fantasyislander65

This is the first pilot film for the television series, and it's often praised by critics (who all seem to love the dark side exhibited by Mr. Roarke in this introductory outing) for its emphasis on the less-than-happy execution and ending. The fantasies looked harmless enough on the surface: a World War II veteran wanted to revisit the interlude he had with a young American woman in London; a rich woman wanted to attend her own funeral, to find out who truly cared about her and who didn't; and a hunter wanted for once to become the hunted. But each story had a twist...did the hapless WWII vet really kill that poor girl in the middle of a bombing raid? Could the rich woman put even the least trust in her relatives, who had good reason to hate her for her overbearing control of the family company? What was the true reason the hunter wanted to be the one under the gun? Roarke teased and taunted sometimes, but when things got down to the wire, he revealed a caring side after all. His midget assistant, Tattoo, looked on with a mysterious gleam in his eye and the barest ghost of a smile, keeping his own counsel. When these two brought your fantasy to life, that was it: you were stuck, and you had to see it through to the bitter end. The concept clicked so well with the TV-viewing public that another pilot movie was filmed, and that led to the weekly series, which went on to run for seven seasons.

If you're familiar with "Fantasy Island" only through the series and think it's just too saccharine, give this movie a whirl (it's available on the first-season DVD of the show). You just might change your mind. (Besides, what's wrong with happy endings? We need more of them in this world!)

Wow, does this one ever bring back some memories. When this was running in prime time all those years back, I was a klutzy, hyper-shy, buck-toothed eleven-year-old with glasses and a boy's haircut, and felt like the original Ugly Duckling. C&T were my favorite musical artists, and I was the world's most rabid fan, which undoubtedly both amused and annoyed my parents by turns. My father had the amazing prescience to suggest, about six weeks into the series' run, that I put the episodes on audio cassette. I immediately agreed, and I have all but about six of the shows on tape as they originally aired. The tapes can still be played.

In regard to the questions from "Otto", most of the shows that made it to the DVD were edited in one way or another (only one or two made it through intact and untouched). But the editing, for the most part, is to the benefit of the DVD. I was in the unusual position of being able to compare my old cassette tapes with the same shows on the DVD, so that I know exactly what's been cut, or what was taken from episodes that didn't make it onto the DVD and spliced into other ones that did. It was the most amazing treat to be able to see the shows again; I had forgotten nearly all the visuals, so that all the songs and dialogue were very familiar but the sights that went with them were practically new to me. There are a couple of bits that got chopped out here and there, which I wish had been left in, but overall this was very good work and is a creditable treatment of the series. Us 70s kids were so much luckier than people think -- I'm glad I remember those days!