Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Leofwine_draca CUTTHROAT ISLAND was a film I never got around to seeing as a kid. I suppose the idea of an American pirate film didn't really appeal and indeed this is very much like a 1990s-era precursor to PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, with the same look, the same kind of comedy, the same kind of action-packed feel. Not really my cup of tea as cinema goes; I much prefer the grittier, better-acted style of the BLACK SAILS TV series (Michael Bay's finest hour).In any case, I thought I'd catch up with CUTTHROAT ISLAND and see what I missed. The answer? Not very much. Renny Harlin has always been a hit or miss director and this is a big miss even this early on in his career (surprisingly so, given how entertaining DIE HARD 2 and CLIFFHANGER are). Geena Davis is woefully miscast in the role of a female pirate battling against an even greater foe; she looks ridiculous when attempting to do the action scenes and even outside of the action her open-mouthed style makes her look wooden and out of her depth.The only genuine performer of note is the seasoned Frank Langella as the charismatic villain, although he's too suave and good-looking to be all that hateful. He certainly shows up Matthew Modine's laughable would-be roguish good guy. Patrick Malahide is saddled with predictability, Maury Chaykin is annoying, and the reliable Stan Shaw wasted in a nothing-except-stand-around-and-look-tough part. The action is endless, endlessly cheesy, and completely fake-looking, with the stupid climax being particularly bad. Overall the film feels fake and wishy washy, and it comes as little surprise to me that this film flopped. It makes Costner's WATERWORLD look like a Oscar winner by comparison.

Mr-Fusion There's something about "Cutthroat Island" that makes it enjoyable in spite of its shortcomings (miscast Geena Davis, sometimes questionable direction, sour reputation for bankrupting its studio). Mainly, this is a pretty kickass pirate movie with good action and an unflagging sense of adventure. Most of this is due to the magnificent score - which is probably the magical ingredient that keeps this vessel afloat.Honestly, this would probably be dead in the water without Debney's score (bad puns on the house), but I enjoyed myself a lot more than expected.7/10

David Alvarez No doubt that before Johny Deep and Jack Sparrow, flooded theaters, "Cutthroad island" La Isla Cutthroat, in Spain, was the most serious attempt to resurrect the old genre of film and sword. As we all know the stakes of Carolco, was a total failure that led to the same production of emblematic films in the history of cinema as Terminator 2, Total Recall and Basic Instinct, economic collapse causing their demise. Views today, hard to believe that a film with so much budget, familiar faces and a classic story and easy to assimilate not only cause concern in most of the public. Especially if we note that the film is a simply brutal media deployment. The beautiful scenery, atmosphere of the sixteenth century, explosions, chases, battles at sea, well ..... certainly can not say that it lacks spectacular. Then, because that way the film crashed at the box office? what went wrong?.One factor, I think, is the simplicity argument. We tell the story of treasure and such, but there is no narrative depth, nor the characters, the story seems more an excuse to show the large budget that had, with dozens of chase scenes and sword fights that have a story. The funny thing is that movies now do exactly the same, but much worse than this but to have success, so perhaps this factor is not as important. I think another factor to consider is Geena Davis. Her work in the film is good and meritorious, but the problem is that the majority of the public simply does not believe in heroin, as simple as that. There was an actress that people imagine in such roles, despite their efforts to show otherwise, as would later in Lethal Memory. And finally, perhaps the most important of all, was overconfidence. Simply did not think the failure, which prevents a filmmaker always think, even though I know not to do it. Both the producer and the director Renny Harlin, began to commit excesses, they spend money on superficial things and whims of the director with his partner, as the story of the white donkey imported from Malta, where the tape was filmed in the United States, or the improvised script, which they say was written at the same rate at which it rolled. In short, squandered and squandered what they wanted, completely blind until the subsequent disaster due to open their eyes. However, despite all this, the failure of the film is justified. I think not. Come have said the film is a very entertaining adventure story which is enjoyed without problems and that does not give rise to boredom. It is possible that if instead of Mathew Modine, had put an actor with more hook at the box office, Michael Douglas, for example, could have changed anything, but it's only a guess. Keep in spoilers. spoiler Perhaps this film was destined to fail because it was released at a time when the genre of Pirates was practically dead, and the film was condemned by almost everyone for not having enough acting hook, a campaign of poor publicity and too superficial history and simple, although it is a completely repeat spectacular and entertaining film before the era of digital cinema. Moments to remember: The Morgan horse race to save his father at the beginning of the movie, just beautiful. The appearances of Frank Langella as Dog, a great villain that saves much of the film. The flight of Morgan and Shaw in Port Royal carriage, a whole sample as they were before the action scenes without the aid of computer or anything. Magistral. The naval battle, exactly what I said before, great work of Renny Harlin. Others say more, but I think I already spread too, I hope you enjoyed reading this review. Thank you.

Spikeopath Cutthroat Island is directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman. It stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin, Patrick Malahide, Stan Shaw and Rex Linn. Music is scored by John Debney and cinematography by Peter Levy.A film of many flaws, with a reputation akin to it being the devil of big budget failures, it is, however, a wonderful piece of piratical entertainment if you are prepared to see past the monetary excess. Famously cited as the film that bankrupted Caroloco Pictures, the truth is that Carolco was going under anyway, the studio had filed for bankruptcy before Cutthroat Island had even been released, the box office performance was irrelevant, it wouldn't have made a bit of difference. And while no amount of hard sell marketing could have gotten the film to make back the $98 million spent making it, it received no support from distributor MGM who were in the process of being sold, so finances for marketing were not available.Harlin's movie has all the pirate movie ingredients crammed in to the plot, though it is a standard plot that sees Davis as female pirate Morgan Adams who leads her charges on a quest to find the ultimate treasure hoard. Problem is that the map is in three parts, each part held by separate people, one of which is Morgan's vicious Uncle Dawg (Langella). The hunt and race is on, and Harlin doesn't pause for breath, he's a kid in a sweet shop armed with wads of cash, but the money, as gargantuan as it is, is there on the screen; well except for the hiring of better actors that is. Two magnificent ships were built for the production and they are magnificent, the costumes, the sets, pyrotechnics, exotic locations (Malta and Thailand standing in for 1668 Jamaica), stunning sound editing and visual thrills, all high on value and all cloaked by a tremendously robust score from Debney.Action junkies are well served here, with wild horse drawn carriage chases, sword fights aplenty, ships in side by side explosive battle, mucho perilous situations, bodies falling from heights or thrown in the sea, and we even get a comic relief simian! Who, as it turns out, is one of the best actors on show. It's hard to believe that a pirate action film such as this would not be better appreciated had it been released in the last ten years, and I say that not just because of the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but more so that the blunderbuss popcorn movie has greater support these days. There's a good portion of the movie loving faithful who just want to be entertained, where rapid thrills are a requisite, not well drawn characterisations and thespian class. Judged on those terms then Cutthroat Island is a winner for sure.Main problems are the clunky script and the three pronged miscast errors in the lead roles. Davis (erm, wife of Harlin) is full of guts, really attacking the material with gusto, but she never convinces, it always feels like a caricature and she's uncomfortable delivering key lines. She would prove herself a fine action actress a year later with The Long Kiss Goodnight (also with Harlin directing), but she's woefully out of place here. With Davis demanding more and more screen time for her character, the role of Shaw began to thin out, which was too much to bear for Michael Douglas who bowed out late in the day. In came Matthew Modine, zero chemistry with Davis, a bland acting style and as far removed from the period setting as you could get. Langella just isn't menacing as the main villain of the piece, a very good actor in the right role, but not here and some of his attempts at nastiness feel like panto season has started early.Problems for sure, but wade through some of the misconceptions and poisonous press and you will find a film desperately aiming to please you, with much on offer for the pirate movie fan to savour. 7/10