Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Island, The (1980)
Director: Michael Ritchie
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Peter Benchley's script from his own novel is a mad concoction in which Michael Caine and son stumble on a Caribbean island inhabited by bloodthirsty pirates, inbred over 300 years and now sterile, who survive by plundering consumer goodies from luxury yachts. Caine is designated as stud to the only female capable of child-bearing, the son is happily absorbed into the patriarchal dream world, and a thoroughly Oedipal conflict begins between the pair which looks like ending in patricide. The plot's inversion of Lord of the Flies (adults without children running amok on an island paradise), the inanely prattling buccaneers straight out of Disneyland, and the anti-materialist glee of their attack against the rich - smashing videos and taunting sunbathers - all add up to one of the most ludicrous yet entertaining mis-hits since The Other Side of Midnight.Author: DP
Cast & crew
Director: Michael Ritchie
Producer: David Brown, Richard D Zanuck
Cast: Michael Caine, David Warner, Angela Punch McGregor, Frank Middlemass, Don Henderson, Dudley Sutton, Colin Jeavons full cast
Duration: 114 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now