Freibeuter des Todes

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

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.

Journalist and son investigate mysterious boat disappearances in Caribbean and end up victims themselves, kidnapped by pirates, real pirates, who still cling to the traditions of the buccaneer past. Funny how I've developed nostalgia for the bad films of the 70s and will more readily sit through them then 90% of the junk that's released today. As far as being quality effort movie making wise, this really isn't so bad. The story is unique and interesting, far-fetched yes. Most of the plot turns are equally nonsensical, but the acting and direction is first rate. The violence is heavy handed, and it really bugged me as a kid. But I think viewing it now; it well captures the true brutality of the pirate mentality. The one thing that really sinks the film is the kid. He's terrible and terribly annoying. They overdub his voice, like they seemed to do with kids quite often back then, and it's a total distraction. Also his characters transformation and brainwashing, never sits right with you. You are not ready to forgive him in the end as intended. Good weird sex, and some terrific action sequences however, make this movie worth a look and not nearly as awful as critics paint it.

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!

I wasn't sure what to expect with THE ISLAND. One critic thought it was smelly fish chum and another thought it was a great modern-day pirate story. I originally thought it was a sea creature story like Jaws.

I was thrilled to watch it this morning and discover that it is that rare breed of a film: so much is wrong like bad dialog & unlikely situations, bad acting from every single extra in the film (casting call at the community college everybody!!), kid turns WAY too quickly against dad but dad is probably the most incompetent dad you'll see (hey, this is much better than Disneyland...hired the worst pilot on the face of the planet because you're too cheap to pay for a boat and now held captive in a 3rd world nation. Thanks dad!), cheezy violence, that music that plays during the violent ship attacks would work for Errol Flynn but not here.

But it's films of this badness that can be more fun than so-called great films. Especially the first time you watch them. I'm the type that seeks out films like Bad Taste, Hysterical, Evil Dead and The Island because they go against the copycat stream of Hollywood films.

NOTE: I would've spanked that kid within an inch of his life and I don't even believe in physical punishment of children. I think we all agree here! LOL