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Germany released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Featurette, Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Remastered, Scene Access, Trailer(s), Uncut, SYNOPSIS: The Island, a turgid action drama directed by Michael Ritchie, revolves around the adventures of Maynard (Michael Caine), a newspaper reporter who tries to solve the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. Maynard, and his son crash-land on a remote island ruled by a gang of pirates who kill anyone who intrudes there. From beginning to end, The Island is slow, uninvolving and very bloody. The terrible script by Peter Benchley, who also wrote Jaws, is jagged and the dialogue is cliched. The film was an economic disaster and is only of interest because of a good score by Ennio Morricone. ...The Island (1980)
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
No undiscovered masterpiece but at least it has some originality going for it,
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This review is from: The Island (1980) [DVD] (DVD)
It's hard to understand now quite why 1980's The Island was met with such universal revulsion that it all but killed director Michael Ritchie's career and became regarded as one of the all-time stinkers: it's not particularly good, but it's not particularly bad either and at least it has some originality going for it (although the George Reeves Superman TV series did offer a more family-friendly variation on the theme). Based on a Peter Benchley novel and from the producers of Jaws, maybe people were expecting something friendlier from its high concept pitch - a colony of pirates that has survived into the modern day by picking off pleasure boaters in the Bermuda Triangle. But these aren't loveable Jack Sparrow pirates but an inbred and extremely violent bunch led by David Warner and played by a scurvy looking bunch of British character actors like Don Henderson, Colin Jeavons and Dudley Sutton and the odd Aussie stuntman. Not that Michael Caine's ordinary hero is that much more appealing - the kind of weekend dad who lets himself be conned into buying his post-pubescent son a real handgun and then, instead of fulfilling his promise to take him to see the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, after getting the kid in a plane crash gets him captured and brainwashed by a bunch of real ones looking for new blood who, naturally, decide to keep Caine as breeding stock (I know, it's a stretch) with Angela Punch McGregor keeping him on a lead as her personal sex slave. Probably not what you'd expect when you look at the credits and see director Michael Ritchie, cinematographer Henri Decae and composer Ennio Morricone's names. Well, probably Morricone, who's probably scored more bad movies than Richard Band because of his seeming inability to turn any job down.
Amazingly the thing most people objected to about the film is that the pirates are sadistic bloodthirsty murdering scum - what, they were expecting Errol Flynn? Fun it ain't - the island is no paradise, their settlement makes a shanty town look glamorous, their language has barely evolved from 18th century thieves' cant and the pirate attacks are played more for violence than excitement, with the film ending with more than a passing nod to The Wild Bunch's final massacre without any of the emotional resonance. But while it's no undiscovered masterpiece, it's not without its interesting moments and it's unusual to see such a particularly European crew for a would-be Hollywood blockbuster, with a British star, French cinematographer and Italian composer. The German DVD has a very good widescreen transfer with English soundtrack, with German trailer and the Super 8mm cutdown of the film (with German sound) as extras. No extras on the Australian DVD, but great picture quality.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent adaption of Peter Benchley's novel,
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This review is from: The Island (1980) [DVD] (DVD)
The Island is based on Peter Benchley's novel (he also wrote Jaws and The Deep). Benchley wrote the screenplay for this film too. The basic plot sees Michael Caine playing a reporter investigating a series of mysterious ocean dissapearances in the Caribbean. This film has a top notch cast including Don Henderson, David Warner, Colin Jeavons, Dudley Sutton and Frank Middlemass.
This is the German dvd but has English language options and subtiles which can be removed. The dvd is presented in full 2.35 widescreen. To date this film has not been release on UK dvd (it was briefly released on video several years ago). This is an excellent film which contains many scenes of suspence and horror.
3.0 out of 5 stars
not as bad as it`s reputation,
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This review is from: The Island (1980) [DVD] (DVD)
my copy of this movie is a two year old aus version,and is a brillant widescreen disc,ok this movie is a bit of a dog,but all film buff`s need a dud in thier collection and everyone else sometimes wish to watch a no brainer,however this dvd I have does show off the great location shooting,ok it does drag in places,but the first 30mins is ok and the final escape from the pirates is not bad,just forget about the middle.Not sure about the german copy but sounds alright from other reviewers comments.This superb Australian version from umbrella entertainment,is so good,I thought I was watching a blu ray disc at one point,but one down side on all dvd releases so far is that when put out in the cinema,movie had a dolby stereo soundtrack,how do I know this,well if you come across an old poster of film it`s in the writing,so why no home cinema version with correct sound?,would say to anyone wanting the best copy of this movie buy the Australian disc fast,the price is going up,in the USA they are already very high to pay for.
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