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The Age of Commercialism

Fantastic!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Blistering performances.

"Cutthroat Island" is a 1995 film with chaotic production and distribution and with unfair reviews of the professional critics. Renny Harlin and Geena Davis were married at that time and he convinced the producers to cast his wife in an action film in a complete misevaluation of her talent. Geena Davis was a great actress in comedy and drama genres in the 80´s and 90´s but was only reasonable in the role of the female pirate Morgan Adams. Another problem was to find an actor for Morgan´s slave William Shaw since Matthew Modine was the last choice in a long list of actors that refused the role. It seems that this notorious film was also the responsible for the bankruptcy of Carolco Pictures since the box office was frustrating.Said that, "Cutthroat Island" is indeed an entertaining modern (in 1995) pirate movie, with a good story. The successful franchize "Pirates of the Caribbean" is an improvement of "Cutthroat Island" with better technology, budget and cast. But the stories are equaly entertaining and funny. In the end, forget the bad ratings of professional critics and have a goodtime watching this film. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "A Ilha da Garganta Cortada" ("The Cutthroat Island")

CUTTHROAT ISLAND was a film I never got around to seeing as a kid. I suppose the idea of an American pirate film didn't really appeal and indeed this is very much like a 1990s-era precursor to PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, with the same look, the same kind of comedy, the same kind of action-packed feel. Not really my cup of tea as cinema goes; I much prefer the grittier, better-acted style of the BLACK SAILS TV series (Michael Bay's finest hour).In any case, I thought I'd catch up with CUTTHROAT ISLAND and see what I missed. The answer? Not very much. Renny Harlin has always been a hit or miss director and this is a big miss even this early on in his career (surprisingly so, given how entertaining DIE HARD 2 and CLIFFHANGER are). Geena Davis is woefully miscast in the role of a female pirate battling against an even greater foe; she looks ridiculous when attempting to do the action scenes and even outside of the action her open-mouthed style makes her look wooden and out of her depth.The only genuine performer of note is the seasoned Frank Langella as the charismatic villain, although he's too suave and good-looking to be all that hateful. He certainly shows up Matthew Modine's laughable would-be roguish good guy. Patrick Malahide is saddled with predictability, Maury Chaykin is annoying, and the reliable Stan Shaw wasted in a nothing-except-stand-around-and-look-tough part. The action is endless, endlessly cheesy, and completely fake-looking, with the stupid climax being particularly bad. Overall the film feels fake and wishy washy, and it comes as little surprise to me that this film flopped. It makes Costner's WATERWORLD look like a Oscar winner by comparison.

It's a mystery that will probably never be solved. Why did this film flop so badly whilst the Pirates of the Caribbean did so well? I don't even know anyone who has been able to stay awake right until the end of POTC part 3, a film so long that people have used up their entire annual leave watching it and still not got to the end. People who claim to have seen part 4 are clearly lying.Anyhow, Cutthroat Island delivers everything that you want to see in a swashbuckler and it does it in a sensible amount of time without filler and without a gazillion CGI shots. Geena Davis is very winning as the lead, the cinematography is excellent and the score is outstanding. Bears comparison with anything from the Golden Age of swashbuckling.Now this would have been a good basis for a franchise.

In its day, "Cutthroat Island" was the most entertaining pirate adventure that I was ever aware of. Coming from the director of "Cliffhanger," you just know that this film is going to have enough explosions to make Michael Bay jealous. Sure enough, the film is loaded with explosive action and hard-hitting sword fights. A lot of the action dominates the film's final act, which is pretty much an all-out extravaganza of wild swashbuckling, booming muskets, and ear-shattering cannon fire. The rest of the film is fairly light and adventurous; maybe not perfectly-paced, but not too boring either. It also tries its best to be hard-edged, but it never really feels like anything more than a mere PG-13 flick. In this day and age, the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series totally supplants this film in all areas.The story for "CI" is pretty straightforward, and dare I say standard fare. Pirates get a hold of a map, find some treasure, then duke it out. That's pretty much it. The film tries its best to make the plot roll up and down in a standard thrill-ride formula, stretching the thin story out to fill the runtime. Even though it entertains, it's not terribly deep or anything. The best that can be said is that the characters are likable (including the villain).The film looks nice, with some decent and stylish photography and editing. Acting is not too bad; I enjoyed Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, and Frank Langella in their roles. Writing is not terribly sophisticated, but it gets the job done. This production has sets, props, and costumes that look the part and fit in with the film's settings. Music is appropriately adventurous.Maybe not the best film in this genre, but it certainly entertains. It's worth a rental.4/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Average | Film: Pretty Good)