Monster Island

Not bad for a TV movie, but - well, could have been a whole lot better, both script and direction-wise. The baboons weren't that convincing either. (Trying to be kind, here ...)

Its one saving grace was a fine, well-observed performance by Ron Perlman as the nightmare-ridden guide, Frank Brodie. Always a delight to watch, he brought much-needed gravitas to an otherwise run-of-the-mill film. Haunted, grouchy and cynical, he shone in a cast that was generally lack-lustre.

Great star - shame about the movie.

Yes... it's another one of those "I can't believe somebody actually thought this would be a good film" movies. Admittedly, the premise is deliciously ludicrous (clean cut Americans menaced on godforsaken island by mutant killer baboons!) but once the film starts you realise that 'Primal Force' is BEYOND bad. The characters are ridiculous simpering idiots... their actions are completely schitzophrenic. One minute they are running frantically from a location in fear for their lives, another they are sitting calmly back in the same spot they were running from beforehand. Who wrote the script to this thing? One of the characters knows about the killer baboons, but rather than warning anybody else ("Um, did I mention this island is populated by mutant killer baboons?") he decides to keep quiet and occasionally deliver gruff hints at the carnage to follow ("They've shent you on a shooicide mission"). And the baboons themselves? Well, you'de think they would make them look mutant... indeed, some good costume design and effects work could possibly have saved the movie... but instead they simply make the baboons look like, well, your every day baboon. All in all, Primal Force is clearly an attempt at Jurrassic Park, only with men in monkey suits. It's irredeemably inept scripting and it's dull and predictable plot developments make it one of the worst of the generally dire 'evil creatures' films. Please don't waste your life watching this. Unless your an acute masochist with a penchant for bog standard nature gone wrong flicks. In which case it might be exactly your kind of thing. Worse than Deep Rising. And that's saying something.

A TVM that has an average vote of 3.6 ! Oh come on guys if this was a weepy drama with Jayne Seymour racing to save little Tammy from a life threatening illness this would be getting something in the region of a 5.5 average . At least some TV company realised that lads just home from the pub deserve TVMs sometimes

Yeah okay it's not an original plot as it features a deserted island , baboons on the rampage , the survivors of a plane crash , a macho man with internal demons that manifest itself as a drink problem etc . If Steven Spielberg directed this movie it would make lots of money at the box office and everyone would say it was a great movie . If I remember correctly Spielberg did indeed do a very similar movie in 1993

If JURRASSIC PARK 4 ooopps I mean PRIMAL FORCE suffers from anything it suffers from some internal continuity where a minor character is all alone and gets killed by a troop of baboons while a major character is alone with the mutant monkeys but for some reason the baboons don't attack thereby allowing the hero to turn up and rescue the character . I also noticed that the scenes where the baboons attack suffer from editing that is cut far too quickly which makes it difficult to see what's going on which is a common problem with these cheap and cheerful low budget productions . I feel no shame in giving this six out of ten

I liked Primal Force a lot more than I thought I was going to. The film is about a group of people sent into a small island to rescue people who have been in a plane crash, the catch is that the island is overrun by killer hybrid baboons. Ron Perlman plays the guy tortured by his memories of being on the island who gets brought in to help the team find the survivors. There was both good and bad examples of acting and directing and such forth in the film, but when the directing came of as bad it was because the director was taking risks, some of them worked and some of them didn't but he should be commended for doing so. I was quite surprised how much I got into the film towards the end, especially as I was expecting something that would raise a chuckle at how bad it was, in the end I found the film wasn't bad enough so that I couldn't laugh at it, but it didn't have that little something to make it worth a strong recommendation. So if you want a little action thrills with a bit of cheese, this could be for you.

This movie has all the characteristics of an oscar winner. Its a crafty tail of an island of killer baboons. The baboons are absolutely terrifying and I want to congratulate the makeup artist. The acting is also top-notch. In my honest opinion Ron Perlman delivers the best performance of his life. I insist that you rush to the video store right now and rent this movie. It is that good.