The Island of Dr. Moreau

This wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe and was often nightmarish as well as gripping. I understand it was a troubled production and that may explain the uneven lurches in action. This film was saved by the excellent and committed performances by the actors who played the animals, who were really heartbreaking. Wells himself had an ambivalent attitude to the human race and was said to have had certain facist sympathies. However, Any philisophical points tended to be drowned by the rather garish direction. Brando's accent seemed wrong for the modern day setting of the film as well. A sad and distressing film that is well worth a look.

David Thewlis, looking like he's wandered in from another film, is totally miscast in this much-troubled version of the HG Wells classic.

After being rescued by toothy vet Val Kilmer and taken to the eponymous location, our Mancunian UN hero comes across cat girl Fairuza Balk and the balloon-like doc (Marlon Brando), all pasty-faced and with an Ealing comedy accent.

Marlon hasn't just been doing beached whale impressions on this exotic isle. You see, mad old Moreau has been messing around with gene-splicing and has created a race of humanoid beasts - courtesy of effects whiz Stan Winston.

He controls them with electric shock implants and is so taken with his work, has little other defence when the beasts inevitably start running wild. In essence, it all goes a bit Jurassic Park.

There are a few good points in this mish mash. A stunning opening titles scene - very necessary considering the lack of any adventure for the first 10 minutes; Thewlis' extraordinary presence; and an okay finale. In fact, any scenes without Brando and Kilmer are quite fascinating. This is partly down to the Richard Stanley screenplay which boasts some flashes of brilliance amid much re-worked studio editing and re-jigging.

This is one of those films where the making of the movie is perhaps more intriguing than the final product. Stanley, the film's original director, was fired and banned from the set. He actually went back, dressed up as a dog man extra, and watched the rest of the production unfold. Had he been allowed to finish his directing chores and had final cut, the result would probably have been a thousand times better.

However, John Frankenheimer does a fair job under the circumstances.

It's an excitingly produced remake of ¨Island of the lost souls¨ with Marlon Brando heading a solid casting as a nutty doctor who develops a process of transforming animals into half-humans at an desolated tropical island . Through DNA experimentation Brando has upset the balance of nature. By turning animals into humans, he's turned heaven into hell . It starts when David Thewlis is rescued at sea by Val Kilmer and brought to a strange island where he's terrified to discover the terrible genetic experiments realized by Dr. Moreau , a former prize Nobel winner .

Passable horror-fantasy chiller that is developed up and down with some lousy moments and in other side contains eerie and thrilling scenes. It results to be a strong rendition of H.G. Wells' novel about an isolated scientific who has spent several years creating half-animals turning beasts into half-human . Good secondary cast as Fauriza Balk , William Hootkins and Temuera Morrison . Ron Perlman's sturdy acting , displaying a magnificent portrayal of one of the beasts . Watchable by excellent makeup by the late Stan Winston . Colorful cinematography filmed in Queensland , Australia , by the classic cameraman William A. Fraker and atmospheric musical score by Gary Chang . The motion picture is middlingly directed by John Frankenheimer and the director's cut version runs several minutes more . The movie will appeal to Brando devotees and Val Kilmer fans who will want to check out their excessive performances . Other adaptation based on H.G. Wells' known novel are the following : The classic of 1933 titled ¨The island of lost souls¨ by Erle C. Kenton with Charles Laughton , Kathleen Burke , Bela Lugosi and Richard Arlen ; and 1977 retelling by Don Taylor with Burt Lancaster , Michael York , Barbara Carrera and Nigel Davenport .

David Thewlis is very good as air-crash survivor who is taken to mysterious island in the South Pacific where recluse Marlon Brando mutates various animals with human genes; Fairuza Balk is Brando's daughter, Val Kilmer (in arguably his weakest performance ever) plays Brando's assistant. Uncontrolled version of H.G. Wells' horror story is crippled by behind-the-scenes strife and ego clashes. It opens well, sustains itself for about forty-five minutes, but then goes completely to hell afterward. John Frankenheimer is credited with the scrappy direction, though he stepped in mid-production and finished the picture after Kilmer had the original director canned. Too bad, with more focus this could've been incredible. Story previously filmed in 1933 (as "Island of Lost Souls") and with Michael York and Burt Lancaster in 1977. ** from ****

You will have to chalk me up as belonging to that camp of viewers who actually *wanted* to see a truly horrid film (as based on all the negative reviews) only to discover to our delight that there was a gem of a movie hiding there all along.

For me, watching the film was a *great* escapist experience. I felt exactly what the character played by David Thewlis would have felt, had I been in a similar "lost in the middle of the ocean, end up on a strange island" sort of predicament. The movie did a superb job of instantly whisking me away to a strange and beautiful and ominous place - the Island of Dr. Moreau - and I found myself staying with the fantasy the whole way through.

The cinematography was just beautiful, and if you have ever been in or near the tropics, the filming and the movie setting did an awesome job of conveying that hot, thick, humid, teeming-with-life feel that can only be found in the tropics.

I really enjoyed the eery background music, it really added to the overall creepiness of the whole weird "mad-science-gone-amok" theme of the story. Plus that scene where David Thewlis first encounters Faruiza Balk, and she starts to dance to that utterly hypnotic and awesome Balinese music, was just too spine-tingling for words. I only regret that I haven't been able to locate any soundtrack information yet on the movie, so I don't know who played that song, but the whole scene was absolutely and truly memorable. I'd watch it again just for that song and dance scene alone.

I noticed that many people didn't like the acting or the characterizations. I, on the other hand, felt that the four main characters (Brando, Kilmer, Thewlis, and Balk) were flawless in their depiction of a familiar tale. Brando was admittedly "weird" - but hey, give the guy his due, he was SUPPOSED to be a weird, crazed scientist. What were you expecting, the Maytag Repairman? Kilmer was deliciously evil, can't say enough good about Val Kilmer, he's always been one of my very favorite actors, and he DID NOT disappoint in this film, either. Balk, as mentioned above, was just awesome (and I REALLY liked the scene where she and "father" Brando had their moment of emotional bonding). Thewlis was right spot-on with his interpretation of an innocent "sane" observer who barely made it off this mad-house of an island without totally losing his own sanity. I think I would have done exactly as he had done, in his circumstances. Well Acted! Bravo!

One scene that didn't work for me was early on when the man-beasts were shown to be delivering a hideous-looking baby from a hideous-looking beast-woman. I don't know, but somehow I felt that it should have been Dr. Moreau and Montgomery (Brando and Kilmer) who should have been the doctors doing the delivery. Nevertheless, it was a truly creepy scene.

Finally, I thought the movie was well-stocked with thought-provoking comments on the morality of scientific experimentation. The scene at the dinner table, where Brando expounds on his personal views, comes to mind, as does the final parting comments, voiced by Thewlis. I had to watch the movie several times just to hear those words. They will REALLY make you think. I truly believe this movie should be seen and actively discussed by students at high school or college level - not just in science prep classes, but philosophy and social science courses as well. I don't care what the naysayers have to say, this was by no means an empty or shallow movie.

So, go take a trip to the Island of Dr. Moreau. You won't come back unchanged....