthat they were all so wonderful in this, but they never had any betterroles afterwards.All actors were great, but the standouts were Julian Glover as Dr.Livesey, Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawney, Clive Wood as Capt.Smollet, and Nicholas Amer as Ben Gunn. Christian Bale, CharltonHeston, and Christopher Lee were fantastic and perfectly cast(surprise, surprise!)For any kid, whether an actual kid or a kid at heart, let them watchthis, rather than every other one (they are, to a one, crappy).

Jason Brown (2012-05-18 10:46)

Best Treasure Island EVER

This wonderful new adaptation of Treasure Island is clearly the best ever.Truly remarkable performances and great action make this film a MUST SEE.Charlton Heston and Juilian Glover truly carry the cast. This easily gets onmy top 10 list!*****/*****5 / 5

rrichr (2012-05-17 19:18)

The current benchmark

In Fraser Heston's production of Robert Louis Stevenson's masterpiece, anobvious labor of love by all involved, the classic tale sidesteps anotherexcessively kid-friendly incarnation to live and breathe as Stevensonmeantit to. Although its made-for-TV scale pokes through now and then, it doessoonly momentarily in each case. These little blinks aside, this heartfeltreading of the classic adventure is a worthy piece of work. It's stillfamily-safe but this time there's real menace interwoven with the book'smore genteel sensibilities.How a film begins is often crucial and this `Treasure Island' begins sobeautifully, and correctly. A mournful pennywhistle solo ushers in anopening credit sequence that could have been filmed by the painter N.C.Wyeth, whose vision infuses many of the film's frames. I replay thissequence several times whenever I screen this film because it is soevocative. It also perfectly sets the tone for the entire movie;beautifullydone. But if they had just held the rousing, though excellent, music backabit longer and let the sequence walk through on its own legs, it wouldhavebeen one of the most perfect opening sequences ever filmed.Charlton Heston as Long John Silver? Don't laugh. His now-familiar voiceoccasionally surfaces through his 18th century pirate patois, but neverdetracts. Heston's portrayal is completely effective and is handled withrestraint and relish, a fact that is evident the moment his Silver firstappears. Silver emerges from the back room of his waterfront Bristol grogshop to confront Christian Bale's uneasy Jim Hawkins who, having walkedintoSilver's lair, is realizing that he may, quite possibly, not be walkingout.Assessing Hawkins through a world-weary expression that has seen it allseveral times, Silver weighs his options: hear the boy out or drag himintothe kitchen and slice him into the salt pork stew, at least.Heston's Silver is no buffoon. Instead, he is a dangerous man, not unlikethe Deke Thornton character in Sam Peckinpah's `The Wild Bunch'; anintelligent person who is forced to endure, and make use of, the humandregsof his time, the best of whom can hold only a dim candle to him. Cunning,quietly remorseless, always several moves ahead of everyone in sight, yetpatient in the face of relentless idiocy, this Silver is also a man whosesoul has not been completely flogged out of him, by circumstance or thewhip. His sincere respect for the innocent courage of Jim Hawkins givesthis`Treasure Island' much of its humanity. If you don't feel a pang asHeston'sLong John gazes chagrined at the loot, which, for the lack of morefar-sighted colleagues, would have been his, you may have the proverbialhole in your soul. `Ah bucko', says Silver to Jim Hawkins near the film'send, after Jim rebuffs Silver's last gentle attempt to manipulate him,`whata pair we would have made'. Oh yeah, absolutely.All of the book's heroes are portrayed with heartfelt competence; theblustering Squire Trelawney (Richard Johnson), the tack-sharp,impeccably-mannered Doctor Livesey (Julian Glover), the unflinchingCaptainSmollet (Clive Wood), and Jim Hawkins' arch-boy (Christian Bale in hismid-teens, filled out a bit post `Empire of the Sun', bearing noresemblanceto his homicidal yuppie in `American Psycho'). Arrayed against them arethescurviest sea dogs who ever weighed anchor, complete with terrifying teethand fierce, implied body odor: Oliver Reed's tragic Billy Bones,ChristopherLee's festering Blind Pew, Israel Hands (what a great name), Silver'smurderous, cobra-like shipmate, (Michael Halsey), who provides a taste ofwhat Silver himself may have been like in his younger days, and a mostconvincing Ben Gunn (Nicholas Amer). Peter Postlethwaite, the super-coolbig-game hunter in the first sequel to `Jurassic Park', plays thebewilderedGeorge Merry, a man who should always flee from even the slightestambition;someone who makes you happy to still be you, even if your 401K was ridingentirely on Enron.When the time comes for action, it's delivered with conviction. Early on,the tense, hateful confrontation in the Admiral Benbow inn, between therum-soaked Billy Bones and his scary former shipmate, Black Dog (JohnBenfield), is beautifully rendered, as is the berserk fight at the islandstockade later in the film. To its great credit, the film never tries tobefunny, or even light-hearted. It simply forges ahead, telling Stevenson'sgreat story. But near the end comes a scene in which Squire Trelawneyconfronts Silver, whose schemes are now hopelessly foiled, and attempts tocall the old pirate to account. What briefly transpires is the film's onlyreal yuk, but it's a peach.It's easy to over-romanticize the period in which `Treasure Island' isset;swashbuckling as it may now seem, it was a time before widespread bathing(the future George III's German fiancé had to be told to please take abathafter arriving in England), flush toilets, anesthesia, toothpaste, germtheory, and any notion of social justice. But it was also a time whenunbroken forests still covered most of North America, when Pittsburgh wasjust a rough-hewn, barely defensible French fort in the midst of atracklesswilderness (near the present site of the Pirates baseball stadium;Pirates?,hmmm), a time when, given the courage, adventurous spirits still had realroom to move. The slate was still largely clean. Many irreversiblemistakeshad yet to be made. Anyone with a taste for history and, perhaps, adiscernible distaste for certain aspects of our own `advanced' age willrelate well to this forthright `Treasure Island'. If you've appreciatedCharlton Heston as a movie star, you'll appreciate him even more as anactor. This `Treasure Island' is probably the best that will ever be made.Amore `updated' version could certainly be produced; one that spurts moreblood and exchanges more bodily fluids, with much of the book's periodstyleand manner stripped out, but it would no longer be Stevenson, justHollywood.

ishmael-18 (2012-05-17 03:33)

I don't think it's so good

In the same way as Kevin Costner played Robin Hood in the movie withthe money, while Patrick Bergin did a far better job in the other Robinmovie of the same year (1991), and in the same way that Carrol Read'sOliver! (1968) was a film of Lionel Bart's musical (1960), itself atreatment of David Lean's film Oliver Twist (1948), this TreasureIsland fails to match up to the BBC version of 1977, which seems tohave inspired it.Imagine the scene; the Hestons viewing the 1977 tape, not a star to beseen, and Charlton lamenting his never yet having played the Sea Cook;surely Junior could write the script - and direct it, no point inletting someone else stick their oar in - and with Charlton's nameinvolved, surely they could get some real stars, and make a much bettermovie; after all, they'd have more money.And there's the first rub, Oliver Reed never quite gets beyond OliverReed (and who decided Billy Bones was a Scot?), Christopher Lee is ashade gratuitous as Pew (did we have to be shown the true horror behindthe mask?), and Julian Glover (Livesey), so accomplished as a villain,is a little too much like a villain with nothing bad to do today, thana truly good man. There's lots of star quality, but not much depth.As to the script, it's not bad, though the BBC influence is definitelythere, the trouble is that while the BBC adaptor, John Lucarotti had afine grasp of RLS's pirate idiom, Fraser Heston hasn't.It's forgivable for an American writing UK English to make the mistake,but 'Bugger', Bloody Hell' and 'Bastard' were not common C18 nauticalcurses, and 'Blighter' is definitely Victorian; Heston's pirates slipinto 1940s far too often, and it jars. (And Trelawney habituallydrinking tea; where did that come from? Is it just to underline thatthis story happens in England not America?) Having said all that, Christian Bale is extremely good as Jim, andHeston's Silver is all it should be (the pity is that we just don't seeenough of him), Michael Halsey is splendidly nasty as Israel, StephenMackintosh does a highly effective cameo as Dick, and John Benfield isa really scary and violent Black Dog.It's not a bad film by any means, just not nearly as good as it shouldhave been.

(2012-05-16 20:44)

Remarkable version of this classic novel

In my opinion, this movie is the best film rendition of Treasure Islandto date. I must however preface that comment with the fact that I waseight years old when it came out and still watch it today from time totime. I fell in love with this film at a young age, without the wisdomto realize that this movie stands the test of time as a rich and wellcrafted rendition.The story is of course of the famous the R.L Stevenson book and uses asomewhat older Jim Hawkins played by a young Christain Bale. CharltonHeston seems born for the role of Captain Hook and a host of otherfamous actors play great characters as well. Everything is tied intogether with excellent scenery and a wonderful soundtrack by theChieftans in the flavor of Irish folk music.I watched the movie again at the age of 18, having been exposed to awide array of films and upon seeing this again, I couldn't believe howmuch I still loved the film. When remakes are done of films, it'ssometimes the first rendition one sees that sticks as the'prototypical' version to which all others are compared. This film issuch for me, that I cannot see another version of the story and findanything of value in it. Call it stubborness or simply childhoodattachment, but one must see this movie to understand. Don't listen tothe rants and raves of a grown up eight year old, rent it yourself andmake your own decision.

sherlock-34 (2012-05-14 12:39)

A Treasure of a Treasure Island!

One of the great literary classics is brought to life in this wonderfulmadefor television version. An incredible cast, headed by Charlton Heston asLong John Silver, beautiful location footage and a great soundtrack fromPaddy Maloney performed by the Chieftains, makes this one of the liveliestproductions ever filmed. Cleverly scripted and directed by Fraser Heston,the viewer is treated to a wonderfully faithful adaptation of R. L.Stevenson's classic adventure tale.Christopher Lee is near unrecognizable in the ghastly make-up of BlindPew.Add to that the most incredible voice-work and you have one of Mr. Lee'smost fascinating characterizations. Although on-screen for a relativelyshort time, Pew is instrumental to the plot, and Mr. Lee certainly makesthemost of his limited time, effectively creating one of the most frighteningand memorable characters. Never before, or since, has Blind Pew been quiteso well played. His interaction with the late great Oliver Reed as BillyBones at the Benbow Inn is a wonderful moment, particularly for Hammerfans.The cast includes a phenomenal assortment of remarkable actors. WhileCharlton Heston is less than perfectly cast, he does turn in a commendableperformance and in no way detracts from the production. It is evident thathe is enjoying his role. Young Christian Bale in an early performance isexcellent and well cast, as Jim Hawkins. Isla Blair does a great job asyoung Jim's protective mother. Along for the ride we also have JulianGloverin a standout performance as Dr. Livesey. His confrontation with theswaggering Oliver Reed as Billy Bones is a high point in this film.RichardJohnson as Squire Trelawney and Clive Wood as Capt. Smollet round out thecast, with Nicolas Amer (whom I thought was actually Jasper Carrot) as asuitably deranged Ben Gunn. An exceptional cast, which fits togetherbeautifully, results in my favorite version of this oft-filmed classic.While at times reminiscent of some of Hammer's adventure films, itcertainlybenefits from modern film technique, and rightly exceeds even the best ofHammer's pirate yarns.Even if you are just checking this out for Christopher Lee's or OliverReed's performance, you'll find yourself engrossed in a wonderful familyfilm and wondering why more classics aren't given such great treatment.Highly recommended!

(2012-05-13 22:23)

Rousing Adaptation Follows Novel Closely

This version of Stevenson's masterpiece is probably the one that mostclosely follows the novel.It appears that they must have had a copyalongside when they were writing the script.Oh,we can certainly havecriticisms,of inaccuracies,and diversions,but they're so small.Bale is someflat as Jim Hawkins,and he does appear a little dull-witted(which is NOT thesame as being stupid)but what of it.He's the closest in age of anyinterpreter.I've heard people complain of Heston being cast against type asSilver,stating that he's not doing a hero.Nonsense!Silver happens to be anevil hero!Wood's Smollet is a little too young for the character,and Halseyand Coyle are both much too young for theirs(Hands and Morgan are describedas rather elderly pirates)but what of it?They do a fine job.The fight at thestockade is much more elaborate than was described in the book,but can wehave a Heston film that doesn't have an epic battle?Besides,it's so muchfun.And Silver's escape is not as described in the novel,but it's sooriginal,and so much in character,that we have to cheer the old blackguardin his resourcefulness.Get the video,stock up lots of beverages,make lots ofpopcorn,and settle back for a rousing,rollicking good time.

h-l-workman (2012-05-12 08:04)

A wonderful adaptation that should be on DVD

This is easily and by far the best film version of Treasure Island evercreated (I think I've seen them all since Treasure Island is one of myfavourite books). Even being, as I am, critical of movies based onbooks, especially historical books, I can't find any fault with it. Thehistorical accuracy is spot on, the sets are wonderful, the fact thatit was filmed on location perfect, the use of an actual ship showing adie-hard loyalty to the book, the cast is excellent, the costuminggreat, and equally important to all of this, the soundtrack isriveting! I've long been a fan of the Chieftains and this film helpedto further raise my respect for them. The scene in which Jim is pittedagainst Israel Hands would be nothing without that wild tapping as Jimruns up the rigging! One of the things I particularly love is howrealistic the fight scenes are. Things are slowed down by there-loading of the guns or complicated by the powder getting wet. Andthe film doesn't have the silly dancing about with rapiers thatprevious film versions of the book have, but furious slashes with heavycutlasses and vicious, ungentlemanly kicking. The fight between BillyBones and Black Dog is hilariously clumsy, but in a terrifyinglife-like way. I simply cannot say enough good things about this film.There is only one question that I have: WHERE IS THE DVD VERSION!!???

GulyJimson (2012-05-12 01:18)

Shiver-me-timbers, this is the best version of the Stevenson classic!

Shiver-me-timbers, this is the best version of the Robert LouisStevenson classic! In fact it is a model of cinematic adaptation.Closely following the book, with whole scenes and dialogue takenstraight from its pages, the film never bogs down into the kind ofstuffy lifelessness that sometimes afflicts adaptations attempting tobe faithful to their literary source. Indeed Frazier Heston'sscreenplay and direction capture the brisk, page turning pleasure ofthe book nicely. Add to his sure direction, wonderful locations, apicture-perfect cast and a rousing music score by the Chieftains andyou have one of the best pirate movies ever made. And for once theyreally are pirates and not watered down, sentimentalized versions ofthem. They're cut-throats all, a scurvy lot of thieves, superstitiousand dirty. You can just smell their stench under the hot tropic sun andlush vegetation of Skeleton Island. Oliver Reed as Billy Bones gets the movie going smartly. We first seehim with his granite visage at the head of the skiff, an old sea doghome from the sea. With his great hulk and whiskey whisper purr heexudes danger from every rum soaked pore of his being. Of course hisold shipmates, the remnants of the crew of the now dead Captain Flint,are pursuing him. Christopher Lee, almost completely unrecognizable, isBlind Pew, a spectral, skeletal figure of death, whose fury, fueled byblindness is like some great ravaging bird of prey. He is wonderful andlike Reed he creates a vivid, memorable characterization. A youngChristian Bale is the definitive Jim Hawkins. He narrates theproceedings and is at turns appealing, capable and wily. He is a boy onthe verge of young manhood who is about to have his mettle tested withthe adventure of a lifetime. There is not a trace of the Jackie Coopermawkishness about him. Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawney, JulianGlover as Dr. Livesey, and Clive Wood as Captain Smollet are allperfect in their roles. They beautifully capture the essence of quietcourage. Heroes without phony heroics, they are solid men of charactersure of themselves and quite capable of dealing with Silver and hisscurvy crew.This brings us to Charlton Heston as Long John Silver. Ultimately forany version of this work to succeed it rests on the shoulder of theactor portraying the Sea Cook. Happy to say, Heston gives one of thebest performances of his long career. Turning his stalwart, forthrightscreen persona on its head, he creates a monster that is complex,charismatic, and bloodthirsty. There is no Wallace Beery, Robert Newtonsentimentality here. This is a natural leader of men who can dazzlewith his bigger than life personality and tales of treasure, and thenext moment plunge his cutlass into the bowels of his victim withouteven missing a beat. Never has he used his toothy smile to bettereffect. It is the smile of a vicious carnivore-a shark. On a lighternote Nicholas Amer brings the right balance of levity and pathos as BenGunn, the poor maroon. He is amusing without becoming a caricature, andhis scene with Jim when describes his yearning for a piece of toastedcheese is wonderful. Both Pete Postlewaite as George Merry and MichaelHalsey as Israel Hands are perfectly nasty. Finally the music score by the Chieftains is superb. It captures byturns the lilting Celtic love of the sea, the grace and sweep of agreat sailing ship setting out for adventure and the exotic dangers ofburied treasure, pirates, flashing cutlasses, and midnight rendezvouson a far away island in the balmy tropics. Avast, me hearties, this isa film to treasure!

gfender (2012-05-07 06:44)

Very good movie for all ages and great performance by Heston

Although this was a made for TV movie, Ted Turner wanted, and got, agreat movie from an old story that has been shot on the screen manytimes. But none, in my opinion, as good as this.Charelton Heston's performance was magnificent. Had the movie beenproduced for theatrical release, I believe that Heston would havegotten nominated for yet another Academy award, as probably would havethe cinematography as well. I highly recommend this movie for a delightful evening that the wholefamily can and will enjoy. Go ahead, pop some popcorn and find out. Andfor you true Charleton Heston fans, I'd also recommend another obscuretitle, "Mother Load."

cannyelshie (2012-05-06 22:54)

I'm as silent as a grave!

Treasure Island! One of the best movies of all time. Ok, just one of myfavorites.Have watched it millions of times and don't get tired of it. My brotherworks withfishermen and tugboat fellas and they all love this movie. If theseafarin'folkslove it, well then, as a seafarin' tale goes it must be good, eh? Sort ofacult filmamongst 'em. Well, at least the sea farin' folks of Ballard and maybe itsjust thatthe damp has gotten into their brains.Speaking of Israel Hands sinking into the depths of the Carribean, tryrewindingit while it is playing to see him magically rise from the depths, do anexpert backflip and land on the crow's nest. It's really quite funny.Ok, so why the wierd "one line summary"? It is one of my favorite linesfrom themovie where Squire Trelawney (sp?) is swearing secrecy to the wholetreasureexpidition. We all know how well he kept it. But his face when he says itisquitecomical. "I'm as silent . . . as a grave!"Good job Christian Bale, you'll always be Jim Hawkins to us whether youlikeitor not. Billy Bo-nes, few can cough and die as disgustingly as you.If you like Treasure Island, watch "Yellow Beard". Sort of spoofs it in aMontyPython fashion.