John Silver's Return to Treasure Island

The greatest TV mini-series ever, 10/10. People who worked on the Bond films worked on this series. A real treat to watch. What makes the series so good is great acting, good stories, and best of all a great Long John Silver in Blessed. It's a shame none of these actors really made it big. My father was a loyal Disney Treasure Island fan, and to his credit he recorded the whole 10-hour mini-series when it aired nearly 20 years ago. Since then, I've made it a tradition to watch these old tapes every summer. Unfortunately, they have depreciated since 1985. And yes, I still watch them, but some of the scenes skip and are choppy. This is like hurting one of my kids, man. I loved the series and will one day hopefully have them on DVD. I can only hope. "By the Powers" Disney start working on it!!!!!!

This mini-series completely and utterly blows away the original movie and the new cartoon outer-space adaptation. It's eight or ten hours of pure, unadulterated fascination and excitement. The story is well-written and paced. The action scenes are believable. Jim Hawkins is well cast, but Brian Blessed as Long John Silver absolutely and completely steals the show every time he is on board. The love interests are strong and beautiful women. The locations are varied and exotic, ranging from lush Caribbean lowland jungle to Mexican desert. The script is witty and funny, yet rarely corny. It's hard to make a two hour movie this good, yet somehow Disney managed to make a ten hour mini-series that delivers right up until the very end. Like another reviewer said, it's impossible to find these shows now. If Disney makes the complete miniseries available on DVD, be sure to pick it up.

Like a previous commenter, I too have looked and looked for copies of this mini-series and have even written to Disney asking for them to re-lease the series. I loved these movies when they were first aired and I taped them, but my tapes have disintegrated from use. I think this is one of the best things that Disney has ever done and I would love to have them. If you ever get the opportunity to watch them.... do! They are fantastic. The musical score is really great as well... The music is hauntingly beautiful. The actors are so well cast that it has become hard to see them in anything else and not remember their Treasure Island days. Enjoy!

I watched this show as a kid and was completely fascinated with it. I had never seen a Pirate movie with such memorable actors and had such an awesome story. So much so that I could even say it affected my life and interest in Pirate lore and history. Some time after that I found out many movie rental facilities had VHS copies of this show so I pursued them diligently. Years later I finally own a complete set. Unfortunately being rentals and 20 years old they are not in the best of shape. Disney Please, Please come out with this on DVD. They just don't make shows like this any more. Brian Blessed plays a true pirate, his acting makes you wonder if he wasn't a real pirate in a former life. The settings are dead on and a lot of time and effort went into this masterpiece. Pirates Forever!

It is unfortunate that such a great series has gone unnoticed. These films are extremely entertaining and I have fond memories of them growing up in the 80s. They are getting hard to find, and I look forward to the day when they are released on DVD. In the meantime I hold dear my VHS copies! A great cast, and a great story that I can watch over and over!

No one embodies the part of Long John Silver quite like Brian Blessed did in this series. The filming locations were great, and all around the makers of this series dotted the i's and crossed the t's.

A reminder of what Disney used to be capable of: shows with deep themes and adventure, without Lizzie Mguire Clones in the cast!