Mr-Fusion There's something about "Cutthroat Island" that makes it enjoyable in spite of its shortcomings (miscast Geena Davis, sometimes questionable direction, sour reputation for bankrupting its studio). Mainly, this is a pretty kickass pirate movie with good action and an unflagging sense of adventure. Most of this is due to the magnificent score - which is probably the magical ingredient that keeps this vessel afloat.Honestly, this would probably be dead in the water without Debney's score (bad puns on the house), but I enjoyed myself a lot more than expected.7/10

wes-connors After the death of her father, swashbuckling Geena Davis (as Morgan Adams) inherits his pirate ship. More importantly, she acquires one-third of a treasure map. The map's location reveals the answer to the question, "Why did men in the 17th century wear thick, long-haired wigs." Of course, it's because they had treasure maps tattooed to their scalps. Probably, you did not know that. Baldness was also a problem back then, as the scalp map was written in Latin to discourage common spectators. Not well-versed in Latin, Ms. Davis must buy a slave to help translate the treasure map...Recently sentenced to slavery after stealing a woman's jewels, handsome blond-haired Matthew Modine (as William Shaw) is called into service. Not only does he read and speak Latin, he's also good at doctoring and kissing. A jack-of-all-trades slave, Mr. Modine quickly comes into possession of another third of the treasure map. The last third is kept by dastardly Frank Langella (as Douglas "Dawg" Brown). Davis and Modine must put the three pieces together, but Mr. Langella isn't cooperating. In fact, he would rather kill Davis and Modine, then keep all of the treasure for himself..."King Charles" (the monkey), Chris Masterson (as Bowen), Rex Linn (as Blair) and Stan Shaw (as Glasspoole) are supportive. Davis doesn't seem like a bad choice for the lead, even when you consider she was Mr. Harlin's wife. But her performance is far too indirect. Modine is appropriately less masculine. Even with its faults, this should have been a better picture for director Renny Harlin and his crew. Sure, it's crammed and cramped, but there is enough action to bring people into the theaters. While too blaring and bombastic, it might have been a hit in more pirate-friendly waters.***** Cutthroat Island (12/22/95) Renny Harlin ~ Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Chris Masterson

Motorskallen I remember this as one of my childhoods greatest action/adventure movies. Being a great fan of any good pirate story, I just had to re-watch it as an adult.What I found was a movie almost as good as I remember it. As an adult, I would of course smirk a bit at plot holes and some of the cheesy choreography (by which I mean such things as a bunch of Carolinians standing still in the middle of a battle, almost 'waiting' for the coming bomb to go of, or the 'good guys' appearing out of nowhere right behind the said Carolinians). But never mind that! Let's focus on the good things instead.It starts in the middle of a scene in which we are introduced to two of the main characters, the protagonist and the antagonist. The incident makes us understand that the protagonist (the pirate captain) is a well known pirate with a reputation, and the antagonist (a highly reputable politician) has got a taste for pirate flesh (on several levels, I might add). We quickly get into the story, and along the story goes on, we are introduced to more and more details about the persons and what has happened "before the movie". A plus is that it's not like thrown in your face at the end. Another mark on the good side is all the playing around with details typical for the pirate genre (by which I mean both books and movies, of course). But it never really gets cliché! Sometimes the movie is on the edge to get so, but never quite takes that final step over. We got a treasure island (Cutthroat Island), a bunch of hilarious/funny/goofy/kick ass pirates fighting each other and the 1600s government, some clever lines, a few bottles of rum and the Caribbean landscape. What else can you ask for in a pirate movie? The stunts, effects, acting and editing are never less than so-so, sometimes really good. Bare in mind that it was made almost twenty years ago, and the conditions as we have today wasn't really the same (which makes it easier for me to watch ... I know films from today that are far worse made). On the hole: if you would like to watch a good ol' pirate movie, with all the necessary ingredients, this is the one for you. I you are not a fan of pirate movies, but would like to change your mind, this is definitely the one for you!

Spikeopath Cutthroat Island is directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman. It stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin, Patrick Malahide, Stan Shaw and Rex Linn. Music is scored by John Debney and cinematography by Peter Levy.A film of many flaws, with a reputation akin to it being the devil of big budget failures, it is, however, a wonderful piece of piratical entertainment if you are prepared to see past the monetary excess. Famously cited as the film that bankrupted Caroloco Pictures, the truth is that Carolco was going under anyway, the studio had filed for bankruptcy before Cutthroat Island had even been released, the box office performance was irrelevant, it wouldn't have made a bit of difference. And while no amount of hard sell marketing could have gotten the film to make back the $98 million spent making it, it received no support from distributor MGM who were in the process of being sold, so finances for marketing were not available.Harlin's movie has all the pirate movie ingredients crammed in to the plot, though it is a standard plot that sees Davis as female pirate Morgan Adams who leads her charges on a quest to find the ultimate treasure hoard. Problem is that the map is in three parts, each part held by separate people, one of which is Morgan's vicious Uncle Dawg (Langella). The hunt and race is on, and Harlin doesn't pause for breath, he's a kid in a sweet shop armed with wads of cash, but the money, as gargantuan as it is, is there on the screen; well except for the hiring of better actors that is. Two magnificent ships were built for the production and they are magnificent, the costumes, the sets, pyrotechnics, exotic locations (Malta and Thailand standing in for 1668 Jamaica), stunning sound editing and visual thrills, all high on value and all cloaked by a tremendously robust score from Debney.Action junkies are well served here, with wild horse drawn carriage chases, sword fights aplenty, ships in side by side explosive battle, mucho perilous situations, bodies falling from heights or thrown in the sea, and we even get a comic relief simian! Who, as it turns out, is one of the best actors on show. It's hard to believe that a pirate action film such as this would not be better appreciated had it been released in the last ten years, and I say that not just because of the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but more so that the blunderbuss popcorn movie has greater support these days. There's a good portion of the movie loving faithful who just want to be entertained, where rapid thrills are a requisite, not well drawn characterisations and thespian class. Judged on those terms then Cutthroat Island is a winner for sure.Main problems are the clunky script and the three pronged miscast errors in the lead roles. Davis (erm, wife of Harlin) is full of guts, really attacking the material with gusto, but she never convinces, it always feels like a caricature and she's uncomfortable delivering key lines. She would prove herself a fine action actress a year later with The Long Kiss Goodnight (also with Harlin directing), but she's woefully out of place here. With Davis demanding more and more screen time for her character, the role of Shaw began to thin out, which was too much to bear for Michael Douglas who bowed out late in the day. In came Matthew Modine, zero chemistry with Davis, a bland acting style and as far removed from the period setting as you could get. Langella just isn't menacing as the main villain of the piece, a very good actor in the right role, but not here and some of his attempts at nastiness feel like panto season has started early.Problems for sure, but wade through some of the misconceptions and poisonous press and you will find a film desperately aiming to please you, with much on offer for the pirate movie fan to savour. 7/10