The Island (1980) User Reviews

A rum do

[son_of_cheese_messiah · 6/10 · 11 April 2011]

This film is a true oddity. In some ways it could have been a good children's film, with oddball pirates and exotic locations, but unfortunately is full of nudity and violence, particularly at its gory climax. Some truly bizarre scenes, such as the pirate who sets light to his hat during raids, a mating ritual involving some kind of mud and an otherwise naked man who carries a leather pouch in front of his genitals when he turns up on a hunt party. Intermingled among this weirdness is some intended comedy, sometimes inappropriate, such as when one pirate sniffs another's feet during a burial at sea. No doubt it is things like this which has earned the film a cult status.

But viewed as an adult film, it makes little sense. This starts early in the film when a gun shop is quite happy to sell a weapon to a 12 year old boy (are US gun laws really this slack?). Next Michael Caine decides to take his son with him on what is a potentially dangerous trip (his son wants Disneyland). Next a wacko pilot (and his pet pig) take Caine and son to Navidad where they are flagged down when trying to land (no explanation for this is given) and the plane crashes. The pilot is remarkably chipper about this. And this is merely the first 20 minutes before we meet the pirates and their peculiar ways.

This bizarreness does make the film strangely watcheable.

Rushed film adaptation of an excruciating novel bears both Pros and Cons

[TruPretender · 6/10 · 6 January 2006]

I made darn sure to read the novel first, before pursuing the film itself. A real Benchley fan, I was curious about this film, as "Jaws" and "The Deep" had both left great impressions on film, as as the novels were packed with constant suspense. Well, I ended up reading the novel "The Island" only knowing one thing about it: Pirates. The book itself is a real piece of literature. This may be a single opinion by myself, but I was in utter shock, and at the edge of my nerves while digesting a novel filled with compelling action and suspense. It was my smart decision to first read the book, that ultimately set me with a certain understanding, which could have been a real misunderstanding otherwise.

The story has a man, Blair Maynard (Michael Caine), who, upon working for a magazine, eyes a news story about mysterious disappearances in a particular area off the coast of Florida. Against the wishes of his employer, Blair finds a way to put the story to good use, and decides to investigate the nearby locations surrounding the events. He does, however, have one problem: He has custody of his son for the time being. Swamped with this incredible story, Blair has no choice but to take his son along the expedition. Maynard also uses this trip as "bonding time" with his son. After numerous events (most of which are unseen in the film) lead them to a small resort island, a fishing trip on the side turns into a nightmare beyond words as Blair and his son are taken hostage, and held captive by a community of rough, gritty pirates. Blair is then used as a tool for petty survival tactics, while his son is brainwashed by the menacing beasts.

The book is, as I said, very hard to digest, as Benchley endures us with sordid, if not explicit details. A lot of people claim to despise the film, with various reasons counting. Some say it suffers from a lack in character development, or a rushed plot, or anything else that has been stated. Truth, a lot of complaints are made with good reason. The film is seemingly rushed, as most moments concerning the exposition of the story are missing in the film. Benchley wrote the script, so I find it hard to believe that a finalized print as it was, could be the result of his script. Either the film ran much longer, and was cut drastically by imposition of the studio, OR, Benchley kept straight to the book, without explaining certain elements that should have been looked over. In the full picture of things, this film is both loathed and adored. I personally had no problem with it. Seeing as I read the book prior to watching the film, I can attest to the fact that it does, in fact, go directly by the book, except for some segment that obviously didn't work.This film also marks the rumor that Caine walked on the set, and snubbed a check. Knowing the character development, and specific thoughts on marked incidents, I could read into the reality, and depth to which all the characters are representing. I guess what I am saying, is that if we all read the book, then watched the film, it would certainly be more acceptable and entertaining a film. For all I know, the film could actually be seen much friendlier if edited the right way. There could easily be a totally different film sitting in a vault somewhere such as Richard Donners version of "Superman II". I doubt we will ever know about it, or if that is even an accurate speculation. Even so, the film is interesting enough, if just a little rushed in the opening. It eventually slows it's pace, and makes for a good action film. My final stand is that it deserves at least a good watch. You might like it.

Better seen with a yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

[billyfish · 5/10 · 4 August 2009]

30 years out, this has got to be good, dirty fun! Michael Caine plays a straight man throughout, as the modern man kidnapped by real-life pirates of the Caribbean, but he's fun to watch, in spite of how flat the rest of the characters are. I haven't read Benchley's book, but I'd like to believe that it was a bit more realistically painted than this comic-book version. David Warner is completely wasted as the pirate commander, but even so he is an interesting presence on screen. One has to believe that this is a movie worth doing again, perhaps taking it both a bit more seriously and a bit more tongue-in-cheek. The 17th-century pirate lingo was not researched carefully (of course), but that in itself would make for a compelling new version of the story.

Even with all its pitfalls, it's still a watchable movie and I found myself (guiltily) enjoying it. Not bad for a 30-year old movie. I think you'll get a lot more yo ho hos out of it if you watch it with a bottle of rum, me heartie!

Fun Rubbish...But Rubbish Nonetheless

[BaronBl00d · 7 December 2003]

Make no mistakes here. The Island, based on the novel by the same name by Peter Benchley, is far - far from being a good film. The basic premise has Michael Caine and his son, in a relationship that is strained by divorce and a workaholic father, flying to Florida to "discover" what is causing the disappearance of so many ships - in and by what is known as the "Devil's Triangle" or "Bermuda's Triangle." Soon they discover that an island not far off has housed pirates still thinking they live in the times of James I (circa early 1600's). Okay. These pirates capture Caine and son and in two days or so totally brainwash the boy to become one of them. Okay. From there things get even less plausable. The pirates do such things as take a drug ship and even out-maneuver a Coast Guard ship. Wow! The knowledge and technology of the 20th century cannot detect life on a small island just outside the coast of the United States? I really had some difficulty with the plot, but even after I was able to "accept" many of the proceedings things went from ridiculous to sublimely ridiculous. The scene on the drug trafficers boat being the zenith of this ridiculousness(or nadir of film if you prefer). After watching his companions slain and captured, one of the guys on the boat comes up and sees all the pirates and begins smiling and doing karate moves. The scene is totally out of character for the rest of the film, and one has to feel very bad for Michael Caine watching this go on. There were also other scenes which were just inappropriate. That being said, Island, as many viewers have noted, is very watchable in a this is a bad movie yet fun to watch vein. Caine does an adequate job with what he has to work with. The woman playing his pirate wife is very good, and Frank Middlemass gives a good turn as a morally bankrupt historian helping the pirates. There is a lot of violence in the film, much of it totally lacking credibility and need. The opening scene with the doctors on the boat is one such scene. The finale is also a real hoot. Thank God our Coast Guard are not this inept!

Bad. Just Awful.

[jlthornb51 · 1/10 · 23 June 2019]

When I saw this movie in the theater upon its first release, I couldn't walk out because I was frozen in horror at what was on the screen before me. Michael Caine is a superb actor but this is one of the pieces of trash he admits he made simply for the money. Terribly written to the point of ludicrousness, acted amateurishly and scenery chewingly awful, with directing that defies description. No expense was spared to create a piece of true cinema garbage historic in its dreadfulness. There are simply no words adequate to warn future viewers of the stunning catastrophe that is The Island.

The doc shud have at least provided the inbred pirates with flouride laden toothpaste.

[Fella_shibby · 7/10 · 22 April 2021]

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs.

Revisited the 115 mins version recently.

I am generous with a 7 cos of the cool n scary poster which had remained on my mind for decades.

Also it is a good action/adventure movie marred by its length n lack of tension.

The muscular arm and hand with a pirate tattoo protruding from the sea clenching a deadly pirate's knife and an island ahead is scary.

Michael Caine's character goes full Rambo mode aft discovering a deck-mounted M2 Machine Gun hidden underneath a tarp. The best part he doesn't show any mercy where even the character Manuel has to take shelter.

His character even gets raped by an island inhabitant and as viewers, we too get to see some boobs.

The Island (1980)

[TCurtis9192 · 1/10 · 5 March 2019]

Peter Benchley's "The Island" (1979) was on the whole a very well researched novel that proposed an intriguing idea through creeping mystery and balls to the wall thrills. The storytelling is just as good as "Jaws" (1974) and "The Deep" (1976) but is perhaps a little lacklustre.

Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" (1975) and Peter Yates' "The Deep" (1977) are strong films that took the most vital elements of the novels and then did their own thing. Yes they were adaptations but they work as films in their own right. The cast give sound performances which, while generally being nothing like the characters in the books both in mind and body, work in the films.

Michael Ritchie's "The Island" (1980) fails for many reasons despite a great trailer and fantastic opening scene. Benchley shouldn't have written the screenplay, full stop, because he clearly wanted to fit as much of his novel into roughly 2 hours. What that achieved was the novel on fast forward. With no time to weave the original intricate tale we see events from the novel that took up, say, 4 or five chapters, in about 20 minutes, so all depth and motivation of character is removed.

Michael Caine was perfect for the role of Blair Maynard in looks, voice and character but what was a well drawn character becomes reduced to a man walking in and out of scenes without motivation, purpose or identity. Justin, Maynard's son, was again a well drawn character who was substituted for an angry, rude, cantankerous 12 year old who constantly swears and expresses the most obnoxious facial expressions you could imagine. He was played by Jeffrey Frank and although he looked the part making him a detestable and antisocial 12 year old was a bad choice. David Warner and the other Pirates were totally devoid of life. I can only assume they had no idea how to play the characters and, perhaps, those characters weren't taken seriously enough by the filmmakers at large. Windsor's character was played perfectly by Frank Middlemass despite the changes made to his motivation. And Beth, played by Angela Punch McGregor, is another great character, perhaps the best from the novel, who is reduced to a "walk-on, walk-off" role with very little dialogue.

The sets on the titular island are disinteresting and crude, as are the costumes made for the Pirates.

All in all it's a film that you might find yourself confused by. Fast pace doesn't make interesting; it's a boring kaleidoscope of nothing and you will only understand it if you use the novel as a guide book.

I hate to review a film by comparing it to the novel it was taken from but with this there is no choice. You can't fit a thoroughly detailed novel into 109 minutes but they tried. What they should have done was do what had been done to "Jaws" and "The Deep", reduce the story to the most interesting essentials and make a good film out of it.

Terror on the High C+

[rogueisland · 7/10 · 12 November 2005]

Michael Ritchie's telling of Peter Benchley's novel "The Island" is a true study in contrasts. "The Island" stars Michael Caine as Blair Maynard, an investigative reporter from NY in Miami looking into a rash of mysterious disappearances involving pleasure craft near the Caribbean island of Navidad. While on a fishing trip with his son, they are captured by a band of buccaneers directly descended from the fearsome 17th century pirate L'Olonois. The younger Maynard (Jeffrey Frank) is adopted by the murderous clan while Blair is kept alive only long enough for him to act as stud for a widowed pirate wench. Can he escape and rescue his son before he has outlived his usefulness? The contrasts in this film are not so much with the material as with the actors involved. The set-up scenes with the fishermen and the pleasure boaters are acted with the conviction and style of an in-house furniture store commercial. The night scenes are so poorly lit that one might need Braile subtitles to follow the action and the ending is a true letdown. On the other side of the doubloon -- the film is true to Benchley's meticulous research into the habits, tactics, speech and appearance of his piratical villains and Jean David Nau and his crew are well acted by David Warner and others. The pirate colony is an interesting glimpse into how the pirates may have existed in the 1600's and the suspense building up the pirate attacks is heart felt indeed. Not a cinematic masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but for those with a thirst for adventure and an interest in pirates, this movie delivers.

Terrible Beginning of a New Year

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 1 January 2014]

In New York, the journalist Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) convinces his editor to travel to Florida to investigate the mysterious disappearance of ships in the Bermuda's Triangle area. Maynard is divorced and his ex- wife sends their son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) to stay with him while she is traveling with her boyfriend. Maynard brings Justin with him and promises to go to the Disneyland with him. However he tells Justin that they will travel to the Bermuda's Triangle but their plane crashes in an island. Maynard rents the boat of the local Dr. Brazil (Dudley Sutton) to fish barracuda with his son. But they are attacked by pirates and Maynard kills one of them in self-defense. They are captured and find that they are trapped in an island with pirates under the command of John David Nau (David Warner). Maynard is forced to be the substitute for the husband of the widow Beth (Angela Punch McGregor) and Justin is brainwashed and converted into a pirate. Now Maynard tries to find a way out from the pirate island.

"The Island" is a very bad movie with a dumb plot despite the name of Michael Caine in the credits. The plot is unreasonable and silly with shameful moments. The pirates taking the vessel of drug dealers and the Coast Guard fully equipped and modern ship are awful moments. But the drug dealer surrounded by armed pirates acting like Jackie Chan in a comedy is ridiculous. Watching "The Island" at dawn was a terrible beginning of a New Year. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "A Ilha" ("The Island")

See it!

[alex-522 · 7/10 · 21 August 2002]

This is a breath-taking caper bursting to the rafters with butchery, fun, adventure and dagger wit. If you're into art house films and intelligent discussion this movie has nothing to offer you. If on the other hand you're looking to sink into an armchair with a can of beer this is a superb caper, and a bible of idiocy. A fabulously entertaining fantasy with a horde of unforgettable hilarious scenes. Excellent!

Wild farrago which doesn't really work

[barnabyrudge · 3/10 · 16 October 2002]

The Island is an hysterical and crazily plotted piece of nonsense with a top drawer cast. It features some nasty pirate descendants living in absolute secrecy on a Bahamian island and picking off tourist yachts as they sail by. It also features a bizarrely cast Michael Caine as a New York journalist who finds out about them, only to find himself and his son imprisoned on their island. The action in the movie is surprisingly good, especially a couple of well editted sequences in which the pirates attack a coastguard cutter and Caine massacres the pirates with a machine gun. There is also a weird martial arts sequence in which a tourist aboard a yacht is attacked by the pirates and manages to fend them off with his Bruce Lee style moves, only to be slashed down by one of the buccaneers as he tires. However, other scenes are badly done, such as a totally laughable and unerotic sex scene in which Angela Punch McGregor strips off for Caine and rubs him up with some kind of mud. There's also a terrible explanatory scene in which Frank Middlemass tries to explain why the pirates have remained in secret for so long and must remain so for the good of history. All in all, The Island is pretty bad, mainly because the plot is so wacky. But it has a funny knack of sticking in your mind after you've watched it, and there are, as mentioned before, a few decent scenes which could almost have strayed in from another better movie.

A Memorable Movie

[lpersons-2 · 8/10 · 27 August 2011]

I watched this movie many, many years ago, and like all good movies it left an impression on me. I think about this movie from time to time and remember it bringing out many emotions in me, mostly fear. I would love to watch it again if I can ever find it available. I don't remember to much about it, but loved Michael Caine and felt he did an excellent job in his role. This is a modern day pirate story, that seems to be probably fairly close to reality. I did not read the book so I can't compare the two. I figure that the fact that the movie has left such an impact on me all these years later, gives the movie a positive rating. I wonder if I watched it now if I would still enjoy it?

Pirates are ALWAYS cool!

[Space_Lord · 6/10 · 16 February 2005]

This film isn't so bad as what the IMDb rating suggests! I found it rather entertaining! It has a solid story and great performance from the cast, and I usually can't stand Michael Caine!! Anyway, the film is about a tribe of inbred pirates that have avoided society for three hundred years. The problem is they are so inbred that they are no longer able to reproduce, so they abduct an investigative journalist (Caine) and his son to add new blood to their depleted gene pool. Caine's son is then brainwashed by the pirates and adapts to their plundering ways with ease. Caine gets to stick around just to make a baby with one of the buccaneer women. What's wrong with that? They'll kill him after, that's what! Modern day pirates! That's what the world needs, I tell ya!

One of the worst movies of the 80's

[Maziun · 1/10 · 23 February 2014]

*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS I often wonder why a good actor sometimes ends in complete crap ? Do they don't understand the screenplay they are reading or was the money so good ? Either way , somehow Michael Caine ("Get Carter") appears in "The Island" – a movie which deserves to be among movies like "Howard the Duck" as one of the worst movies from 80's. It's so bad that head hurts. I can appreciate a movie "so bad , it's good" , but this is not one of those movies.

The movie left me completely confused what I was watching. It starts like a horror , then it turns into family comedy about father and son getting to know each other and then it becomes… an adventure drama ? I don't want to spoil "fun" for other viewers. You should see it for yourself. I honestly don't know for who the movie is aimed for. It's too cheesy , dumb and boring for adults , while it's too serious and done in bad taste for children. Was it supposed to be horror or family entertainment ? I don't know.

The are many WTF moments here. Why a woman has her whole face covered in mud for no good reason ? Why there is a happy music (composed by Ennio Morricone (!)) while villains are brutally killing innocent people ? Why the son of main hero becomes really bad , then good again without any psychological believability ? There are many moments that were supposed to be dark yet ended unintentionally laughable (the rape) and there are plenty of moments of disturbing violence ( the medusa scene , the carnage at the ship).

Even Michael Caine is odd in this movie. First he acts like a total nerd , but then he transforms into brooding avenger. It doesn't exactly makes sense , but who could blame him when you're watching this one big mess.

I've did my best to forget about this nightmare. It's definitely awful movie in an interesting way , but you shouldn't waste your mental health to see it. I give it 1/10.

Shiver Me Timbers!!!!!

[G-Man-25 · 17 April 2000]

This movie should have done better at the boxoffice. Not too many people know about it, but it's an intriguing modern-day pirate tale with plenty of surprises and it's spiked with a healthy dose of black humor. Michael Caine plays a journalist assigned to investigate some mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle and decides that the trip would be a perfect vacation opportunity for him and his son to reconnect after being somewhat estranged due to divorce. They soon run afoul of a roving band of modern-day pirates who kidnap them and try to turn the son against father via brainwashing. Will Caine and his son escape the clutches of these scurvy scalawags? Finding out will be all the fun!

To go on would definitely spoil some of the many surprises, but be ready for plenty of amusing action, sharp humor and some hair-raising violence (including a finale that would make Sam Peckinpah DAMN proud!) A very entertaining adventure that deserves to be re-discovered. ***stars

Daft And Violent Action Adventure

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 11 April 2011]

Films featuring pirates didn't do well at the box office until the franchise starring Johnny Depp came along and THE ISLAND is no exception . It' s a film obviously produced because it had the name Peter Benchley attached to it , a writer whose name will forver be associated with JAWS . What possibly didn't appear so obvious at the time is that Benchley's career owes more to Steven Spielberg than it does to his own attempts to the world of litreature . His books all revolve around a danger from the sea whether it be a shark , a squid , a Nazi experiment gone wrong , sunken boats filled with opuim or in this case a colony of pirates

As premises go it's a totally ridulous idea that makes no sense . A British journalist is hired by a New York magazine to get to the bottom of the Bermuda triangle mystery . It's important that he's British because if there's a star used to sell the film no matter how bad it is then that can only mean one man nd that man is Michael Caine and like Sean Connery Caine is only capable of doing one accent

Caine admittedly isn't too bad in this . Okay he' wasn't an Oscar contender but he does treat the bizarre proceedings with a dead pan seriousness and his bitchy dialogue sounds more amusing the more serious he treats it . Interesting too that all the pirates are played by Brits though unlike Caine decide they're playing everything for laughs . You can't blame them because you know Caine would be starring in another dreadful film with a big pay cheque very soon where as the likes of , Middlemass , Sutton , Henderson and Jeavons have only got television to fall back on

One noticeable thing about THE ISLAND is that it contains a rather unsavoury subtext - that it's better to have a gun if you're being menaced by sword wielding maniacs .Caine's character states early on that " Guns don't kill people - people kill people " . In fact the main story proper is set up when Cine shoots one of the pirates which perhaps effectively saves him from being killed out of hand . Likewise various supporting characters with firearms are killed due to the fact that they can't get to their weapons in time and the plot is brought to a contrived ending where the villains just happen to be conveniently gathered in a line of fire

That said THE ISLAND is one of these movies that can be described as a guilty pleasure . It's absolute rubbish devoid of any sort of internal logic and is somewhat mean and nasty as well as being rather daft . Perhaps the reason it is so daft works in its favour ?

"A bunch of ars*holes playing Long John fu*king Silver." I liked it more than I should have.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 9 August 2007]

The Island starts as English magazine reporter Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) convinces his editor to let him go to Florida to investigate the Bermuda Triangle area where 600 ships & boats have vanished in the past 3 years alone, he agrees & together with his 12 year old son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) Blair drives down there. While flying out to one of the 100's of remote Caribbean islands the plane crashes & Blair & Justin are stuck, to pass the time they decide to go fishing but are captured by modern day pirates who are descendants from 17th Century buccaneer's who lived on an isolated island & attack & loot any unsuspecting ships or boats that stray too near. Blair is taken & held prisoner while his son Justin is being groomed to become one of them & add fresh genes to the inbred pirates who are having trouble breeding, Blair isn't keen on the idea though & desperately tries to find a way to escape the island...

Directed by Michael Ritchie I rather liked this overblown horror action flick even though I probably shouldn't have. The script by Peter Benchley was based upon his own novel of the same name, after the enormous success of Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) producers David Brown & Richard D. Zanuck decided that another Peter Benchley sea-bound adventure would be a good idea even after The Deep (1977) which was also based on a watery Peter Benchley novel didn't exactly set the box-office on fire so they turned their attentions to his 1979 novel The Island which flopped at the box-office. I must admit I rather liked this fun & sometime rather gory action adventure, I like the story which is pretty cool, the character's are pretty good apart from the kid but luckily he isn't in it much, I especially liked Michael Caines dry British humour like the line in my summary or when he turns to his son Justin & says 'Don't forget to tell your mom you went to Disney World'! It moves along at a nice pace, it certainly never bored me & has some agreeably violent scenes in it. One thing I didn't like though was the annoying hard to understand at times broken English spoken by the pirates, while giving them their own language probably seemed like a good idea & in theory it was it doesn't quite work on screen as a lot of what they say seem to make little sense.

Director Ritchie does OK but I'd have liked to have seen a bit more style here, this had a pretty big budget by 1980 standards & while the costumes, the location filming & cast are very good it's a struggle to see where all those millions of dollars went. While nowhere near as tension filled or as scary as Jaws The Island has some surprisingly gory set pieces including slit throats, axes in peoples heads, slashed stomachs, peoples throats cut with razor wire, stabbings, torture & a fantastic ending where Michael Caine uses a huge deck mounted machine gun to blow all the pirates away in an incredibly satisfying scene! If your tired of the 'family friendly' Pirates of the Caribbean (2003 - 2007) series & want something which is a little more representative of how pirates actually acted then The Island makes a refreshing change with it's cold blooded brutality.

With a supposed budget of about $20,000,000 The Island had a big budget back then & I have to say it's hard to see where the money went, it's well made but that's the least one would expect. It was shot in Antigua & Miami which make for pleasant enough locations. There's a good cast here, Caine is pretty good & makes for a likable hero, David Warner makes for a suitably unlikable bad guy.

The Island is a throughly enjoyable horror action adventure film, it has pirates, it has gore, it has Sir Michael Caine & it's a lot of fun if your in the right mood, what more do you want? Not to be confused with Michael Bay's mega budget sci-fi action flick The Island (2005).

What were they thinking?

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 24 April 2011]

Michael Caine has made a lot of dross during his lengthy career, but THE ISLAND has to tie with JAWS: THE REVENGE as his biggest turkey. This adaptation of the Peter Benchley novel sees Caine playing an investigative journalist who goes off to track down some missing yachts in the Caribbean. Eventually he discovers that modern-day pirates are the culprits.

Admittedly, the film starts off on a decent enough footing. Things kick off with massacre featuring some outrageous gore effects (the axe-in-the-head is an unforgettable cheesy moment). The stuff showing Caine travelling to the island had me intrigued. Once the pirates are fully introduced, it falls apart completely, and for the rest of the film we're stuck with a sorry rabble of overactors and a script that forgets to be suspenseful or interesting in any way. For an hour we watch repetitive situations over and over again until things pick up for the brief, OTT climax which might well have inspired Stallone's recent RAMBO.

Caine tries to bury his head in the sand throughout and who can blame him? He must have known this was a sorry state of affairs during production. David Warner shows up in his most miscast role ever, while villain duties are mainly lent by LOVEJOY's lovable Tinker, Dudley Sutton! Zakes Mokae is the only one who comes out of this with any credit and that's because he bags what is essentially a cameo role. If the film had kept the same level of bloodshed as we saw in that cheesy opening it might have been a so-bad-it's-good piece of filmmaking; as it stands it's just so-bad-it's-bad.

Peter Benchley's follow up to "Jaws"

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 26 April 2004]

Benchley wrote "The Island" after "Jaws" the movie and book were huge hits. It came out in winter 1979. I remember reading it and not being too impressed. It was not a "monster" book like "Jaws". It was about a band of modern day pirates attacking ships, killing the crew, looting the vessels and sinking them...and no one ever can figure out what's happening (even though it's been happening for a few HUNDRED YEARS!!!). The plot is just silly to begin with. Still Universal thought this could be another "Jaws". Benchley wrote the script, they got young hot director Michael Ritchie to direct and poured tons of money into it. They also got respected actors like Michael Caine and David Warner to star in it. What came out was a HUGE bomb. I sort of liked it, but it's easy to see why it was a disaster.

Newsman Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) and his son 12 year old Justin (Jeffrey Frank) are kidnapped by the pirates who are holed up in a deserted island. Justin is tortured and brainwashed into rejecting his father and Blair is likewise tortured and "kept" by a pirate woman (Angela Punch McGregor) to mate. Blair tries to escape...but how?

For starters, torturing a 12 year old is not fun to see. In the movie they brainwash him so much he actually kills an unarmed man dead---in the book, he didn't. Also there are many scenes, played for laughs, of him fooling around with a real gun. Also the film opens with some of the WORST fake graphic gore I've ever seen in a major motion picture. You see an ax get embedded in what is (obviously) a fake head and an equally fake arm cut off. It's supposed to be horrifying but it's so ineptly done it's a riot. Then there's the character of Dr. Windsor (Frank Middlesmass)--what a hoot! His dialogue is pure stream of consciousness and his acting is lousy. Then there's the attacks of the pirates on the ships--they're accompanied with a rousing score while rubbing graphic gore in your face. Is this supposed to be funny..or ironic...or WHAT????

DEFINITE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! I also found it more than ridiculous that a whole Coast Guard boat was taken over by the pirates AND that Caine machine guns all the pirates to death to get his kid back! His kid sees this all BTW. Any 12 year old would be seriously mentally disturbed after viewing all this. END SPOILERS!!!

Still, on a non-think level it IS kind of fun. The acting is lousy (even Caine and Warner are bad) and the script goes all over the place. But the gore is plentiful and there's some truly beautiful scenery here. So, not a good movie, but it shouldn't be forgotten. I'm giving it a 7.

Poor. As in bottom of the dung-heap poor.

[jnoblewright · 1/10 · 9 February 2007]

How does any script this absurdly construed actually get produced, let alone released to the theatres? Really, I want to know. I suppose c. 1980 Peter Benchley's name was enough to attract the funds. But some at point during the production an actor like Michael Caine should have realized that any honest, considered effort he put into this movie would be totally upstaged the tragic circus that is "The Island".

Watching this movie is like reliving a terrible, terrible dream. Maybe one day I will be able to vanquish the mental image of Michael Caine pumping rounds through a .50 cal machine gun at scores of pirates (yes, pirates) dressed in discount bondage gear... Thanks to digital cable I didn't pay for it, which is good. But someone did.

Arrrrr, matey! The book was so much better.

[TOMASBBloodhound · 6/10 · 26 June 2017]

By all means, read Peter Benchley's novel. It's a shame what he had to do to his story in order to get it filmed into this odd Michael Caine swashbuckler. Caine (terribly miscast, but still entertaining) plays an investigative journalist who travels with his son to the Bermuda Triangle in hopes to figure out why so many yachts have been vanishing in the region. They aren't there long before the two of them are taken prisoner by a colony of pirates who have been undiscovered for centuries! Yes! They are descendants of Long John Silver or Jack Sparrow, even. They have some modern weapons, but anything new they have is just what they've stolen from local pleasure craft. The mysteries behind how they've remained undetected by the authorities for so many years are not explained by the film, nor is the structure of it consistent in any way. There are some memorable scenes, and some decent action (the finale is a terrific burst of rage and mass-murder), but it looks like the editing room ruined what could have been a better movie. Bits of plot and possibly helpful exposition seem to be missing. Caine's relationship with a female pirate is much more detailed in the book. She is allowed to keep him alive until he can impregnate her with a healthy baby. Caine actually killed her husband while the pirates were taking he and his son hostage. Caine's boy is taken under pirate leader David Warner's wing and groomed to be an eventual leader, himself. So many of these details are not thoroughly explored by this script. Benchley likely had to grin and bear it and hopefully cashed a nice check. There are some performances that elicit chuckles, and some scenes do, as well. But this film is awfully gory at times, and that seems to offset any humorous tone that so many good action films sustain. There is one particularly ludicrous scene in which one victim on a yacht the pirates have just taken uses some odd kung fu moves to hold them at bay before being gutted. The finale takes place aboard a Coast Guard ship which ventures too close to their dreaded island colony. And yes, these pirates have what it takes to take an entire coast guard ship, killing the crew, but then a few moments later are wiped out by only Caine! Its a fun scene, impossible though it may be. Youtube has it. Just type in Michael Caine the Island 1980 and you can see him mow these scuzzy guys down. Even though logistically it does not appear likely that a .50 cal machine gun mounted in that position could hit anyone on the deck immediately below it! Overall, the Island coulda and shoulda Been done better. Michael Ritchie had much better films that this. I love Michael Caine and David Warner though so I'll be generous and give it 6 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

Has Michael Caine Lost his Mind?

[inspectors71 · 2/10 · 17 May 2016]

That's what I was thinking when I saw The Island on HBO 35 years ago. I have almost no memory of this thing except for a bunch of Coasties or pirates getting mowed down by a .30 caliber machine gun. My clearest memory is wondering how Michael Ritchie and Caine and Peter Benchley could produce something this bad.

Well, that's easy enough.

Benchley was an awful novelist. Michael Ritchie did some great work--The Candidate and The Bad News Bears come to mind. Prime Cut is a disgusting piece of dreck that I love to watch for its very yuckiness. He did a number of fairly good movies, too, but my impression of Ritchie is one of journeyman skill.

Why he did this thing makes no sense. Why Michael Caine, a force of nature, has done so many crappy movies along with the good ones makes dollar sense only.

If you happen upon The Island on TV--or on the bottom left of the movie section of the library--my suggestion is to watch it if your time is of absolutely no value.

"The Island" is an underrated film from "Jaws" writer Benchley Benchley

[ersinkdotcom · 8/10 · 29 December 2012]

It is hard to believe "The Island" did not do well when it came out three decades ago. You would think that audiences would have clamored to see it after the huge successes of "Jaws" and "The Deep," which was author Peter Benchley's other big screen adaptations.

Investigative reporter Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) heads to the Caribbean with his son (Jeff Frank) to solve the mystery of disappearing boats, their crews, and passengers. He is obsessed with debunking the myths surrounding what many call "the Bermuda Triangle." During his search for the truth, Blair and his son are apprehended by marauding pirates. They take the two to their island where they are still living life as centuries-old buccaneers. Blair must find a way to escape the island and save his brainwashed son from the pirates and their leader (David Warner).

I imagine the movie version of "The Island" can be trusted as what Peter Benchley wanted viewers to see since he wrote the screenplay. The film moves along at a nice pace and establishes its characters strongly. It does a good job of building up to its climax even if the ending does feel abrupt.

Director Michael Ritchie did a great job capturing the beautiful locations used to make the film. Everything from the tattered clothing of the pirates to the natural settings evokes a sense of authenticity. His knack for timing shines through in particular scenes with suspenseful build-ups. Richard A. Harris's editing gives viewers just enough of shockingly brutal scenes to induce a queasy feeling in the stomach of viewers who aren't regular watchers of gory genre films.

Michael Caine does his usual wonderful job portraying Blair Maynard. He keeps Maynard balancing desperately between calm and frenzy as he sees how the pirates live and what they plan to do to his son. Jeff Frank is convincing in his role of Caine's son, Justin Maynard. He might possibly have the toughest role in the film. He has to convince the audience he is a true convert and has become a buccaneer. David Warner is perfect as the reserved-yet-volatile leader of the pirates.

"The Island" is an unnerving suspense thriller which holds just enough violence and gore to please horror and slasher fans. I recommend it for viewers who enjoyed "The Wicker Tree" and Benchley's "The Deep." Although it is not perfect, this is a film that deserves more recognition than it received in its initial release.

This is an excellent film with lots of action and suspense. I have not seen it done before or since, if you are a fan of Michael Caine this one is a must!

[Scorch149 · 7/10 · 29 August 2006]

This is an excellent movie before the days of CG characters when actors really could act. If you like pirates and drama and are a fan of M. Caine then this film is a must! A tale of intrigue and history that spans into modern times. I have not seen this done before or since and I hoped the new film of the same name would pick up where this left off or be a re-make but alas it was not to be. In this version a man and his son take a boat ride and end up meeting the modern versions of Blackbeard! The story continues as they try to escape and the pirates do what they are known for! Its realistic and believable. In short a good film with action and suspense. I love the ending! Be careful next time you are out boating!

What could had been a great adventure

[martin_humble · 3/10 · 3 August 2001]

In this 1980 adventure we follow Michael Caine as reporter Blair Maynard searching for the answer of the missing boats in the Bermuda triangle. With him he has his son, Justin, who he plans to take to Disneyworld. Blair has to get on with his work before he can spend time with his son, what was planned to be a day trip to an Island is the beginning of the adventure. A plain carrying Blair and his son crash-lands on an island and they are forced to stay a couple of days. One day they rent a boat and goes on a fishingtrip but gets kidnaped by pirates who have survived from the 1600 century.

This could have been a a great adventure for children but the movie is trying to reach out for adults´. We see closeups of killings and massacres. Michael Caine acts somewhat reserved and the film does not get out of bad manuscript, acting and direction. Only recommended for adults with a sense of humour and the child within.