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US Mall 1 - Island, The (1980)
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price:
Your Save: $ 19.98 ( 100% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Starring: Michael Caine, David Warner, Angela Punch McGregor, Frank Middlemass, Don Henderson
Directed By: Michael Ritchie
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786300182363
Format: Color
ISBN: 6300182363
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Release Date: 1992-03-01
Running Time: 115
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1980-06-13
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: BEFORE JACK SPARROW, THERE WAS TUBARB!
Comment: With all the cheesey B Horror Movies out there, I'm surprised this has
never been released on DVD. I bet Attack of the Mushroom People is probably on DVD! Would some studio please release this to the people who remember this at the theater or saw it on VHS.
This was a Peter Benchley novel adapted to the screen after his huge
hits JAWS and The Deep played out well at the box office. I saw this at
a big screen theater, when it was released, before the days of the cineplex. What stands out are the character roles of the pirates led by
David Warner. You don't forget these fellows, an unbelievable collection
of lost souls. This was done decades before the Disney franchise starring
Johnny Depp was ever conceived. Modern day pirates wrapped around the
Bermuda Triangle Mystery. Tourists plundered, ships burned, booty hauled
away, to remote shores. Everything gets hidden away due to the weather, currents, foggy shorelines, partly explained by the Bermuda Triangle
mystery. Only the Mad Max sagas show a zoo of strange characters like the
pirates in this movie. They are desendents of ancient buccaneers, who allow Michael Caine and his son to live since their family tree goes back
to a famous pirate. A working vacation turns into hell for our modern
guys who stumble into the pirate's den.
Michael Caine must figure out a way to escape this madness and protect
his son from David Warners' influence. A civilised reporter must turn half pirate to find a route back to the modern world. He turns "Rambo"
in the finale, a great shootout scene on a Coast Guard cutter. Many a pirate meets a modern machine gun round to the body. Swords are no match for a 50 cal weapon. All in all, a decent action tale that should be on DVD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Passable, Waterlogged Adventure/Thriller
Comment: Back in 1980, long before Johnny Depp & Co. brought us the never-ending 'Pirates of the Caribbean' fare, novelist Peter Benchley and producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown sought to capitalize on the success of 'Jaws' and 'The Deep' as well as reenergize the pirate-movie genre with this follow-up film adaptation of Benchley's book, but the results were mixed and not always entirely successful. The novel and film offer up a whole new explanation for the lore of the 'Bermuda Triangle' and all its unexplained vanishings over in the years in that, in fact, they are the work of pirates. Yes, pirates.
The ever-stalwart Michael Caine stars investigative journalist Blair Maynard on assignment in the Caribbean islands near the Bahamas with his gun-aficionado, sharp-shooting twelve year old son, Justin, in tow. He's there tracking down a hot lead on a story involving the mysterious disappearances of several commercial and pleasure-craft boaters in the area.
Through a series of events, Maynard and his son get closer to the story than either of them bargained for when they are both captured and taken prisoner by the culprits behind the disappearances --------- the real, authentic descendants of late 17th-century buccaneers (led by David Warner) living sequestered from civilization on one of the nearby uncharted islands for nearly 300 years. This roving band of modern-day buccaneers ------ still living in the 1700's ------ continue their marauding pratices into the 20th century by raiding ships and boats passing through their territory, killing the occupants and living off the stolen goods pillaged from the vessels. (Think of it as 'The Hills Have Eyes', but on the water.) Life is good for these buccaneers except for one minor problem: their gene pool is deteriorating from decades of inbreeding so they enlist the involuntary services of the now captured Maynard to help improve their breeding by impregnating one of the women of the clan (Angela Punch McGregor).
Maynard must now try to stay alive while somehow finding a means of escape from the island and warn the local authorities (which seems to consist of one, lone, bicycle-riding policeman) but also faces a dilemna, too, as he must also find a way to rescue Justin, who has now fallen in among the buccaneers and joined their ranks, where his sharp-shooting gun skills are of use .....
This movie is not without its flaws, but it is still enjoyable and entertaining in many ways. Director Michael Ritchie (Prime Cut, Fletch) does manage to create a few suspensful sequences and some of the attacks on the hapless, unsuspecting victims were surprisingly gory. (I'll admit it ; I did jump once or twice) Caine even has few memorable lines as well. (When asked by one of the film's baddies if he feels privilged to be witnessing what he's seeing, Caine replies, "What's that, a bunch of assh*les playing Long John-f*cking-Silver?!") You get to see all the prerequisite colorful characters one might expect in a pirate movie, a plane crash, a brief sex scene, a jellyfish attack (now what the hell other movie has one of those?!?...), and even a decent action sequence where the bucs actually overwhelm and overtake a Coast Guard cutter. No, really.
Overall, it's a decent little 80's action thriller, even if it does have its sagging moments from time to time. Still worth seeing, although bring the sunscreen and dramamine. It's not great, but not bad, either.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Gore !
Comment: I liked this movie...but I like Michael Caine. Parts of this bloody movie I had to close my eyes on but rewatch Island every so often for the adventure. One of the few scary creepy features that isn't done on a shoestring and Italian.
Escapism but a good one. Too bad it isn't out on DVD
Customer Rating:
Summary: NETFLIX SOON!!!!
Comment: STILL TRYING TO DOWNLOAD THIS THING!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE NOT WATCHED YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT PAID SEVERAL TIMES!!!!!!!! DOWNLOADED 5 UNBOX PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE ALL HARDWARE AND DSL CONNECTION!!!!!!!!!! NO HELP FROM AMAZON YET!!!!!! BEZOS!!!YOU LISTENING??????????????
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yo ho ho, this is an interesting, surprisingly gory film
Comment: Now, here's a film that should definitely be available on DVD by now. By the time I got around to watching this, I had completely forgotten what it was even supposed to be about - but I put away any misgiving once I saw that it starred Michael Caine and was based on Peter Benchley's post-Jaws novel of the same name. Admittedly, the movie is a little out there and has a couple of weaknesses in the plot, but the whole thing is realistic enough to be plausible and features some pretty shocking violence for a 1980 non-horror movie - the opening scene is a particularly effective attention-getter.
Michael Caine plays Blair Maynard, a New York journalist determined to get to the bottom of a rather shocking number of boats lost near the Bahamas in the last three years. As fate would have it, his son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) turns up in his office unexpectedly (the ex-wife having forgotten to even let Maynard know he was coming), so the two of them jet off to Florida for the weekend. In case you have any doubts as to the age of this movie, just watch a gun shop sell Blair a handgun for his twelve-year-old son upon their arrival. Anyway, the two take a most memorable air jaunt to a remote island, head out to do some fishing, and discover that being a Good Samaritan is rather highly overrated. Before you can say Yar, matie! the two of them find themselves captives of a rag-tag bunch of filthy pirates - actually, they prefer to be called buccaneers. Their archaic culture, which is a really weird mix of religion, ritual, and savagery, has survived for three hundred years out there in the middle of the Caribbean, hidden from the eyes of modern man (except for those they kill, of course). They keep Maynard alive because they need some new blood in the tribe - if you know what I mean - but the tribal leader has other plans for young Justin. Those plans greatly complicate Maynard's efforts to somehow escape from a seemingly inescapable predicament.
Buccaneers will be buccaneers, which means there is plenty of violence every step of the way toward a real bloodbath of a conclusion. I have some issues with the way young Justin's story played out, but all in all I found this to be an intensely interesting movie. The storyline could easily have degenerated into something rather silly, but the director never let that happen. As amusing as some of the buccaneers' antics might be, this is a serious film (except, of course, for the second strangest kung fu sequence I've ever seen) that steadily increases in intensity throughout. It doesn't have the in-your-face life-and-death drama of Jaws, but for my money it's a mighty interesting - and undeniably unusual - movie experience.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: BEFORE JACK SPARROW, THERE WAS TUBARB!
Comment: With all the cheesey B Horror Movies out there, I'm surprised this has
never been released on DVD. I bet Attack of the Mushroom People is probably on DVD! Would some studio please release this to the people who remember this at the theater or saw it on VHS.
This was a Peter Benchley novel adapted to the screen after his huge
hits JAWS and The Deep played out well at the box office. I saw this at
a big screen theater, when it was released, before the days of the cineplex. What stands out are the character roles of the pirates led by
David Warner. You don't forget these fellows, an unbelievable collection
of lost souls. This was done decades before the Disney franchise starring
Johnny Depp was ever conceived. Modern day pirates wrapped around the
Bermuda Triangle Mystery. Tourists plundered, ships burned, booty hauled
away, to remote shores. Everything gets hidden away due to the weather, currents, foggy shorelines, partly explained by the Bermuda Triangle
mystery. Only the Mad Max sagas show a zoo of strange characters like the
pirates in this movie. They are desendents of ancient buccaneers, who allow Michael Caine and his son to live since their family tree goes back
to a famous pirate. A working vacation turns into hell for our modern
guys who stumble into the pirate's den.
Michael Caine must figure out a way to escape this madness and protect
his son from David Warners' influence. A civilised reporter must turn half pirate to find a route back to the modern world. He turns "Rambo"
in the finale, a great shootout scene on a Coast Guard cutter. Many a pirate meets a modern machine gun round to the body. Swords are no match for a 50 cal weapon. All in all, a decent action tale that should be on DVD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Passable, Waterlogged Adventure/Thriller
Comment: Back in 1980, long before Johnny Depp & Co. brought us the never-ending 'Pirates of the Caribbean' fare, novelist Peter Benchley and producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown sought to capitalize on the success of 'Jaws' and 'The Deep' as well as reenergize the pirate-movie genre with this follow-up film adaptation of Benchley's book, but the results were mixed and not always entirely successful. The novel and film offer up a whole new explanation for the lore of the 'Bermuda Triangle' and all its unexplained vanishings over in the years in that, in fact, they are the work of pirates. Yes, pirates.
The ever-stalwart Michael Caine stars investigative journalist Blair Maynard on assignment in the Caribbean islands near the Bahamas with his gun-aficionado, sharp-shooting twelve year old son, Justin, in tow. He's there tracking down a hot lead on a story involving the mysterious disappearances of several commercial and pleasure-craft boaters in the area.
Through a series of events, Maynard and his son get closer to the story than either of them bargained for when they are both captured and taken prisoner by the culprits behind the disappearances --------- the real, authentic descendants of late 17th-century buccaneers (led by David Warner) living sequestered from civilization on one of the nearby uncharted islands for nearly 300 years. This roving band of modern-day buccaneers ------ still living in the 1700's ------ continue their marauding pratices into the 20th century by raiding ships and boats passing through their territory, killing the occupants and living off the stolen goods pillaged from the vessels. (Think of it as 'The Hills Have Eyes', but on the water.) Life is good for these buccaneers except for one minor problem: their gene pool is deteriorating from decades of inbreeding so they enlist the involuntary services of the now captured Maynard to help improve their breeding by impregnating one of the women of the clan (Angela Punch McGregor).
Maynard must now try to stay alive while somehow finding a means of escape from the island and warn the local authorities (which seems to consist of one, lone, bicycle-riding policeman) but also faces a dilemna, too, as he must also find a way to rescue Justin, who has now fallen in among the buccaneers and joined their ranks, where his sharp-shooting gun skills are of use .....
This movie is not without its flaws, but it is still enjoyable and entertaining in many ways. Director Michael Ritchie (Prime Cut, Fletch) does manage to create a few suspensful sequences and some of the attacks on the hapless, unsuspecting victims were surprisingly gory. (I'll admit it ; I did jump once or twice) Caine even has few memorable lines as well. (When asked by one of the film's baddies if he feels privilged to be witnessing what he's seeing, Caine replies, "What's that, a bunch of assh*les playing Long John-f*cking-Silver?!") You get to see all the prerequisite colorful characters one might expect in a pirate movie, a plane crash, a brief sex scene, a jellyfish attack (now what the hell other movie has one of those?!?...), and even a decent action sequence where the bucs actually overwhelm and overtake a Coast Guard cutter. No, really.
Overall, it's a decent little 80's action thriller, even if it does have its sagging moments from time to time. Still worth seeing, although bring the sunscreen and dramamine. It's not great, but not bad, either.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Gore !
Comment: I liked this movie...but I like Michael Caine. Parts of this bloody movie I had to close my eyes on but rewatch Island every so often for the adventure. One of the few scary creepy features that isn't done on a shoestring and Italian.
Escapism but a good one. Too bad it isn't out on DVD
Customer Rating:
Summary: NETFLIX SOON!!!!
Comment: STILL TRYING TO DOWNLOAD THIS THING!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE NOT WATCHED YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT PAID SEVERAL TIMES!!!!!!!! DOWNLOADED 5 UNBOX PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE ALL HARDWARE AND DSL CONNECTION!!!!!!!!!! NO HELP FROM AMAZON YET!!!!!! BEZOS!!!YOU LISTENING??????????????
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yo ho ho, this is an interesting, surprisingly gory film
Comment: Now, here's a film that should definitely be available on DVD by now. By the time I got around to watching this, I had completely forgotten what it was even supposed to be about - but I put away any misgiving once I saw that it starred Michael Caine and was based on Peter Benchley's post-Jaws novel of the same name. Admittedly, the movie is a little out there and has a couple of weaknesses in the plot, but the whole thing is realistic enough to be plausible and features some pretty shocking violence for a 1980 non-horror movie - the opening scene is a particularly effective attention-getter.
Michael Caine plays Blair Maynard, a New York journalist determined to get to the bottom of a rather shocking number of boats lost near the Bahamas in the last three years. As fate would have it, his son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) turns up in his office unexpectedly (the ex-wife having forgotten to even let Maynard know he was coming), so the two of them jet off to Florida for the weekend. In case you have any doubts as to the age of this movie, just watch a gun shop sell Blair a handgun for his twelve-year-old son upon their arrival. Anyway, the two take a most memorable air jaunt to a remote island, head out to do some fishing, and discover that being a Good Samaritan is rather highly overrated. Before you can say Yar, matie! the two of them find themselves captives of a rag-tag bunch of filthy pirates - actually, they prefer to be called buccaneers. Their archaic culture, which is a really weird mix of religion, ritual, and savagery, has survived for three hundred years out there in the middle of the Caribbean, hidden from the eyes of modern man (except for those they kill, of course). They keep Maynard alive because they need some new blood in the tribe - if you know what I mean - but the tribal leader has other plans for young Justin. Those plans greatly complicate Maynard's efforts to somehow escape from a seemingly inescapable predicament.
Buccaneers will be buccaneers, which means there is plenty of violence every step of the way toward a real bloodbath of a conclusion. I have some issues with the way young Justin's story played out, but all in all I found this to be an intensely interesting movie. The storyline could easily have degenerated into something rather silly, but the director never let that happen. As amusing as some of the buccaneers' antics might be, this is a serious film (except, of course, for the second strangest kung fu sequence I've ever seen) that steadily increases in intensity throughout. It doesn't have the in-your-face life-and-death drama of Jaws, but for my money it's a mighty interesting - and undeniably unusual - movie experience.
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