Cutthroat Island

Just take this as it is: a fun aventure film to enjoy with a big bowl of popcorn. Geena Davis' natural face and statuesque figure, Thailand's breathtaking beaches/islands, ridiculously entertaining fight and chase scenes, gorgeous pirate ships, a hilarious pet monkey, and memorable characters, they're all a delight to watch. The soundtrack is perfectly suited for it. I give this film a 6.5.

Cutthroat Island is a movie that you can just sit back, relax and watch it with a big goofy grin on your face. Sure it tanked at the box office, but don't disregard it totally. It's entertaining as hell. Geena Davis is rather engaging as a female pirate and Frank Langella seemed to be enjoying himself. Most people will say that this movie can't hold a candle to the pirate films of Errol Flynn, and they're right. But for a rock em sock em pirate adventure with more explosions than the high seas ever saw, watch Cutthroat Island.

This is certainly a controversial film, with some who dislike it. And one also cannot ignore that the film has lost a lot of money. However, I was one that actually enjoyed the film - a lot. It was a good film for me to just simply "enjoy". And that is one great reason for watching movies in the first place.

I did like Geena Davis in the main role. In fact, the two roles that I liked her the best in were Cutthroat Island and Last Kiss Goodnight. I would have loved to see her do more of these action type roles. She is certainly good in other roles, but I prefer her in the action roles such as this one.

I was indeed surprised when visiting the Guiness Records building in Hollywood California, and learning that this movie was the largest box office loss. My feelings on learning that were "but, I liked it".

"Cutthroat Island" is a 1995 film with chaotic production and distribution and with unfair reviews of the professional critics. Renny Harlin and Geena Davis were married at that time and he convinced the producers to cast his wife in an action film in a complete misevaluation of her talent. Geena Davis was a great actress in comedy and drama genres in the 80´s and 90´s but was only reasonable in the role of the female pirate Morgan Adams. Another problem was to find an actor for Morgan´s slave William Shaw since Matthew Modine was the last choice in a long list of actors that refused the role. It seems that this notorious film was also the responsible for the bankruptcy of Carolco Pictures since the box office was frustrating.

Said that, "Cutthroat Island" is indeed an entertaining modern (in 1995) pirate movie, with a good story. The successful franchize "Pirates of the Caribbean" is an improvement of "Cutthroat Island" with better technology, budget and cast. But the stories are equaly entertaining and funny. In the end, forget the bad ratings of professional critics and have a goodtime watching this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Ilha da Garganta Cortada" ("The Cutthroat Island")

This film was responsible for the bankruptcy of the company behind it, Carolco. Which is a shame, but the film is not as bad as it is rumoured to be. Far from it. It's above average oldfashioned entertainment.

The soundtrack alone is a standout. Sweeping and powerful, it serves the plotline well and it's a joy to listen to on its own. Although the characters aren't among the most complex and well defined in movie history, they work (with a couple of exceptions, among them Maury Chaykin as John Reed, whose acting just doesn't match the tone of the film). And then there's the beautifully reconstructed pirate ships, well choreographed action sequences and terrific special effects.

In short this is a film that has an unfair rep and it is really worth your time. A great warmup for Pirates of the Caribbean (which hasn't opened yet in this neck of the woods).