Treasure Island (1990)
Young Jim Hawkins, while running the Benbow Inn with his mother, meets Captain Billy Bones, who dies at the inn while it is beseiged by buccaneers led by Blind Pew. Jim and his mother fight off the attackers and discover Billy Bones' treasure map for which the buccaneers had come. Jim agrees to sail on the S.S. Espaniola with Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey to find the treasure on a mysterious isiand. Upon arriving at the island, ship's cook and scaliwag Long John Silver leads a mutiny of crew members who want the treasure for themselves. Jim helps the Squire and Espaniola officers to survive the mutiny and fight back against Silver's men, who have taken over the Espaniola.
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Great visuals, story delivers no surprises
Best movie of this year hands down!
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Fraser Clarke Heston directed his father Charlton Heston, who plays pirate Long John Silver. Christian Bale plays Jim Hawkins, who runs a coastal Inn with his mother, and encounters drunken pirate Billy Bones(played by Oliver Reed) who lets slip that he has a treasure map from Captain Flint's ship. The Inn is attacked by pirate Blind Pew(Christopher Lee, quite menacing) who also wants the map, but is forced back by the authorities, led by Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesy, who, along with Jim, take to the high seas in pursuit of the treasure, with Long John Silver also aboard, and planning mutiny...Among the best remakes in cinema history, with an outstanding script that brings Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel to vivid life, along with a sterling cast and lush production that is high adventure of the first order.A classic!
Most of the comments expressed so far have correctly pointed out this version as the best and, unlike someone's reference to George C Scott's Scrooge, it does actually come directly from the book and not from years of ingrained television adaptations.The reason it is so good is because it echoes correctly the strata of fear that the book is based on. As a child, Jim Hawkins is scared of everyone from the physically hideous Blind Pugh to the men of bloodthirsty reputation - Israel Hands and Blind Pugh and that fear is shown by the pirates in their reverence for Captain Flint and of course, Long John, who commands by reputation alone.In preserving this intact, the whole book and thus, the film, is believable.I know people question some of the language (incorrectly in my view as all those words were spoken by landsmen not natural sailors and were very much in use in that time - the word 'bugger' for example, appears in the diaries of Pepy's hundreds of years earlier).Its easy to say that the film draws influence from early versions but that's inevitable. The Chieftans soundtrack and a very fine cast make it far superior and much more believable. As someone said earlier, you need a proper Silver who can both turn on the charm to convince a young lad but also control a band of cutthroats and Heston achieves that superbly well. You can see clearly how easily intimidated the pirates are because they are uneducated and that's obvious from the exchanges between them and Long John. Postlethwaite is brilliant in these and totally convincing ! Finally, I think someone mentioned a continuity problem earlier.Although having run off, Jim does see a pirate killed, this is only after he has jumped off the jolly boat and run inland.The two aren't connected.He does that for devilment I think and there are other examples of his reckless behaviour elsewhere in the book. What a great story though - the triumph of the stereotypical English gentlemen over the bloodthirsty pirates.I think we all agree on here, this interpretation is spot on !
In my opinion, this movie is the best film rendition of Treasure Island to date. I must however preface that comment with the fact that I was eight years old when it came out and still watch it today from time to time. I fell in love with this film at a young age, without the wisdom to realize that this movie stands the test of time as a rich and well crafted rendition.The story is of course of the famous the R.L Stevenson book and uses a somewhat older Jim Hawkins played by a young Christain Bale. Charlton Heston seems born for the role of Captain Hook and a host of other famous actors play great characters as well. Everything is tied in together with excellent scenery and a wonderful soundtrack by the Chieftans in the flavor of Irish folk music.I watched the movie again at the age of 18, having been exposed to a wide array of films and upon seeing this again, I couldn't believe how much I still loved the film. When remakes are done of films, it's sometimes the first rendition one sees that sticks as the 'prototypical' version to which all others are compared. This film is such for me, that I cannot see another version of the story and find anything of value in it. Call it stubborness or simply childhood attachment, but one must see this movie to understand. Don't listen to the rants and raves of a grown up eight year old, rent it yourself and make your own decision.
More superlatives from me are not necessary. I will only say that I agree with the other commenters who consider this the best version of Treasure Island made so far. What would make a difference is for it to be released on DVD. If you would like to see this version of Treasure Island 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 Google search for Turner Classic Movies, then search on the site for Treasure Island (1990). Maybe if enough people vote for it, it will actually be released on DVD. It can't hurt.