Rescue from Gilligan's Island

The original Gilligan's Island TV series had 30-minute episodes each week. That was just the right length. I was a young college student when the run started, I remember looking forward to each episode and enjoying them.

I suppose naturally enough producers decided to make a 90-minute movie where the professor is able to forecast a big storm, they lash all the huts together, and end up floating again in the Pacific after the storm subsides.

A Coast Guard helicopter spots them, a Coast Guard cutter tows them back to Hawaii, and they receive a great welcome. But ultimately each finds that the 15 years away made it hard for them to readjust, for all different reasons.

When the skipper finally gets his insurance settlement he buys a second boat, the Minnow II, and to celebrate everyone that had been stranded take a celebratory cruise. But then a storm comes up and you can guess it, the only appropriate thing happens ...

I enjoyed this movie even though 90 minutes of over-the-top silliness is a bit much to take. I enjoyed seeing the whole cast but I'd guess that audiences not a fan of the original TV series might not like this too much.

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).

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.

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.

"Rescue from Gilligan's Island" came out 11 and a half years after the series ended. The movie was a huge hit on TV simply due to the show's gazillion of fans, multiplied by a decade of syndicated reruns. Unfortunately, the film doesn't measure up to the zany-but-excellent series, particularly the last two seasons.

For one, at 95 minutes it seems to have a lot of filler. Many of the scenes could've been cut down by about 40%. It also seems rushed at times, like the actors learned their lines an hour before filming; and a lot of the humorous situations/dialogue aren't entirely successful, to put it nicely. Also, Tina Louise refused to return as Ginger, evidently because they didn't offer her enough money (which is funny because she wasn't exactly an in-demand actress at the time; the only significant role I remember her in after Gilligan's Island was in the 1975 film "The Stepford Wives"). The woman they got to replace Tina looks fine but she comes off as an airheaded bimbo and Ginger was never a bimbo. She's a sexy starlet, yes, but also smart.

Most of the cast look pretty good a dozen years later and Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) looks incredible. Surprisingly, it's Gilligan (Bob Denver) who has aged the most, which is strange since he was supposed to be a "boy" of about 19-21 during the original run. As such, he should only be about 30-32 during this movie, but he clearly looks to be in his mid-40s or older (in real life Bob Denver was 29-31 during the series and was 43 at the time of this movie). Still, this isn't a big deal.

BOTTOM LINE: "Rescue from Gilligan's Island" comes across as a lame version of the series with too much filler, but it's worthwhile for fans of the show because, of course, we have to know how they finally got rescued after almost 15 years as castaways. But, as they say, you can never go home again and neither can the castaways; they became their own family on the island, which is one of the reasons the show was so endearing.

GRADE: C