Customer Reviews

Cutthroat Island

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

When the piratess Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) loses her father, she becomes captain of his ship and crew. As her first act as captain, she decides to search for the treasure on Cutthroat Island. But the actual map for Cutthroat Island is in three pieces, one of which she got from her father. The other two are with her uncles, the cowardly Mordachai (George Murcell) and the evil Dawg Brown (Frank Langella). So Morgan, with the help of her crew and the somewhat untrustworthy thief, William Shaw (Matthew Modine), she sets off to take all the maps and find the treasure of Cutthroat Island.

A very entertaining movie filled with action, adventure, and piracy on the high seas, "Cutthroat Island" is a pure adventure movie. The plot is pretty mediocre, allowing as much action and suspense to be put in the story. It's your typical pirate story though, pirates must find, understand, and figure out the map leading to a mysterious island with hidden treasure of unthinkable riches. But throwing in a tough, hard-bitten, and beautiful piratess was a pretty nice touch, including a thief to provide some comic relief.

Geena Davis surprises me again with her talent in being able to play many different roles from a ghost in "Beetlejuice", a baseball player in "A League of Their Own", a mother full of heart in the Stuart Little movies, and now a piratess in "Cutthroat Island". She gets to give plenty of punches plus handle the cutlass with ease as she fights pirates, the military, and her uncle. She's definitely very cool! As for Matthew Modine, I had never seen him in any movies before but I found him astoundingly funny though he gets plenty of action. He in a way reminds me of Cary Elwes as Wesley in "The Princess Bride" with his sarcastic humor and boundless enthusiasm. Oh, it was also a special treat to see the young and sweet Christopher Masterson as Bowen. Though his role was small, he was excellent as a cabin boy with his obvious admiration and loyalty to his captain. He's probably more known as Chris Masterson, starring in "Dragonheart: A New Beginning" and also starring in the series, "Malcom in the Middle".

So if you're in the mood for a movie with giving off lots of action, energy, suspense, and swashbuckling, make time to watch "Cutthroat Island". Rated PG-13 for the action and fighting and also for some innuendo.

Before Disney's Carribean series, there was this overlooked pirate action-adventure. There are some gorgeous sets and scenery that deserve to be seen on blu-ray, and the plot keeps moving so there is always something fun to watch. Unfortunately the audio is compressed (which is a pain for those of us lacking an elaborate home theatre system), and John Debney's score sounds fab, when not overwhelmed by loud sound effects. As extras, there is a director's audio commentary, plus featurette, trailers, and a bookmark option which I discovered too late. (3 1/2 stars)

This is not really a movie. It's a cartoon. You know: where Wily Coyote gets a 500 lb weight dropped on him or gets flattened out by steam roller and then gets up and goes on to the next episode. Okay, it's a pirate movie, an entertainment so I wasn't expecting "realism" or believability throughout. However, there's a limit to the suspension of disbelief. When the stunts get too ridiculously outlandish, as in the carriage chase scene when Geena Davis goes over the awning and lands perfectly back in the driver's seat, the movie ceases to entertain. Also ridiculous: when Mathew Modine pulls a bullet out of Geena Davis' midsection and they immediately indulge in a bit of kissy face. It's so over the top I began to lose interest.

On the plus side: great scenery, lavish period costumes. A 'fifties-era pseudo-Copeland, pseudo-Stravinsky sound track. Best performance by far is that of Frank Langella. What a great bad guy! He did a superb job. And if you like things that blow up and go 'boom' there's enough to wet the most adolescent appetite.

What else makes this one such a dud? The insipid, post-modern dialog and sarcastic one-liners, especially out the mouth of the
insufferable Matthew Modine. Geena Davis' not inconsiderable acting ability is obliterated by the god-awful script.

SPOILER ALERT: In the end, when the 'good' pirates get the treasure and Morgan (Geena Davis) tells them they're all rich men and can retire in luxury, they all choose to follow her in pursuing a life of piracy, bad food and all. Yeah, right! (I'd have been up for a bit of wenching and carousing, myself). But since everything that preceded it is so totally preposterous, I suppose one more stupidity doesn't matter. And to top it off, no good sex scenes!

Avast, mates; go to the library and check out those old Erroll Flynn flicks.

i don't see why this movie has such a low rating here(5.1/10)i mean it
has load of action,suspense,intrigue,romance.it's funny and has great
stunts.granted,it doesn't have the epic scope of the "Pirates of the
Caribbean" films,but it's a different movie.it's a light hearted ,fun
romp which doesn't pretend to be anything else.it's not just fun and
games,of course.there are some sc4ens of peril and danger,but these
elements are all balanced very well.add to that,The performances of
Matthew Modine and Geena Davis,as well as a great supporting cast,and
you have the ingredients for one terrific movie.and lets not forget the
direction of Renny Harlin.these things are all enough for me to highly
recommend the movie.for me "Cutthroat Island"is a strong 4.5/5

Very hard to find, this CD! Well worth the hunt, though! I have been searching for a copy ever since I saw the movie over ten years ago, and I just got mine last week. I was not dissappointed! Every track takes me back to the movie, and the score itself was not only masterfully written, but beautifully performed. I'll never part with mine!

I heard this sound track at an exhibit on pirates at the San Diego Maritime Museum a few years ago. It was terrific. This is my favorite swashbuckler sound track, next to "The Mark of Zorro." We plan on playing this in the car on the way to Renaissance Festivals to get into the mood. Aarrgh!!

Okay, when my sister and I first went to see this at the dollar movie theater, we thought it would a spoof...a movie making fun of pirate movies. We thought it would be a fun way to kill an afternoon.
Imagine our surprise and utter delight when we realized this was a REAL pirate movie, full of all the swashbuckling action and drama and fun you could wish for in a pirate movie!We walked out of the theater amazed that it hadn't gotten the rave reviews it deserved. It was certainly a hit with us! We talked about it all day and got a copy of the video as soon as we could. I still have mine, though it's getting pretty worn from watching it so many times.
For anyone who loves pirates... this is a real treat!

For years there has been a legend in Moran Adams family about the Spanish gold her Granddad buried. Now she, her father and her uncles are in a race to reach it first(and you can guess who wins). With a little help from a convict(who you might remember from the Princess Bride) the pirates go off in search of the treasure.

Overall-Reminds me allot of the pirate action flicks of the 50s, you just have to like pirate movies.

Great plot, wicked fight scenes, good characters, great acting, one amazing adventure.

I love movies and this is a sleeper by all means.
It has expensive scenes, great action, super
acting and its not cheesy. Its really a nice change
from the same old action flicks. Im not a huge
Geena Davis fan but she did a great job. Enjoy