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146 reviews in total

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56 out of 81 people found the following review useful:
Go rent it! WAY better than the negative reviews..., 3 September 2001
Author: Eric-1226 from Seattle, Washington

You will have to chalk me up as belonging to that camp of viewers who actually *wanted* to see a truly horrid film (as based on all the negative reviews) only to discover to our delight that there was a gem of a movie hiding there all along.

For me, watching the film was a *great* escapist experience. I felt exactly what the character played by David Thewlis would have felt, had I been in a similar "lost in the middle of the ocean, end up on a strange island" sort of predicament. The movie did a superb job of instantly whisking me away to a strange and beautiful and ominous place - the Island of Dr. Moreau - and I found myself staying with the fantasy the whole way through.

The cinematography was just beautiful, and if you have ever been in or near the tropics, the filming and the movie setting did an awesome job of conveying that hot, thick, humid, teeming-with-life feel that can only be found in the tropics.

I really enjoyed the eery background music, it really added to the overall creepiness of the whole weird "mad-science-gone-amok" theme of the story. Plus that scene where David Thewlis first encounters Faruiza Balk, and she starts to dance to that utterly hypnotic and awesome Balinese music, was just too spine-tingling for words. I only regret that I haven't been able to locate any soundtrack information yet on the movie, so I don't know who played that song, but the whole scene was absolutely and truly memorable. I'd watch it again just for that song and dance scene alone.

I noticed that many people didn't like the acting or the characterizations. I, on the other hand, felt that the four main characters (Brando, Kilmer, Thewlis, and Balk) were flawless in their depiction of a familiar tale. Brando was admittedly "weird" - but hey, give the guy his due, he was SUPPOSED to be a weird, crazed scientist. What were you expecting, the Maytag Repairman? Kilmer was deliciously evil, can't say enough good about Val Kilmer, he's always been one of my very favorite actors, and he DID NOT disappoint in this film, either. Balk, as mentioned above, was just awesome (and I REALLY liked the scene where she and "father" Brando had their moment of emotional bonding). Thewlis was right spot-on with his interpretation of an innocent "sane" observer who barely made it off this mad-house of an island without totally losing his own sanity. I think I would have done exactly as he had done, in his circumstances. Well Acted! Bravo!

One scene that didn't work for me was early on when the man-beasts were shown to be delivering a hideous-looking baby from a hideous-looking beast-woman. I don't know, but somehow I felt that it should have been Dr. Moreau and Montgomery (Brando and Kilmer) who should have been the doctors doing the delivery. Nevertheless, it was a truly creepy scene.

Finally, I thought the movie was well-stocked with thought-provoking comments on the morality of scientific experimentation. The scene at the dinner table, where Brando expounds on his personal views, comes to mind, as does the final parting comments, voiced by Thewlis. I had to watch the movie several times just to hear those words. They will REALLY make you think. I truly believe this movie should be seen and actively discussed by students at high school or college level - not just in science prep classes, but philosophy and social science courses as well. I don't care what the naysayers have to say, this was by no means an empty or shallow movie.

So, go take a trip to the Island of Dr. Moreau. You won't come back unchanged....

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20 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Fascinating mess of a movie, 22 December 1999
Author: Dodger-9 from York

David Thewlis, looking like he's wandered in from another film, is totally miscast in this much-troubled version of the HG Wells classic.

After being rescued by toothy vet Val Kilmer and taken to the eponymous location, our Mancunian UN hero comes across cat girl Fairuza Balk and the balloon-like doc (Marlon Brando), all pasty-faced and with an Ealing comedy accent.

Marlon hasn't just been doing beached whale impressions on this exotic isle. You see, mad old Moreau has been messing around with gene-splicing and has created a race of humanoid beasts - courtesy of effects whiz Stan Winston.

He controls them with electric shock implants and is so taken with his work, has little other defence when the beasts inevitably start running wild. In essence, it all goes a bit Jurassic Park.

There are a few good points in this mish mash. A stunning opening titles scene - very necessary considering the lack of any adventure for the first 10 minutes; Thewlis' extraordinary presence; and an okay finale. In fact, any scenes without Brando and Kilmer are quite fascinating. This is partly down to the Richard Stanley screenplay which boasts some flashes of brilliance amid much re-worked studio editing and re-jigging.

This is one of those films where the making of the movie is perhaps more intriguing than the final product. Stanley, the film's original director, was fired and banned from the set. He actually went back, dressed up as a dog man extra, and watched the rest of the production unfold. Had he been allowed to finish his directing chores and had final cut, the result would probably have been a thousand times better.

However, John Frankenheimer does a fair job under the circumstances.

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14 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Messy but underrated, 23 January 2000
Author: Gary-161

This wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe and was often nightmarish as well as gripping. I understand it was a troubled production and that may explain the uneven lurches in action. This film was saved by the excellent and committed performances by the actors who played the animals, who were really heartbreaking. Wells himself had an ambivalent attitude to the human race and was said to have had certain facist sympathies. However, Any philisophical points tended to be drowned by the rather garish direction. Brando's accent seemed wrong for the modern day setting of the film as well. A sad and distressing film that is well worth a look.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Critically Pummelled Entertainment, 7 January 2011

Author: worldsofdarkblue from Toronto

Most people seem to dismiss it, if not hate it. Certainly the critics. But. really - we get a Brando performance that again displays his long-held dismissal of Hollywood-ism, we get Val Kilmer hamming it up joyously (even to the point of repeatedly doing Brando impressions), we get David Thewliss (a damn fine actor) actually playing the most important character with admirable commitment, we get cat-eyed Fairuza Balk (yum!), we get the great Ron Perlman, playing a beast yet again, pretty much stealing the movie, we get something that is Dr. Moreau's constant companion, becoming a pop-culture icon thanks to South Park - as Chef puts it "what the hell are you supposed to be? You don't look like anything". Outstanding photography, effective tropical suggestibility (you can almost feel the humidity), excellent animal make-up, some truly memorable scenes (the birthing scene, the Hyena-Moreau confrontation) and even a sense of philosophical examination. And though the story of this insane scientist attempting to humanize animals has been done several times, only this one goes to the extreme of showing us that he's even created a bunch of tiny rat people! What a loon. Too much enjoyment for a movie so slammed.

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14 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Very Interesting Re-Make, 11 October 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is a something different when it was released, yet not so in the film world as it was first made into a movie in the 1930s and was called "Te Island Of Lost Souls." This re-make produced some fascinating and gruesome human- monsters. You can thank Hollywood FX wizard Stan Winston for these creatures.

Meanwhile, Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer "play God" attempting to create perfect human beings. What is created instead are "people" you almost don't want to look at. It took me two viewings to be okay with it. The first viewing left a bad taste in my mouth, but I gave it a second (and a third) look because the story is so different and intriguing. I liked Brando's dialog, too. His role, as "Dr. Moreau," was easily the best in the film.

What else is a bit unusual is that almost all the main characters in this are killed off by the end, some with sudden surprise.

Back in the '90s, this was one of the best-looking DVDs I had seen up to that point.

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17 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
Well-produced but out of control, 15 April 2006

Author: moonspinner55 from redlands, ca

David Thewlis is very good as air-crash survivor who is taken to mysterious island in the South Pacific where recluse Marlon Brando mutates various animals with human genes; Fairuza Balk is Brando's daughter, Val Kilmer (in arguably his weakest performance ever) plays Brando's assistant. Uncontrolled version of H.G. Wells' horror story is crippled by behind-the-scenes strife and ego clashes. It opens well, sustains itself for about forty-five minutes, but then goes completely to hell afterward. John Frankenheimer is credited with the scrappy direction, though he stepped in mid-production and finished the picture after Kilmer had the original director canned. Too bad, with more focus this could've been incredible. Story previously filmed in 1933 (as "Island of Lost Souls") and with Michael York and Burt Lancaster in 1977. ** from ****

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
don't believe the bad reviews, 30 May 2003

Author: (silentbdeadly@yahoo.com) from florida

I still don't understand why this film generates such negative reviews. What is it people were expecting? Maybe people still don't get Brando. Brando doesn't "act," he just IS and he's never been one for memorizing lines; it's never been about the words he says anyway, so why shouldn't he have the lines taped to the table, to the foreheads of other actors, etc. It's all about how he gestures and becomes the part and maybe just says whatever comes into his head as the character anyway.

I will admit it took me two viewings before I got into the film myself, but I've seen it more than 10 times by now and it still holds up. It's beautifully photographed for one thing and the tension on the set between the actors -- especially Val Kilmer and Brando adds to the tension of the film itself. If for no other reason than to see the original "Minnie Me" in action, rent this and try to keep an open mind.

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Sense of humor needed to watch this, 7 October 1999

Author: hgni from Port Charlotte, FL

This movie gets a bad rap -- viewers say Brando plain sucks and that it butchers a good Wells story. Perhaps the latter is true, but I consider Brando, as the mad doctor, a fine choice and, while he is rather subdued, he is still the candid, self-conscious actor we all know and love. He practically mumbles his lines as his mouth is lined with cotton and (probably) cheeseburgers. And, the scene where Brando plays piano along with his "pre Mini-Me" sidekick is a classic. Now, I know Brando refused to learn his lines for this movie and Kilmer is known for being a real ass to work with, but the in-production feuds add to the aura of this film. These characters aren't supposed to like each other and the tension fills the air. The special effects are top notch, albeit gruesome and a bit overdone. It all adds to the feel of the movie. I have this movie on tape and watch it again and again, alongside "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Taxi Driver," "Rear Window" and "Dr. Strangelove." If you thought you shouldn't see this based on other user's comments, put your expectations aside and just enjoy!

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29 out of 53 people found the following review useful:
To go on two legs is very hard, 3 September 2005

Author: grahammayer from South Africa

I'm not sure if that is the exact quote from the movie, but I think altogether too many reviewers of this film go on four. I really enjoyed this move for its story, the acting and the way it conveyed its many messages. One guy even had the gall to describe it as a bad Jurassic Park. Now that was a bad movie. Great special effects for the time perhaps but a paper thin story that failed to explore its subject and the implications thereof. This movie makes no such mistake. It explores themes of what it means to be human, whether ends justify means, and what is moral or immoral from different perspectives. It even explores the nature of good and evil to some degree. There are far too few movies, especially these days, that have this kind of depth and leave you, ultimately, to be the judge. Yes, it is disturbing; its meant to be. Yes, it is dark; its meant to be. It makes you think and leaves and indelible impression. It certainly has its flaws but if you can see past them, then perhaps you go on two legs, even though its hard.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Island of Dr. Moreau added to Doctor Rock's Essential Viewing List, 9 January 1999
Author: Doctor Rock (q@b5.net) from Australia

This movie, by definition, must be added to the Essential Viewing list if only to see Marlon Brando in what must be one of his last roles before the actual logistics of transporting him became an insurmountable problem for production. This combined with Val Kilmer as the drug dispensing Montgomery and being filmed in Australia, in addition to the amazing afro/counter rhythm strong sound track demands it a place in the realm of essential viewing. I feel confident that H.G. Wells would approve of the rewrite of his material too, in concept at least. Notable studies in concepts of ethics and mixed moralities.

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