Treasure Island 1999

Treasure Island 1999
1h 34m | Adventure, Family | Release date: January 8, 1999 (Canada)

Storyline:

An adaptation of the Robert Lewis Stevenson adventure classic, in which a young boy sets off on a voyage armed with a map to buried treasure.

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG-13 for adventure violence

User review:

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.

Director: Peter Rowe
Writers: Peter Rowe, Robert Louis Stevenson
Stars: Sarah Holland, Pax Lohan, Anthony Booth
Countries of origin: United Kingdom, Canada
Language: English
Filming locations: Castletown, Isle of Man