Treasure Island (1999/I)

Director:

Peter Rowe

Writers:

Peter Rowe (writer)
Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)

Genre:

Adventure | Family

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Map | Child's Point Of View | Long John Silver | High Seas

Cast

Sarah Holland	...	The Strumpet
Pax Lohan	...	Gran
Anthony Booth	...	Chief Revenue Officer
Christopher Benjamin	...	Squire Trelawney
Malcolm Stoddard	...	Captain Smollet
David Robb	...	Doctor Livesey
Kevin Zegers	...	Jim Hawkins
Jake Fry	...	Morgan
Dermot Keaney	...	Israel Hands
Cody Palance	...	Blind Pew
Philip Whitchurch	...	Black Dog
Al Ashton	...	George Merry (as Al Hunter Ashton)
Walter Sparrow	...	Ben Gunn
Patrick Bergin	...	Billy Bones
Jack Palance	...	Long John Silver
Peter Rowe	...	Captain Flint (voice)
Daphne Williams	...	Molly
Chris Caine	...	Redruth
Matthew T. James	...	Hunter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanley Karran	...	Beach Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Rowe

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Rowe		writer
Robert Louis Stevenson		novel "Treasure Island"

Produced by
Julie Allan	....	producer
Hélène Boulay	....	line producer
John Buchanan	....	executive producer
Pieter Kroonenburg	....	producer
Harry Alan Towers	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Neil Smolar

Cinematography by
Marc Charlebois

Production Design by
Charles Boulay

Art Direction by
Steeve Henry

Makeup Department
Annick Chartier	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Gary Evans	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Malcolm Davies	....	production sound mixer
Scott Donald	....	dialog editor
Yuri Gorbachow	....	sound effects editor
Steven Gurman	....	supervising sound editor

Special Effects by
Gilbert Larose Jr.	....	special effects coordinator

Stunts
Gilbert Larose Jr.	....	stunt performer
David Rigby	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sylvain Bernier	....	cinematographer: second unit
Sylvain Bernier	....	gaffer
Pierre Charpentier	....	key grip
Jamie Fowlds	....	Steadicam operator
Jamie Fowlds	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Michel Girard	....	first assistant camera
Jon Head	....	grip
Martin Protat	....	second assistant camera
Mario Roussy	....	best boy grip

Editorial Department
Christian Gravel	....	assistant editor
Thomas Metzger	....	colorist

Music Department
Michael Picton	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Nicolina Servello	....	production receptionist

Production Companies

• Fries Film Group
• Isle of Man Film Commission
• Kingsborough Greenlight Pictures

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar
• Fries Film Group
• ILC Group (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• New Concorde Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12

Filming Locations:

Castletown, Isle of Man

Company:

Fries Film Group

Movie Connections:

Version of Ostrov sokrovishch (1982) (TV)

Good job but not masterpiece

I've never read the book. In fact, the only version of this novel I knew was a comic book version where Dennis the Menace was Jim. And I don't even remember anything about that except that Long John hit one of the other pirates for showing Jim his long underwear, and that Ben Gunn looked like he hadn't seen another person in years.

And this type of adventure movie is not really for me. But it was all that was on, and I seem to recall it was a literary classic. Still, it seemed to be a family adventure if you don't mind the blood (personally, I could have done without quite so much violence). I thought Kevin Zegers did quite a good job as Jim, and while I was surprised Long John was so old, Jack Palance did a fine job with the role as it was written here.

I thought most of the actors did a good job, particularly David Robb as the doctor and Walter Sparrow as Ben Gunn. Sarah Holland had maybe two lines as a young lady who seemed to have less than a stellar reputation, but she still managed to impress.

I wouldn't rank this as one of the great movies. I also had trouble figuring out who was on what side--at times Long John seemed to be one of the good guys! But he was usually with the pirates. One thing is certain: most of the pirates seemed quite mean, ugly, dirty and unpleasant.

It's an interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon, I guess.