Les naufragés de l'île aux pirates

I would occasionally catch this movie on TV when I was younger, and it always brings out a nostalgic, innocent and adventurous feeling every time I watch it. It is a family-oriented film about a young Norwegian boy named Haakon Haakonsen, who works as a cabin boy on a ship in the 1850s, and then discovers that those on board are actually pirates.

It is a great story to bring the family together, full of adventure, morals and heroism, all supported by some good acting performances from the respective cast and an impressive island and ocean scenery. As a result, this movie kind of reminds me of Disney's Swiss Family Robinson, but is Norwegian-made and the story centers more on the kid than the Robinson movie.

You won't find too much of the Hollywood-style action, drama or suspense in this movie, as evident with the overall simple and innocent atmosphere; it's mostly a feel-good film that has a perfect storybook setting for children, but also suitable for adults.

Grade B

OK, it is not the greatest film of the century. OK, the characters are not so very three-dimensional, OK, they do not develop very much through the film, OK, the end is as predictable as the one of "Cinderella". But it really does not matter. I watched 'Håkon Håkonsen' with kids and they loved it - they kept talking about it for a long time after we had finished. To my considerable surprise, I found myself greatly amused too. It is a family film in the true sense of the word, it has a hero and a heroine and a bad guy - perfectly cast with a chilling Gabriel Byrne - lots of action and adventure, humor, serious moments, and a happy ending. In a sense it resembles some Disney productions, but lacks the slightly superficial, American touch. It is a good film, a good story, created by people who want to tell children a fairy-tale and who knows how to do so. Recommended.

Shipwrecked is a tale about a young boy who finds his destiny and friends along the way. It is quite an interesting movie, very different and more thoughtful than most American movies. Stian Smestad does an excellent job as Hakon Hakonsen, and the actors who played Mary and Jens were wonderful also. This is a timeless classic with a good lesson in it. *** out of ****

I haven't seen this movie since the 2nd grade, so I can only speak from the perspective of a child. It was an amazing movie, and I can still remember the villain well. It was suspenseful and had me on the edge of my seat. That being said, sure: if I were to see it again today I might see small flaws in the acting and/or plot, but the key here is that it captures the imaginations of children, which was its purpose. I am not rating this movie since I have not seen it for 12 years.

STORY: Haakon Haakonsen is a young boy which joins his older brother, Jens, on a ship with a mostly foreign crew. As the youngest and most unexperienced member of the crew, Haakons gets a really hard time from the others. But he learns fast, and builds up respect from some of the crew over time. Then one day the ship gets hit by a huge storm, and gets wrecked. Haakon Haakonsen wakes up at an island alone. He now stands in front of many challenges, and gets to use the moral, and the skills he have built up inside of him. He also meets some of the crew-members again, and gets to learn that they don't earn all the respect they had on the ship at all. Haakon now stands in front of the challenge of survival, and then to get off the island..

INFORMATION/RATING: The story's time-line I believe is somewhere in the late 1800's or early 1900, as the ship they work on is a Caravel type of ship, among with other time-like indicators.

This is a movie is a good and typical adventure-movie, which contains moral-like characters, and cynic pirate-like characters. Of course, there is a treasure too:) The story in "Shipwrecked" is a lot like "Mutiny on the Bounty", "Robinson Crusoe", so if you like movies/stories like these, you will very probably enjoy this too! "Shipwrecked" is from 1990, and it's a Norwegian-produced movie, so you cannot expect the hugest Hollywood-effects in it, but i think this could be a positive factor too. Still I believe that this is a indicator to the "User Rating" of the movie. Many watchers forget this when they watch movies. My point is; If "Shipwrecked" was made today, with the same story, I believe the user-rating would be up at 7.0 - 7.5 and maybe even higher. As I use to tell my friends: You need to know what you are watching, if not the watch is being watched:) If you are critically focused when you watch this movie, I'm sure you will find a lot of errors and goofs, but if you watch it with clean sheets I'm sure you'll love it. When I take the production year- and production country in mind, i give this movie: 8 of 10