The Island (2005)

A man living in a futuristic sterile colony begins to question his circumscribed existence when his friend is chosen to go to the Island, the last uncontaminated place on earth.

Director:

Michael Bay

Writers:

Caspian Tredwell-Owen (screenplay), Alex Kurtzman (screenplay)

Stars:

Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Djimon Hounsou

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ewan McGregor	...	Lincoln Six Echo / Tom Lincoln
Scarlett Johansson	...	Jordan Two Delta / Sarah Jordan
Djimon Hounsou	...	Albert Laurent
Sean Bean	...	Dr. Bernard Merrick
Steve Buscemi	...	James McCord
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Starkweather Two Delta / Jamal Starkweather
Ethan Phillips	...	Jones Three Echo
Brian Stepanek	...	Gandu Three Echo
Noa Tishby	...	Community Announcer
Siobhan Flynn	...	Lima One Alpha
Troy Blendell	...	Laurent Team Member
Jamie McBride	...	Laurent Team Member
Kevin McCorkle	...	Laurent Team Member
Gary Nickens	...	Laurent Team Member
Kathleen Rose Perkins	...	Laurent Team Member

Storyline

Set in a dystopian future, a group of people work in a facility, essentially as slaves. They do have an incentive though - a regular lottery is held and one of them gets to leave the facility and its restrictions and move to The Island, a paradise. Lincoln Six Echo is one of the workers in the facility and he is infatuated with Jordan Two Delta. His life is fairly uneventful and mundane until Jordan Two Delta gets selected to go to The Island. Then Lincoln starts to discover the truth about the facility and The Island.

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Plot Keywords:

year 2019 | island | clone | same actor playing two characters simultaneously on screen | actress playing dual role | 

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Taglines:

Plan Your Escape

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bay had McGregor add the line "Wow that tongue thing is amazing" after Johansson french kisses him on the stairs because that's what he actually said to the first girl who ever French kissed him. Her name was Meg. "Imagine what a geek I was when I said that."

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Goofs

(at around 2h 5 mins) As Lincoln is hanging from the large cable near the end of the movie, you can twice see the thin wire that is actually holding him up.

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Quotes

[first lines]
God-Like Man: You're special. You have a very special purpose in life. You've been chosen. The Island awaits you.

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Connections

Featured in Nova ScienceNow: Can We Live Forever? (2011)

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Soundtracks

Charmaine
Written by Lew Pollack & Erno Rapee
Performed by The Mantovani Orchestra
Arranged by Ronald Binge (uncredited)
Courtesy of Delta Entertainment and San Juan Music Group
By Arrangement with Source/Q

User Reviews

Underrated!

I found The Island to be highly enjoyable - a great Summer blockbuster that isn't quite mindless. It raises a number of very interesting questions...

Plenty of eye candy in every form, the two leads, the scenery, explosions, action sequences, the cinematography, everything you would expect from Michael Bay and Co.

The pacing to begin with is somewhat slow as the premise is set up (though disappointingly the trailers give it all away), but once it launches into the first action sequence it doesn't let up for some time. Yes the story has a number of plot holes but you can easily overlook them and get swept away in the fun. I've never seen Johansson on film until now and WOW, now I know what all the fuss is about. Her and McGregor display enough chemistry to make their relationship believable but only just. I'm sure this will only propel them onto bigger and better things.

My one and only gripe was with the ending scene complete with cheesy choral accompaniment - blech! Maybe Bay just couldn't help himself. I suppose no film is perfect..

7 out of 10, solid, fun entertainment, what more can you ask for?

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Island

Filming Locations:

Cook Bank Building, Rhyolite, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$126,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,409,070, 24 July 2005

Gross USA:

$35,818,913

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$162,949,164

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dreamworks Pictures, Warner Bros., Parkes/MacDonald Image Nation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

136 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1