Cutthroat Island [1995] [US Import]

If you Google Cutthroat Island, what you'll see is an endless list of NPC's stating that the film is one of the biggest mistakes in cinema history. The film was a tremendous flop back in the day and according to people, this makes it a terrible film. The truth is, this is a fast paced pirate flick that at times can easily rival the best of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.Yeah, I said it. As much as I love the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, I'd rather watch this movie than see another Jack Sparrow movie. The first movie in that series is very similar to this. It's a group of pirates seeking directions to a magnificent treasure hunt. We have two unlikely people teaming up together to achieve this goal whilst being pursued by an evil bad guy. It may not be the most original plots but it's very clearly a homage to the classic swashbuckling films of Errol Flynn's heyday and delivers just that.The film includes a large amount of practical effects, stunts, beautiful sea shots and some impressive pyrotechnics. All of which should definitely be the selling point of the film. It's no secret that the acting is quite wooden in places. But the positives I mentioned above is what carries the film. Every time the film moves from one impressive set piece to another (most of which are real places and quite beautiful), we are greeted with some high energy sword fights, horse chases, explosions etc and they're done VERY well. You can clearly see where the films large budget went, with no penny left over. There's a lot of love put into the visual effects and they still look tremendous.The German Bluray that I bought looks fantastic. The picture is sharp and very clear. The colour is also quite striking, making the extremely colourful outfits and blue seas just burst out of the screen. It's a fantastic looking movie and high definition makes it look even more so. The disc itself is easy to work out, despite being in German. The language setting is easily accessible and it works in a UK Bluray player just fine (just in case you're wondering). The sound is absolutely incredible. The film's score is extremely well done and sounds extremely bombastic through a home theatre. The special effects for the gun fights, ship battles etc are just as impressive. I haven't been THIS immersed in a film of it's type and that is saying something.If you're like me and enjoy a good pirate film, this is well worth having. It's reputation suggests is a truly god awful film and so do certain reviews here. But quite frankly, I would pay good money to see a film like this in 2022. Disney couldn't touch this film now. I couldn't recommend it more, especially if you like your televisions large and your surround systems loud. A great cinematic experience.

In this 1995 pirate adventure, Morgan [Geena Davis], a notorious female pirate, gains possession of part of a three part treasure map, but can she get the other two pieces before her evil uncle and who will win the race to claim the treasure as their own?Implausible some scenes may be, but it is a fantasy adventure, just think ‘Indiana Jones’ meets ‘Master and Commander’ or ‘Pirates of the Carribean’. The costumes and sets are top notch and the acting is good. Gina Davis is perfect as pirate Captain, Morgan, the heroine of the story. Some of the dialogue may be corny and cliché, but the humour is mainly tongue in cheek and it’s meant to be and all part of the fun.The single disc opens to a main menu offering play, scene selection, special features [trailer, making of, interviews, behind the scenes and storyboards], set up [English 5.1, directors commentary, English subtitles on/off] and resume movie.Full of action from beginning to end, and without any sex, nudity or harsh swearing, and with a dry wit throughout, this has to be a sound ***** recommendation for all the family although with scenes of action violence, parental discretion is advised.

This is a great swashbuckling adventure film that is not to be treated seriously as it is in the old style Errol Flynn pirate genre.Yes there are holes in the plot but what you get overall is over 2 hours of escapism and great entertainment perfectly cast!I first saw this many years ago and enjoyed it then only to find out that it had been hammered by the critics unfairly in my estimation I had to look twice to see that they were talking about the same film.So grab some popcorn sit back and enjoy!

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