Treasure Island (TV 1990)

Young Jim Hawkins, while running the Benbow Inn with his mother, meets Captain Billy Bones, who dies at the inn while it is besieged by buccaneers led by Blind Pew. Jim and his mother fight... See full summary »

Director:

Fraser Clarke Heston

Writers:

Fraser Clarke Heston, Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)

Stars:

Charlton Heston, Christian Bale, Oliver Reed

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlton Heston	...	Long John Silver
Christian Bale	...	Jim Hawkins
Oliver Reed	...	Capt. Billy Bones
Christopher Lee	...	Blind Pew
Richard Johnson	...	Squire Trelawney
Julian Glover	...	Dr. Livesey
Isla Blair	...	Mrs. Hawkins
Clive Wood	...	Captain Smollet
Nicholas Amer	...	Ben Gunn (as Nicolas Amer)
John Abbott	...	Joyce
James Cosmo	...	Redruth
James Coyle	...	Morgan
Michael Halsey	...	Israel Hands
Michael Thoma	...	Hunter
Pete Postlethwaite	...	George Merry (as Peter Postlethwaite)

Storyline

Young Jim Hawkins, while running the Benbow Inn with his mother, meets Captain Billy Bones, who dies at the inn while it is besieged by buccaneers led by Blind Pew. Jim and his mother fight off the attackers and discover Billy Bones' treasure map for which the buccaneers had come. Jim agrees to sail on the Hispaniola with Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey to find the treasure on a mysterious island. Upon arriving at the island, ship's cook and scalawag Long John Silver leads a mutiny of crew members who want the treasure for themselves. Jim helps the Squire and Hispaniola officers to survive the mutiny and fight back against Silver's men, who have taken over the Hispaniola.

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Plot Keywords:

mutiny | captain | treasure map | long john silver | ship | 

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Taglines:

Sail the high seas. Battle the pirates. Live the adventure.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime

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Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Ilha do Tesouro

Filming Locations:

Clovelly, Devon, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agamemnon Films, British Lion Film Corporation, Turner Network Television (TNT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Fraser Heston's commentary, Oliver Reed was afraid of heights and had to be rigged with a climbing harness in the scene when Billy Bones is looking out from the cove with the spyglass.

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Goofs

When the loyals are transporting the treasure to the Hispaniola, Ben Gunn falls down the scuttle carrying a sack of coins. When Silver bends to pick one up, the parrot is seen on his shoulder. In the close-up immediately after this, the parrot is gone.

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Quotes

Long John Silver: Them that dies'll be the lucky ones!

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Connections

Version of Treasure Planet (2002)

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Soundtracks

"The Star of the County Down"
(uncredited)
Traditional
[Heard in the background during the Bristol tavern scene]

User Reviews

A Treasure of a Treasure Island!

One of the great literary classics is brought to life in this wonderful made for television version. An incredible cast, headed by Charlton Heston as Long John Silver, beautiful location footage and a great soundtrack from Paddy Maloney performed by the Chieftains, makes this one of the liveliest productions ever filmed. Cleverly scripted and directed by Fraser Heston, the viewer is treated to a wonderfully faithful adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's classic adventure tale.

Christopher Lee is near unrecognizable in the ghastly make-up of Blind Pew. Add to that the most incredible voice-work and you have one of Mr. Lee's most fascinating characterizations. Although on-screen for a relatively short time, Pew is instrumental to the plot, and Mr. Lee certainly makes the most of his limited time, effectively creating one of the most frightening and memorable characters. Never before, or since, has Blind Pew been quite so well played. His interaction with the late great Oliver Reed as Billy Bones at the Benbow Inn is a wonderful moment, particularly for Hammer fans.

The cast includes a phenomenal assortment of remarkable actors. While Charlton Heston is less than perfectly cast, he does turn in a commendable performance and in no way detracts from the production. It is evident that he is enjoying his role. Young Christian Bale in an early performance is excellent and well cast, as Jim Hawkins. Isla Blair does a great job as young Jim's protective mother. Along for the ride we also have Julian Glover in a standout performance as Dr. Livesey. His confrontation with the swaggering Oliver Reed as Billy Bones is a high point in this film. Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawney and Clive Wood as Capt. Smollet round out the cast, with Nicolas Amer (whom I thought was actually Jasper Carrot) as a suitably deranged Ben Gunn. An exceptional cast, which fits together beautifully, results in my favorite version of this oft-filmed classic. While at times reminiscent of some of Hammer's adventure films, it certainly benefits from modern film technique, and rightly exceeds even the best of Hammer's pirate yarns.

Even if you are just checking this out for Christopher Lee's or Oliver Reed's performance, you'll find yourself engrossed in a wonderful family film and wondering why more classics aren't given such great treatment. Highly recommended!