Captiva Island

This film is much loved in our home. It's not a great film, but it has a lot of heart. The real star here is the beautiful Florida wildlife and scenery, which the movie does a great job of celebrating. It's a simple and sweet story, if lacking in originality and surprise. It's a great film for young children. Think of fun, campy movies in the tradition of Mystery of Dracula's Castle and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer It's actually pretty reminiscent of those old Haley Mills movies, like Summer Magic. It's cute and campy, and fun. Don't go in expecting a life-altering film of shocking creativity, but expect to be entertained. The scenery is still the star though, and if you love Florida, especially if you've been to and love the Sanibel/Captiva area!

I must preface the fact that the director of this turkey is known by our family, but after seeing it... I'm glad I saw a pre-release copy on VHS, as I would have demanded a refund. The sole saving grace of this film is the beautiful "stock" footage of Southwest Florida that plays during the opening credits..truly masterful stuff (Biffar had a lot of practice at that, being in local TV production for years), but the acting is truly cringe-worthy at times. Ernie Borgnine is one of my favorite character actors, but from the looks of things, he really mailed in his performance. Arte Johnson? I won't even go there... The impression I got was of a high-school film project, albeit with a larger budget. This movie was being filmed around the same time that "Just Cause" was being filmed in our area, and the latter is a much better film, in my opinion. "Captiva" (original title) is a family friendly story and film, but go in with low expectations and you may be surprised.

Beautiful lighting, nice dolle sequences, flows nicely. Incredible cinematography

I have watched this movie several times, okay many, for personal reasons. Its all fun and games until the end which is essentially painful. Drink a lot and you will love it. I know my sister and I do. I have to say that it had all the ingredients to be good... and I like some of the characters. Like the pelican, love him. However this movie was billed as some sort of inspirational tale, and its not. Its more of a flipper type story. But Flipper has a mullet. The main flavor in this movie has to do with how lame it is to be 13 and in love. I say watch it and laugh. Also, singing on the back of a convertible is always good to see.

IMDB suggested this film a few weeks ago, got an evening and took it in. Scenery is great, shot very well, actors gave it a fun, family friendly performance. So when then grandkids came over I played it for them... they were completely taken in by it. Great family film, well done!