L'Île aux pirates

An underrated epic pirate movie that failed at box office , set in 17th century and stars a female pirate searching for a valuable treasure. She is Morgan Adams : Geena Davis (then Mrs Harlin) who attempts to free a polish , rogue crook : Matthew Modine from slavery and save the life of her father : Harris Yulin at the hands of his brother Henry Morgan : Frank Langella . Her main problem is the map revealing the location has been divided into three pieces . Se only has the first , etched oh her daddy's scalp. Along the way she persuades the educated slave/thief Mathew Modine who has lots of charm , no morals to assist her . The Course has been set. There is no Turning Back. Prepare Your Weapons . Summon Your Courage . Discover the Adventure of a Lifetime¡

Lavish swashbuckling with great production design in which almost everything from entire sea ports -actually set in Malta- are destroyed along the way in a series of impressive stunts that will have your breath away, as well as spectacular sea battles in which entire ships to Jamaica were bombed , though really shot in Thailand . Small children will be entranced and amused by the frolics and antics of a pet monkey . Long on action and short on studio character and plot . Well starred by Geena Davis, she gives exuberance enough for her pirate queen role . Her despicable uncle is nicely played by Frank Langella as the scurvy veteran pirate who wants to take the treasure at whatever cost and he won't stop at nothing . They are finely accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Harris Yulin, Maury Chaykin, Patrick Malahide, Stan Shaw, Rex Linn , Paul Dillon, Angus Wright, Christopher Masterson , among others.

Special mention for the rousing and thrilling musical score by John Debney . As well as colorful and sunny cinematography by Peter Levy , shot on wonderful locations in Malta and Thailand. Filmmaker Renny Harlin likes lots of blowing up and frenetic action when he does not know what else to do, resulting in an overlong and a little tiring movie . It was a commercial flop that bankrupted the powerful production company Carolco/Mario Kassar . The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard , Cliffhanger, Hercules, Cleaner , Exorcist the beginning , Mindhunters, Deep Blue sea , Long Kiss goodnight , Driven , 12 Rounds , 5 days of War) . Rating : 6/10 . An amusing and fun pirate movie though kiddies may be frightened by some gory and bloody action scenes . Well worth watching .

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.

When her father is killed by pirate Dawg Brown, Morgan Adams takes up his ship and crew and continues his hunt for treasure – the map for which is on several parchments. Enlisting slave William Shaw to help her, they set out to find the treasure and avoid Brown.

With Pirates of the Caribbean getting everyone's gander up for pirate movies all of a sudden I decided to review this film, having seen it first in the cinema and being unimpressed. On TV the feeling is the same. The plot is a treasure hunt, but it never really sets the pulses racing or feels like it is a really fun romp or such. Instead the story telling is rather workmanlike without spark or life.

What exists in it's place is a lot of noise and energy – but it is energy that is misdirected and misplaced in this case. The action scenes look very expensive (when a lavish harbour town is destroyed you can see the budget) but the also lack excitement or tension. Instead they are hollow spectacles. I'm not a big fan of Harlin's work. Cliffhanger was OK but Die Hard 2 was the weakest of the series. Here he can't seem to find the excitement in his action – maybe because some much effort was on the design of effects shots than on reasons for the action.

Davis is OK in the lead role but it is easy to think of a couple of actresses that might have been more convincing playing it tough. Modine has a few lines that suggest his character will be better than he actually is. Despite a few witty moments of banter early on he just becomes a bland character. Langella is OK but only because he has a reasonable screen presence rather than having a great character.

Overall this is dull and not very engaging at all. The action is hollow and the plot/characters have nothing to really grip. Not worth it's awful reputation but certainly not really worth watching.

"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).