L'Île au trésor

A reasonably interesting adaptation of the classic novel. Has the same basic plot as the novel but changes some of the characters' personalities, to varying degrees. Also grittier than the novel.

Nice scenery, good action scenes, a decent degree of intrigue.

On the negative side, there is a ho-humness to the proceedings. It is not overly engaging, and it sometimes does feel like it is going through the motions. The movie/series never really grabs you and drags you along with it.

Performances are so-so. Eddie Izzard is fairly good as Long John Silver. Nobody else really stands out. Donald Sutherland has very little screen time.

I enjoyed this short series even though, like another viewer, I have not read the book or seen other film interpretations. Having watched it, I am going to read the book. After, I might rant at the screen for 3 hours as another reviewer says, but as a first impression, I thought it was good entertainment.

I particularly liked how the film had these moments which hinted at sinister forces and "black magic"—how they break into a haunting, mournful sea shanty as they're weighing anchor etc.

Eddie Izzard is superb—very likable and very real. A hard but pragmatic man, he steals the show. Yes, it must have been easy money for Donnie Sutherland but what the hey.

The difference between this film and Pirates of the Caribbean, is that this is a drama (gutsy, real) and Pirates is a comedy. Sure the film has it flaws but it gripped me from the beginning to the end. Very good.

Well,I only have a vague memory of the novel which I read when I was around 14-15. Therefore, while watching this I really couldn't compare the story and the characters with the original, which I guess was a blessing. I enjoyed this a lot because of several reasons. Firstly,it was quite realistic (esp.without supernatural elements as in POC.)Characters were depicted nicely and felt quite real and believable.Action scenes were decent without unnecessary flamboyance. Locations were wonderful and well matched with the images I had in my mind about the Treasure island since my childhood. If you liked "Master and commander", this is definitely for you. If you are still a fan of POC franchise, you may not like this.

First, I have to say good on Eddie Izzard for not trying to copy John Newton's Silver. On the other hand, it would have been staggeringly foolish to try that *again* in this day and age. No, Izzard delivers a new interpretation of Silver and does rather a good job of it.

In many trivial ways, this production is more faithful to Stevenson's classic than the as of yet undefeated champion of dramatic productions: the Disney 1950 film. (More running time, I guess) In some important ways it's even more faithful, and even adds a few interesting ingredients. We get to meet Capt. Flint (both of them). We also get the meet the "woman of colour" that Stevenson had married to Silver--something Disney didn't acknowledge. Oh, and speaking of the race card, it was played with the likes of Billy Bones and Mr. Arrow (black as a bucc'neer's colours in bilge water, they is!) I guess it does add an important bit of realism, now present in a lot of recent 18c nautically-themed productions.

But in some serious ways it diverges from the the book. I can't say whether or not it was a mistake to make Trelawney a partial crook and "Bible-reading hypocrite". (It was definitely a mistake to have a gentleman using "who" in the objective) It certainly was important to the ending. Oh yeah, that ENDING!!

The ending loses it 2 stars easily (though as a TI purist, it was a challenge not taking off 4). It's perfectly understandable that they not use the book's ending, Disney didn't even do that, but this unique ending takes the whole story off course and changes the genre from pure adventure to something of a morality tale. In making a miniseries, there was the opportunity to rehabilitate the Treasure Island myth, as was done in 2000 with Frank Herbert's Dune. Unfortunately, what we have is probably the least Stevensian Treasure Island production to date. Sorry.

I'd like to have seen a faithful adaptation but it's still engaging. Found the background music helped do what it was supposed too without being overly intrusive which is always nice and far too rare an occurrence these days. Loved the accurate use of an actual sea shanty (they were work songs and to see them used as such in drama is wonderful). Also nice to see people with a range of accents as would have been the case rather than just the stereotypical bristol accents.

To address some accusations of historical inaccuracy. 1)pirates with Mohawks: this set in the mid 1700's the Mohawk as a tribe would have have a reputation as a people to be reckoned with that would likely have spread to pirates familiar with the America's I can well understand a pirate adopting the hairstyle of a of a nation of fierce warriors. 2)Black people in position's of authority: Sailor's especially outside the navy were much more egalitarian being largely concerned with skill rather than colour or social class (a poor man if skillful might not be able to buy a commission straight off but through saving up prize money and wages may be able to manage it after a few years). Yes there probably would have racism but, particularly on pirate ships, prizes were shared reasonably equally in theory so it would be entirely possible for a black man to become first mate. Equally black sailors would likely not have been as uncommon as all that as it would make sense for an escaped slave to attempt to take to the sea as a way of avoiding pursuit and a good way for a freed slave to make a living.