Rescue from Gilligan's Island

When I heard that this reunion movie was going to be made, I really looked forward to it. However, once you get past the reunion of the characters and the looking at how they changed (gee, Ginger looks and sounds different) you get just a routine chase movie where a couple of Soviet spies chase Gilligan to get a back a computer disc that came off of one of their satelites. This film might have been a great piece of nostalgia, but it comes up a little short once you get reacquainted with the funniest group of castaways ever.

The original show was a gem as its stories were designed so that the seven characters "bounced off" one another in a way that highlighted their stereotype, cartoonish natures. The show was pure escapism - and it worked!

It was a gem of comedy.

With their removal from the island and separation from each other, the characters' took on a dull, blah realism as they had to interact with other characters and situations germane to their respective "real" environments. They no longer were funny. The magic of the series was missing due to this, and the show seemed more a weak drama with shallow, predictable plots and a few strained comedic interludes.

While it initially was nice to see the characters again, I prefer to remember them as they originally were intended to be.

To all the Gilligan's Island Fans out there this is a must see if the 3 seasons of the original t.v. series wasn't enough. This movie however is also a let down after such an irreplaceable classic of such proportions.

One of the main things that caught my attention was the fact that Tina Louise (Ginger) wasn't included in the movie (this was a complete letdown). Although Judith Baldwin was an o.k. look alike (only from certain angles) she tried to hard to be Tina Louise, which really took away from the character. I however will say this it is not easy to replace such a person so good job at doing your best Judith (props to Judith)

Another important aspect as mentioned in another comment is the laugh tracks. These tracks are what help mad Gilligans Island an epic classic which helped in showing the viewers the true comic genius of the classic Gilligans Island.

Another aspect was the way the movies plot was a total letdown. As the castaways try to adjust to the society, their issues are poorly and boringly expressed in what in my opinion are to short and not enough issues to truly show their contempt with society. I however feel the best portrayed was that of the professor (wont tell you how).

I myself find this a good continuation for my fascination with Gilligan's Island after buying the first to seasons and waiting for the third. I see this as a good continuation for my curiosity. Gilligan's Island t.v. series remains untouched (as far as same comic genius is concerned competition wise). I however find this another refreshing clean version of t.v. and movies which gives me hope as a teen in this world that there might be a chance once again for good clean t.v. such of that of Gilligans Island(may it always be remembered).

As a youngster and lifelong fan of Gilligan's Island, I still recall my excitement when I first learned that Rescue From Gilligan's Island was going to be shown on television. I also remember my profound disappointment when I finally saw the show: it wasn't particularly funny.

Now, some 25 years later, I found myself purchasing this movie on DVD anyway, for two reasons: To enjoy sweet memories of youth when TV humor was simply good fun and didn't even pretend to be anything more, and because it only cost $5.99.

Well, what can I say? I was disappointed again because, again, it wasn't particularly funny. Yet I am still very glad I now own this movie on DVD. How can that be?

For all the abuse Gilligan's Island has taken over the years from "serious" humorists, the fact remains that the show appeals to everyone's desire for real friendship and camaraderie, without all the drama of real life. The original show was just plain fun to watch. And frankly, so is Rescue From Gilligan's Island, despite its many, many flaws.

I know it is anathema to say so, but this movie would have scored much higher if only it had included a laugh track, as did the original TV series. The laugh track itself creates the illusion of camaraderie with an audience, and that was always part of the appeal of Gilligan's Island. So I found myself pretending to hear the original laugh track every time the cast told a joke (i.e., constantly), and lo--the film was much more palatable!

On the bright side, losing the laugh track made me realize just how good these actors really were, and how great an ensemble they comprised. After all, the original cast never heard the roaring laughter the audience heard as the actors playing the castaways fired one asinine line after another between ludicrous slapstick action sequences. Without a laugh track, for example, the actors portraying Russian spies in this movie behaved beyond reproach; they were simply painful to watch. But then again, so was Wrongway Felman, Harold Hecuba, and other visitors to the island, without a laugh track. It is precisely because this ensemble was so good that they managed to score with such silly humor every time in the finished product. That takes talent (and guts, I suspect). For this reason more than anything else, I truly missed Tina Louise as Ginger: no one could adequately replace a member of such a tight ensemble. Kudos to Judith Baldwin for trying, however. Thurston and Lovely Howell are hilarious characters even without the laugh track.

Overall, as another reviewer observed, the value of this film is that it provides a trip down the most pleasant stretch of memory lane. It would be wrong, however, not to mention the unforgivable production of this DVD. The sound is bad, a few jump cuts are embarrassing to watch, and the video has frequent static bars like you would see on an old, worn videotape. Shame on the production company. Shame on you!

Bottom line: If you don't appreciate the Gilligan's Island TV series you will hate this movie with a capital "H", with good reason. But for those of you who get misty just thinking about Gilligan, the Skipper and company, Rescue From Gilligan's Island will help you feel like a kid again for 90 minutes, with good reason. A cast featuring Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Bill Murray and other notable comics simply couldn't even come close to pulling off the feat this underrated ensemble pulled off time and time and time again for years, for no better reason than to make all of us feel good for a half hour each week.

Even though Tina Louise is missing from the movie, and the cast looks older, they still pulled off a very convincing movie. Unlike the Andy Griffith reunion where Barney is still deputy, which doesn't make any sense because he had been a Raleigh detective by the end of the original series, or the Dick Van Dyke Reunion where mush of the script doesn't make a bit of sense, especially the part of Rob playing on his computer. Unlike these and other reunions of 60s sitcoms, Rescue from Gilligan's Island makes sense. The castaways had been on the island for 15 years, and any hope of being rescued has long since past, which accounts for the fact that the castaways look much older. The radio has been dead for years, and the barometer doesn't work either, until Gilligan finds a disc on the Lagoon from a Soviet satellite.

The Professor is able to fix the barometer to only find out that a storm is coming, which will wash away the island. Thus, the castaways build a boat by joining all three huts together (why they didn't think of that before, we'll never know), and then are rescued later on. Each person returns to pick up his/her life, but things aren't going very well. Gilligan and the Skipper have to prove that it wasn't the Skipper's fault for the shipwreck, Ginger will not do a nude scene, Mary Anne doesn't love her fiance of 15 years, and the Howells' are being taken for their money. Also, the Professor has become a celebrity, instead of the scientist he wanted. It's a great story-line, much better of any TV reunion movie.

Although Tina Louise is absent, Judith Baldwin's performance is a fair one, convincing enough, although she does look younger than everyone else. The movie lacks in a few places, but it's overall a great movie, and is very much like the series, silly but classic. At the end of it, they're shipwrecked again on the same island, which in one way doesn't make sense because didn't the island get washed away in the storm? But hey, it's like the series, silly to the end.