IslandGuru Who payed the critics

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

moonspinner55 Unemployed pilot must pay 5 G's in 24 hours to his bookmaker or else his goons will work him over; he reluctantly accepts a job flying a feisty missionary and her farm animals to an island in the South Pacific in a rickety B-29 bomber, but the plan goes awry. First, the couple is joined by two stowaway orphans who are worried about the animals, then the plane goes off-course and the pilot is forced to crash land the aircraft on the beach of an uncharted island--inhabited by two Japanese soldiers who are unaware that WWII is over. In the first half of the 1970s, Elliott Gould made film after film, mostly counterculture comedies which established him as an anti-hero; he appealed to the young people of the era who hoped to shout down the Establishment. By 1980, Gould had become part of the Establishment, a working stiff in Hollywood, and the industry's middle ground (Disney) was eager to turn him into a grouchy sweetie-puss, a Bogart father-figure for marriage-minded women and wet-eyed youngsters. Gould doesn't embarrass himself here--he's firm with both the kids and the missionary (a forthright but not stubborn Genevieve Bujold)--but he's coasting, his energy at half-mast. The film, adapted from Ernest K. Gann's story "The Gremlin's Castle", has elements of "Swiss Family Robinson", "The African Queen" and even (God help us) "Jaws", but director Charles Jarrott blessedly keeps it moving instead of stopping to preach. There are things Jarrott probably had no control over, such as the kids fussing and crying over the animals or Maurice Jarre's cloying music, which tugs at the tear ducts. It doesn't quite work, but there are compensations. Gould and Bujold manage to develop a faintly-warm rapport, and Charles F. Wheeler's cinematography is excellent. The island location is lovely, and the Japanese men (John Fujioka and Yuki Shimoda) are handled with respect. As for the bookmaker, we are to assume he got his money, and also that the seasick bull made a speedy recovery. This is Disney, after all. **1/2 from ****

cairn6 Noah Dugan is an unemployed pilot who's in a big jam. Deep in debt and on the run from bookies due to his betting on the horses, he now finds himself having to choose between being physically harmed by mob strong arms or taking a job at a friend's fly by night cargo airline flying a young missionary and a load of farm animals aboard a beat up old B-29 Superfortress to an island in the South Pacific. Against his better judgment, he straps himself into the pilot's seat and takes off. But also aboard are two young stowaways who can't bear to see their animal pets go away, and Noah's not counting on a defective auto-pilot and a compass giving a false direction due to a tape player messing with the magnets. Needless to say, they end up far off course and with the plane's four engines cutting out one by one, they manage to crash land on a small island somewhere in the middle of nowhere. But they are not alone there. Two Japanese soldiers who have been stuck there since WWII initially attack the new visitors thinking the war is still on...but after some introductions, things smooth over and they put their heads together and build a boat out of the downed aircraft. At sea they encounter storms, sharks, and the quest to find land...doing so by sending a duck out to sea with a help note attached. A happy ending is the result with all. A decent Disney film if one can get past the obvious factual errors. A B-29 could never be flown with just one pilot...the control layout requires several crew members. But the story is fun, and the scenery is great....and aviation buffs can take in a wonderful opening credit sequence of a B-29 soaring majestically over a modern day San Francisco Bay.

The Peacemaker I remember it being very good. Christians won't be offended. A missionary brings a man to Christ, and they do not make Christians appear to be idiots. A good adventure movie, with a tinge of action and adventure, though not violent.

waldorfsalad In fact, it wasn't Bette Midler who first brought new blood into the heavy-handed 7O's and 80's Disney productions. It was people like Elliott Gould who originally provided the shot in the arm that Disney needed. In this movie he lends his wise-cracking, go-to-hell character to the role of Noah Dugan and it's a joy to watch! The whole cast is great, and the whole movie is a delight from start to finish.