A Question on Cutthroat Island

[Capt. Morgan]

I have never seen this movie, and can't find it at my local video store for rent. I found a few copies at my local Wal-Mart for $10... is it worth buying?

[Paisley]

you want an answer from pirate geek like me, or normal person? lol

well...i love it. my son loves it. my hubby quotes it. it's not as good as potc...although geena davis is good looking. it's more spoofy than serious.

besides, at $10, it's still cheaper than for you & friend to see it at a movie theater.

btw...the soundtrack is great!

[Capt. Morgan]

Cool! Thats the info I was looking for; by the by, are any of us here "normal"? Aren't we all pirate geeks? Isn't that why we're here? You're in good company! *lol*

[Rumba Rue]

I really like Cutthroat Island! Well Geena Davis ain't the greatest, (provides eye candy for the males), but it's a lot of fun, some great lines, amusing adventure and in fact I have a copy - though it's VHS.

Worth getting in my humble opinion.

Rumba Rue

**Another smooth escape disguised as a dramatic exit!**

[El Pirata]

I have never seen this movie, and can't find it at my local video store for rent. I found a few copies at my local Wal-Mart for $10... is it worth buying?

Buy it!

[JoshuaRed]

Spoofy is great when it gets pulled off correctly - the problem with Cutthroat Island is that Renny Harlin wasn't trying to be spoofy - he was trying to make what he thought was a rousing pirate adventure to showcase his wife Geena. Trouble is he based it entirely on old Hollywood pirate movies, with nary a shred of historical accuracy except the gorgeous costumes which are worth the cost of the movie alone. It's a copy of a copy of Treasure Island.

It's fun to watch for the great score and costumes, but man what a stinker otherwise. :)

[Serendipity]

I've tried watching this movie twice, and the only thing it's ever roused me to do is keel-haul Geena Davis. I can't enjoy it as a parody, because it's not one, and I can't enjoy it as a real movie, because it's definately not one. Two flintlocks down. Less'n someone be giving it away for free I wouldn't bother.

[the Royaliste]

"All in the 'Aye' 'o the beholder!!!...Ever so often, I see's Geena swingin' in me ratlines, firin' arrows from a long bow('aven't figgured out 'ow she's holdin' on, but, 'eck, 'tis a dream, eh?)...A fine pirette in my book!..(an' I'd much ruther wake up to her in my bunk as opposed to 'Orlando')

[Sassy]

Me thinks sayin' I's seen it 'bout 5 times says it all whar's me opinion o' it 'tis concerned. Me thinks it war a fun movie wif lots o'kabooms (an' I loves Kabooms!!)

An' I wouldn't be kickin' Orlando outta me bunk, that be fer sure!

[Deacon Frye]

... Less'n someone be giving it away for free I wouldn't bother.

It's not worth it for free.

A few years ago, I saw the tape for sale in the bargain section of my supermarket for about $7.

I saw Geena on the cover, holding a rapier, and thought: "How could I possibly go wrong?".

Aaarghhh.

Bilgewater.

[Serendipity]

It's not worth it for free.

Well, I wouldn't say that. The tape makes bloody fun noises when it starts to burn. Very cathartic.

[Nigel]

I love your signature, Ms. Dipity!!!

[Serendipity]

Thanky, Nigel. Quite fond of 'Sir Freelancalot' me self.

[CaptJackSparrow]

Well, Cutthroat Island may not be the best film of all time for different reasons, But the the saving grace is that is has a high production value and it the only other seroius or semi-serious modern pirate film out there. It's great fun to watch for......well.....pirates. Frank Langella is GREAT as usual and it has all the quailty of set and costume dressing and design as POTC andthats not bad for a film almost 20 years it's junior.

Jack

[hurricane]

I must admit it 'tis a favorite of this pirate crewe - along with Against All Flags and the new Peter Pan (and of course, PoTC without need of mention). Yes, it's stereotypical and the effects are over the top - but it's an enjoyable yarn for the sake of being a yarn.

It was good to see a woman as a captain for a change - of course, I'm a Geena Davis fan - she could shiver me timbers any time. :)

And has anyone noticed that in PoTC the walking under the water under a rowboat schtick was done before in the Crimson Pirate?

[Charlotte Doyle]

And has anyone noticed that in PoTC the walking under the water under a rowboat schtick was done before in the Crimson Pirate?

Actually, from what I've read in Production Notes, and so on, that was because that scene in PotC was went to be a direct tribute to the scene in the film "Crimson Pirate" . . .

Serendipity, I'm not sure which I love more -- yer sig quote or yer avatar icon! Awesome. :)

[Black Deacon]

Unless your talking Hornblower none of them are too accurate when it comes to Pirate films. But until POTC Cutthroat Island was my favorite. Yes it was made to showcase Geena on a more diverse acting level. And it did. In the meantime the sets and costuming were great, dialog was fun and the ships were great. It was also one of the few pirate films that portrayed a black man in a role of authority. CI is what it is as POTC is what it is. Either way they are both better than Yellowbeard.

[Serendipity]

Yes it was made to showcase Geena on a more diverse acting level. And it did.

I think this was my main problem with this movie. I'll admit to liking the blonde guy, the plot wasn't any worse then previous pirate films, and the costumes and score were peachy but to me Geena Davis was just a giant whirlpool of suck. She...The Accent...Her delivery...Blargh. There wasn't any part in the film when I thought 'Ohhhh pirate!' it was always more like 'Who the hell gave Geena Davis a sword?'

I think seeing PoTC first raised my pirate film bar too high. Ah well.

And many thanks to you too, Charlotte.

[Capt. Morgan]

I haven't seen too many of the Hornblower episodes (keep missing them), but there were pirates, privateers, or buccaneers on the show? I must up my efforts to see more of the show!

[Paisley]

i just found out about hornblower...have caught 2 episodes: loyality & duty...they are ok, but then i enjoy period pieces like that...(but it's not cutthroat.)

and aye...yellowbeard sucks...had to turn it off.

i'd rather put pirate hats on all my dogs and give 'em peanut butter. i can watch that for hours!

[JoshuaRed]

thats not bad for a film almost 20 years it's junior.

Actually Cutthroat Island came out in 1995 which makes it only 8 years the junior. It is worth watching if only for Patrick Malahide's wicked cool performance as Governor Ainslee. But Geena....oh man....hawwruble! I gotta side with those of ye wot did not care fer her bein' in this flick.

She is so "Al Gore-ish". So wooden. She looks visibly uncomfortable in her role throughout the movie, unlike Depp who visibly relishes each line of dialogue.

But my number one pet peeve with Cutthroat Island is that when they wash ashore there and set off into the jungle.....you distinctly hear a lion roar. A lion. In the Caribbean. Uh-huh.

Here's another good one. In Port Royal at the slave auction that arrogant aristocrat looks over at the wall of wanted posters to see one for Morgan. Right next to it and rather prominently displayed is one for Blackbeard as well. But this movie is set in 1668 which would make Blackbeard either not born or a snot-nosed toddler 'angin off his mum's teat back in Bristol! Now I am all for loosening the constraints of history a bit in favor of action and fun. Lord knows Hollywood does it all the time. But in a movie like POTC it works because they are intentionally ambiguous about times and dates, and rarely mention other real life pirates or events.

But Cutthroat Island pretends to exist in reality. So to me, mistakes like that are not cool.

Speaking of 1668....as mentioned above that's when this movie is set. Yet at one point in the movie during that violent storm Shaw is in Morgan's cabin and steals a journal with the date 1680 clearly embossed on the cover. Maybe it's pirate science fiction?

I could go on all day. :)

[John Maddox Roberts]

It's worth it for a single scene: The estimable Frank Langella as Captain Dawg, cutlass in hand, in the midst of a chaotic, deck battle pauses, looks around wistfully at all the carnage and says, half-whispering: "God I love this."

And you think a lion is out of place? In Le Golif's supposed memoir he once crosses Jamaica on foot and is menaced by "tigers" and a 70-foot serpent! This in addition to the ghosts he occasionally runs into.

[Hawkyns]

Yep, Dawg's comment is one of the classic lines. I love the movie, inaccuracies and all. It was during the ship to ship broadsides, me seated on the edge of my seat revelling in the shooting of the great guns, that one of my 'friends' looked over at me and stage whispered "cannon slut!!". the name has kind of stuck ever since. It was a romp, no more to be taken as historical than PoTC.

Now if you want a truly abysmal depressing pirate movie, Roman Polanski's "Pirates" was it.

Hawkyns

[hurricane]

I must agree with ol' Hawkyns here. "Pirates" was the worst - it opened with so much promise but then it just dragged on and on and on and on, with no place to really go. I though Matthau was funny as the Captain, but that was about it. Not worth the film it was shot on.

I do like that the PotC underwater rowboat scene was a tribute to Crimson Pirate - that was a fun movie... I give it three oars up...

[JoshuaRed]

Do 2 men phsyically have the strength to pull an overturned boat full of air to the ocean bottom and walk? I wondered that when I saw Crimson Pirate years ago too....