Cutthroat Island (1995)

A female pirate and her companion race against their rivals to find a hidden island that contains a fabulous treasure.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers:

Michael Frost Beckner (story), James Gorman (story)

Stars:

Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geena Davis	...	Morgan Adams
Matthew Modine	...	William Shaw
Frank Langella	...	Dawg Brown
Maury Chaykin	...	John Reed
Patrick Malahide	...	Ainslee
Stan Shaw	...	Mr. Glasspoole
Rex Linn	...	Mr. Blair
Paul Dillon	...	Snelgrave
Christopher Masterson	...	Bowen (as Chris Masterson)
Jimmie F. Skaggs	...	Scully
Harris Yulin	...	Black Harry Adams
Carl Chase	...	Bishop
Peter Geeves	...	Fiddler Pirate
Angus Wright	...	Captain Trotter
Ken Bones	...	Toussant

Storyline

Morgan Adams and her slave, William Shaw, are on a quest to recover the three portions of a treasure map. Unfortunately, the final portion is held by her murderous uncle, Dawg. Her crew is skeptical of her leadership abilities, so she must complete her quest before they mutiny against her. This is made yet more difficult by the efforts of the British crown to end her piratical raids.

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Plot Keywords:

treasure | pirate | treasure map | pirate ship | sword fight | 

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Taglines:

The Course Has Been Set. There Is No Turning Back. Prepare Your Weapons. Summon Your Courage. Discover the Adventure of a Lifetime!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some strong pirate action/violence and brief sensuality

Details

Country:

France Italy Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

La pirata

Filming Locations:

Fort Ricasoli, Kalkara, Malta

Box Office

Budget:

$98,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,371,415, 25 December 1995

Gross USA:

$10,017,322

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,017,322

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beckner/Gorman Productions, Canal+, Carolco Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a radio interview in 2011, Renny Harlin discussed the film's box office failure. He pointed out that Carolco Pictures was already in ruin before the film even began shooting, but had to make the film since financing from foreign investors was already in place. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film's distributor, was in the process of being sold and thus could not devote itself into financing a marketing campaign for the film.

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Goofs

In the scene where Morgan and Shaw are running from the town after fighting with Dawg brown, a plastic garbage bag (most likely filled with acetylene for an explosion) can be seen rolling off the porch.

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Quotes

Black Harry: [his last words] Once in your life, Morgan... Do as I tell you.

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Alternate Versions

The R2 DVD differs from the VHS cut in several ways with some scenes being put back in and yet some still left badly cut...

• Before leaving the room in the opening scene, Morgan tells the man she's just seduced: "I got your balls."
• Morgan pushes the eyepatched guard off a balcony saying "I promised I'd take care of you later", paying off a line earlier that never made sense without both scenes.
• When the chain wraps around Morgan's neck in the tavern she is now pulled off backwards in a bad CGI shot that shows her landing on a table below.
• More fighting scenes, more slashing of bellies.
• When Dawg shoots his own crew member ("We need less mouths") it's obvious this still remains badly cut as the gunshot cuts off abruptly and we don't see the man taking the bullet.

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Connections

References Captain Blood (1935)

User Reviews

What's the big deal?

This is not the best movie in the world, but it sure isn't Gigli! When it was coming to theatres, I saw a poster for it (just a Jolly Roger), but never saw any trailers, TV spots, print ads or anything. I'm guessing MGM wanted to wash their hands of it for some reason. I really hope it wasn't based on test audiences or something lame like that. To put it to comparison, recently Dreamworks' Sinbad:L.o.t.7.S. "flopped" but had an adequate marketing campaign. If anyone bothered to ADVERTISE this film, it would have done okay business even if it couldn't come up with all of its budget.

Now getting to the actual movie itself, sure, a lot of it was Mediocre City, but there was enough going for it to keep it in M.C. and out of Razzie Town. I would gladly pay my $1 to see this movie at the 2nd-run theatre, heck I'll take my whole family for $8. Percentage-wise, that $8 would actually make a difference to their Box Office performance.

Now if somebody could just make a Monkey Island movie...