Treasure Island

I read the book about 20 times a week as a kid. I saw every adaptation for the screen. Disney's was crap! Muppet was a joke. Every animated version was dumbed down. Only this one was faithful to the book. Even better, the actors were perfectly cast across the board. Each and every pirate was terrifying. Each and every good guy seemed nice enough until the fights started, at which they were badass!

This movie made me investigate the actors and I was so disappointed that they were all so wonderful in this, but they never had any better roles afterwards.

All actors were great, but the standouts were Julian Glover as Dr. Livesey, Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawney, Clive Wood as Capt. Smollet, and Nicholas Amer as Ben Gunn. Christian Bale, Charlton Heston, and Christopher Lee were fantastic and perfectly cast (surprise, surprise!)

For any kid, whether an actual kid or a kid at heart, let them watch this, rather than every other one (they are, to a one, crappy).

This is probably the closest adaptation from the novel, slightly marred by a tendency to linger over scenes inspired by iconic illustrations of NC Wyeth and others. The pacing when establishing characters is like a too-slow striptease, especially Billy Bones (Oliver Reed), Blind Pew (Christopher Lee), and John Silver (Charleton Heston). Heston's delivery, like Christian Bale's (as Jack Hawkins) is understated, which removes a little of the fun and all of the mercurial affection established by Robert Newton and Bobby Driscoll in th e1950 version. Both Bale and Heston are just a bit too cold to perform the Tango of a sonless rogue and a fatherless boy, so their path to grudging admiration plays out more like a chess game. I'd rather have Reed and Heston exchange roles, but what's done is done. Lee's vocalizations, usually so plummy, are disappointingly squeaky, a surprising choice for such a sinister role, but his physical acting superb. Julian Glover as Dr Livesey, Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawny and Clive Wood as Captain Smollet all capture their characters, though again, Glover's expressiveness is a tad subtle. The Chieftains...well, certainly there are many points in the film where the strident fiddling is extremely appropriate, but but what's missing is a few melancholy bars and some strains of sober suspense. Surely the Chieftains had a plaintive flute or something that could have done the trick. A bit of thumping drums delightfully prefigures "the Battle" music from Master & Commander, but the gunnery work in the assault on the blockhouse is unconvincing visually, especially the recoil effects and explosions. This is a film that could benefit from a little CGI tinkering, since the special pyrotechnics budget was apparently so frugal. The locations are really quite good, and the Hispaniola looks good on the outside, sometimes appearing to be actually sailing. The interior scenes are a bit too stable and a bit roomier than they should be.

Treasure Island! One of the best movies of all time. Ok, just one of my favorites. Have watched it millions of times and don't get tired of it. My brother works with fishermen and tugboat fellas and they all love this movie. If the seafarin' folks love it, well then, as a seafarin' tale goes it must be good, eh? Sort of a cult film amongst 'em. Well, at least the sea farin' folks of Ballard and maybe its just that the damp has gotten into their brains.

Speaking of Israel Hands sinking into the depths of the Carribean, try rewinding it while it is playing to see him magically rise from the depths, do an expert back flip and land on the crow's nest. It's really quite funny.

Ok, so why the wierd "one line summary"? It is one of my favorite lines from the movie where Squire Trelawney (sp?) is swearing secrecy to the whole treasure

expidition. We all know how well he kept it. But his face when he says it is quite comical. "I'm as silent . . . as a grave!"

Good job Christian Bale, you'll always be Jim Hawkins to us whether you like it or not. Billy Bo-nes, few can cough and die as disgustingly as you.

If you like Treasure Island, watch "Yellow Beard". Sort of spoofs it in a Monty Python fashion.

Most of the comments expressed so far have correctly pointed out this version as the best and, unlike someone's reference to George C Scott's Scrooge, it does actually come directly from the book and not from years of ingrained television adaptations.The reason it is so good is because it echoes correctly the strata of fear that the book is based on. As a child, Jim Hawkins is scared of everyone from the physically hideous Blind Pugh to the men of bloodthirsty reputation - Israel Hands and Blind Pugh and that fear is shown by the pirates in their reverence for Captain Flint and of course, Long John, who commands by reputation alone.In preserving this intact, the whole book and thus, the film, is believable.I know people question some of the language (incorrectly in my view as all those words were spoken by landsmen not natural sailors and were very much in use in that time - the word 'bugger' for example, appears in the diaries of Pepy's hundreds of years earlier).Its easy to say that the film draws influence from early versions but that's inevitable. The Chieftans soundtrack and a very fine cast make it far superior and much more believable. As someone said earlier, you need a proper Silver who can both turn on the charm to convince a young lad but also control a band of cutthroats and Heston achieves that superbly well. You can see clearly how easily intimidated the pirates are because they are uneducated and that's obvious from the exchanges between them and Long John. Postlethwaite is brilliant in these and totally convincing ! Finally, I think someone mentioned a continuity problem earlier.Although having run off, Jim does see a pirate killed, this is only after he has jumped off the jolly boat and run inland.The two aren't connected.He does that for devilment I think and there are other examples of his reckless behaviour elsewhere in the book. What a great story though - the triumph of the stereotypical English gentlemen over the bloodthirsty pirates.I think we all agree on here, this interpretation is spot on !

One of the great literary classics is brought to life in this wonderful made for television version. An incredible cast, headed by Charlton Heston as Long John Silver, beautiful location footage and a great soundtrack from Paddy Maloney performed by the Chieftains, makes this one of the liveliest productions ever filmed. Cleverly scripted and directed by Fraser Heston, the viewer is treated to a wonderfully faithful adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's classic adventure tale.

Christopher Lee is near unrecognizable in the ghastly make-up of Blind Pew. Add to that the most incredible voice-work and you have one of Mr. Lee's most fascinating characterizations. Although on-screen for a relatively short time, Pew is instrumental to the plot, and Mr. Lee certainly makes the most of his limited time, effectively creating one of the most frightening and memorable characters. Never before, or since, has Blind Pew been quite so well played. His interaction with the late great Oliver Reed as Billy Bones at the Benbow Inn is a wonderful moment, particularly for Hammer fans.

The cast includes a phenomenal assortment of remarkable actors. While Charlton Heston is less than perfectly cast, he does turn in a commendable performance and in no way detracts from the production. It is evident that he is enjoying his role. Young Christian Bale in an early performance is excellent and well cast, as Jim Hawkins. Isla Blair does a great job as young Jim's protective mother. Along for the ride we also have Julian Glover in a standout performance as Dr. Livesey. His confrontation with the swaggering Oliver Reed as Billy Bones is a high point in this film. Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawney and Clive Wood as Capt. Smollet round out the cast, with Nicolas Amer (whom I thought was actually Jasper Carrot) as a suitably deranged Ben Gunn. An exceptional cast, which fits together beautifully, results in my favorite version of this oft-filmed classic. While at times reminiscent of some of Hammer's adventure films, it certainly benefits from modern film technique, and rightly exceeds even the best of Hammer's pirate yarns.

Even if you are just checking this out for Christopher Lee's or Oliver Reed's performance, you'll find yourself engrossed in a wonderful family film and wondering why more classics aren't given such great treatment. Highly recommended!