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The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film)
Encyclopedia
The Island of Dr. Moreau is a 1996 science fiction
horror
film, the third major movie version of the H. G. Wells
novel The Island of Doctor Moreau
about a scientist who attempts to convert animals into people. The film stars Marlon Brando
, Val Kilmer
, David Thewlis
, Fairuza Balk
and Ron Perlman
, and was directed by John Frankenheimer
, who was brought in half a week after shooting started. The screenplay is credited to the original director Richard Stanley and Ron Hutchinson
.
in animals to make them more humanlike and regress their animal instincts and make the divine human, free of malice and hatred. After many attempts, only one experiment was successful and now the unsuccessful ones are given drugs every day to keep them from regressing into their animal forms. They are also controlled through shock therapy to keep them in order.
However, one of the creatures has found a way to stop himself from receiving shock treatment and when he informs others of this, the animal hybrids break loose on the island.
One of Dr. Moreau's allies is Dr. Montgomery, a physician gone mad with devotion to Moreau and intense drug abuse.
United Nations negotiator Edward Douglas, the sole survivor of an airplane crash, is brought ashore on Moreau's island — against his better judgment — by Dr. Montgomery, and eventually becomes his prisoner. Horrified by the doctor's monstrous experiments and fearing for his own life, Douglas seeks the help of Moreau's lovely daughter, Aissa, in escaping the island, but is foiled at every turn by Dr. Montgomery and his man-beast lackeys.
. The first sign of trouble appeared when Kilmer suddenly decided - for reasons of his own - that he wanted his role cut by 40%. Stanley knew that it was impossible to cut the role of UN diplomat Edward Prendick (later changed to Edward Douglas) by such a drastic amount, but he wanted to keep Kilmer onboard, so he hit on the idea of switching him to the role of Dr. Montgomery, Moreau's assistant on the island. Kilmer agreed to this proposal, so the part of Prendick was given to Rob Morrow
.
The chosen location for the film were the rain forests of North Queensland
, Australia
, but just three days into filming, New Line fired Stanley, (a move that was believed to have been influenced by Kilmer) and brought in veteran film director, John Frankenheimer
. The reasons for Stanley's dismissal are not very clear, but it's been said that he wasn't a strong enough director (to cope with Kilmer, who was going through a divorce at the time). Frankenheimer, like virtually every member of the cast and crew, came on board because he wanted the opportunity to work with Brando.
When Morrow also decided to leave the production, Frankenheimer needed to find a new lead actor and brought in David Thewlis to play Douglas. Frankenheimer's vision of the movie was very different from Stanley's, and he and Brando decided to have the then-current script by Richard Stanley, Michael Herr
and Walon Green
rewritten by Frankenheimer's previous collaborator Ron Hutchinson
. The whole production was shut down for one and a half weeks while these changes were implemented.
Once shooting resumed, however, the problems did not dissipate. New pages were turned in only a few days before they were shot and the breakneck pace Hutchinson kept up didn't equal quality. Frankenheimer and Kilmer had an argument on-set, which reportedly got so heated, Frankenheimer stated afterwards, "I don't like Val Kilmer, I don't like his work ethic, and I don't want to be associated with him ever again". Because of this, there were two famous phrases Frankenheimer was quoted as saying to the press in reference to Val Kilmer. The first was, "There are two things I will never ever do in my whole life. The first is that I will never climb Mt. Everest. The second is that I will never work with Val Kilmer ever again." The second, more tongue-in-cheek phrase was, "Will Rogers never met Val Kilmer." Frankenheimer also reportedly clashed with Brando and the studio, as they were concerned with the direction he was taking the film.
According to Thewlis, "we all had different ideas of where it should go. I even ended up improvising some of the main scenes with Marlon." Thewlis went on to rewrite his character personally. The constant rewrites also got to Brando's nerve and having no motivation to keep rehearsing new lines, he was equipped with a small radio receiver. Thewlis recollects: "[Marlon would] be in the middle of a scene and suddenly he'd be picking up police messages and would repeat, 'There's a robbery at Woolworths.'" Even Brando clashed with Kilmer who didn't make any new friends with his continuously erratic behavior. According to Film Threat magazine, Brando pointed out to him: "You're confusing your talents with the size of your paycheck".
Kilmer has stated that the time filming on-set was "crazy." He was served with divorce papers from his then-wife Joanne Whalley
, Brando was dealing with the suicide of his daughter Cheyenne
, as well as the implications of a French nuclear test near the atoll he owned
. Upon completion of Kilmer's final scene, Frankenheimer said to the crew "Now get that bastard off my set".
As a joke Stanley reportedly told the production designer to burn the set down, security was tightened in case he was actually trying to sabotage the project. One rumor surfaced (promoted by Stanley) that he did however manage to sneak back on the set in full costume as one of the many human-animal hybrids. Another reports that he also showed up at the film's wrap party where he ran into Kilmer, who was said to have apologized profusely for Stanley's removal from the film.
Thewlis skipped the film's premiere by choice.
rated the film with a 23% "Rotten" based on thirty-one reviews. The film grossed only $49 million worldwide, only covering the $40 million budget.
The Island of Dr. Moreau later got six nominations for the Razzie Awards
including Worst Picture and Worst Director, "winning" Worst Supporting Actor for Marlon Brando (Val Kilmer was also a nominee in this category). The film also got nominations for two Saturn Awards: Best Make-Up and Science Fiction Film.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
film, the third major movie version of the H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
novel The Island of Doctor Moreau
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. It is told from the point of view of a man named Edward Prendick who is shipwrecked, rescued by a passing boat, and then left at the ship's destination by the crew along with the ship's cargo of exotic animals...
about a scientist who attempts to convert animals into people. The film stars Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
, David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis is an English actor of stage and screen. His most commercially successful role to date has been that of Remus Lupin, in the Harry Potter film series...
, Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Alejandra Balk is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's Return to Oz...
and Ron Perlman
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
, and was directed by John Frankenheimer
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
, who was brought in half a week after shooting started. The screenplay is credited to the original director Richard Stanley and Ron Hutchinson
Ron Hutchinson (screenwriter)
Ron Hutchinson is an Emmy Award winning screenwriter, known for writing John Frankenheimer's Against the Wall, Robert M. Young's Slave of Dreams, John Frankenheimer's The Island of Dr...
.
Synopsis
In the year 2010, Dr. Moreau has successfully conquered the impossible: to use human DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
in animals to make them more humanlike and regress their animal instincts and make the divine human, free of malice and hatred. After many attempts, only one experiment was successful and now the unsuccessful ones are given drugs every day to keep them from regressing into their animal forms. They are also controlled through shock therapy to keep them in order.
However, one of the creatures has found a way to stop himself from receiving shock treatment and when he informs others of this, the animal hybrids break loose on the island.
One of Dr. Moreau's allies is Dr. Montgomery, a physician gone mad with devotion to Moreau and intense drug abuse.
United Nations negotiator Edward Douglas, the sole survivor of an airplane crash, is brought ashore on Moreau's island — against his better judgment — by Dr. Montgomery, and eventually becomes his prisoner. Horrified by the doctor's monstrous experiments and fearing for his own life, Douglas seeks the help of Moreau's lovely daughter, Aissa, in escaping the island, but is foiled at every turn by Dr. Montgomery and his man-beast lackeys.
Cast
- Marlon BrandoMarlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
as Dr. Moreau - Val KilmerVal KilmerVal Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
as Dr. Montgomery - David ThewlisDavid ThewlisDavid Thewlis is an English actor of stage and screen. His most commercially successful role to date has been that of Remus Lupin, in the Harry Potter film series...
as Edward Douglas - Fairuza BalkFairuza BalkFairuza Alejandra Balk is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's Return to Oz...
as Aissa - Daniel Rigney as Hyena-Swine
- Temuera MorrisonTemuera MorrisonTemuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
as Azazello - Nelson de la RosaNelson de la RosaNelson Aquino de la Rosa , a.k.a. Mahow, was one of the shortest men of the 20th and 21st centuries and an actor from the Dominican Republic. Nelson measured 71 centimeters tall ....
as Majai - Peter ElliottPeter Elliott (actor)Peter Elliott is a leading New Zealand actor. He has appeared in numerous television shows including Shortland Street, Gloss and Homeward Bound. He has also appeared in several movies including Heavenly Creatures.-Shortland Street:...
as Assassimon - Mark DacascosMark DacascosMark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18....
as Lo-Mai - Ron PerlmanRon PerlmanRonald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
as Sayer of the Law - Marco HofschneiderMarco HofschneiderMarco Hofschneider is a German actor known for his biographical portrayal of Solomon Perel in the 1990 acclaimed World War II film Europa Europa...
as M'Ling - Miguel LópezMiguel LópezMiguel López is an Argentine film editor.Some of the films he has edited have been critically well received, for example: La Noche de los lápices .-Filmography:* Destino de un capricho * Los Hombres sólo piensan en eso...
as Waggdi - Neil Young as Boar Man
- David Hudson as Bison Man
- Clare Grant as Fox Lady
- Kitty Silver as Sow Lady #1
- Fiona Mahl as Sow Lady #2
- William HootkinsWilliam HootkinsWilliam Michael Hootkins was an American character actor, most famous for supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters such as Star Wars, Batman and Raiders of the Lost Ark.-Early life:...
as Kiril
Production
Original director Richard Stanley spent four years developing the project before getting the go from New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
. The first sign of trouble appeared when Kilmer suddenly decided - for reasons of his own - that he wanted his role cut by 40%. Stanley knew that it was impossible to cut the role of UN diplomat Edward Prendick (later changed to Edward Douglas) by such a drastic amount, but he wanted to keep Kilmer onboard, so he hit on the idea of switching him to the role of Dr. Montgomery, Moreau's assistant on the island. Kilmer agreed to this proposal, so the part of Prendick was given to Rob Morrow
Rob Morrow
Robert Alan "Rob" Morrow is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Don Eppes on Numb3rs and as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series."-Personal life:Morrow was born in...
.
The chosen location for the film were the rain forests of North Queensland
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, but just three days into filming, New Line fired Stanley, (a move that was believed to have been influenced by Kilmer) and brought in veteran film director, John Frankenheimer
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
. The reasons for Stanley's dismissal are not very clear, but it's been said that he wasn't a strong enough director (to cope with Kilmer, who was going through a divorce at the time). Frankenheimer, like virtually every member of the cast and crew, came on board because he wanted the opportunity to work with Brando.
When Morrow also decided to leave the production, Frankenheimer needed to find a new lead actor and brought in David Thewlis to play Douglas. Frankenheimer's vision of the movie was very different from Stanley's, and he and Brando decided to have the then-current script by Richard Stanley, Michael Herr
Michael Herr
Michael Herr is a writer and former war correspondent, best known as the author of Dispatches , a memoir of his time as a correspondent for Esquire magazine during the Vietnam War...
and Walon Green
Walon Green
Walon Green is an American documentary film director and screenwriter for both TV and films. He is currently the showrunner/executive producer for the USA Network television series, Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Career:...
rewritten by Frankenheimer's previous collaborator Ron Hutchinson
Ron Hutchinson (screenwriter)
Ron Hutchinson is an Emmy Award winning screenwriter, known for writing John Frankenheimer's Against the Wall, Robert M. Young's Slave of Dreams, John Frankenheimer's The Island of Dr...
. The whole production was shut down for one and a half weeks while these changes were implemented.
Once shooting resumed, however, the problems did not dissipate. New pages were turned in only a few days before they were shot and the breakneck pace Hutchinson kept up didn't equal quality. Frankenheimer and Kilmer had an argument on-set, which reportedly got so heated, Frankenheimer stated afterwards, "I don't like Val Kilmer, I don't like his work ethic, and I don't want to be associated with him ever again". Because of this, there were two famous phrases Frankenheimer was quoted as saying to the press in reference to Val Kilmer. The first was, "There are two things I will never ever do in my whole life. The first is that I will never climb Mt. Everest. The second is that I will never work with Val Kilmer ever again." The second, more tongue-in-cheek phrase was, "Will Rogers never met Val Kilmer." Frankenheimer also reportedly clashed with Brando and the studio, as they were concerned with the direction he was taking the film.
According to Thewlis, "we all had different ideas of where it should go. I even ended up improvising some of the main scenes with Marlon." Thewlis went on to rewrite his character personally. The constant rewrites also got to Brando's nerve and having no motivation to keep rehearsing new lines, he was equipped with a small radio receiver. Thewlis recollects: "[Marlon would] be in the middle of a scene and suddenly he'd be picking up police messages and would repeat, 'There's a robbery at Woolworths.'" Even Brando clashed with Kilmer who didn't make any new friends with his continuously erratic behavior. According to Film Threat magazine, Brando pointed out to him: "You're confusing your talents with the size of your paycheck".
Kilmer has stated that the time filming on-set was "crazy." He was served with divorce papers from his then-wife Joanne Whalley
Joanne Whalley
-Early life:Whalley was born in Salford but brought up in Stockport where she studied at the Braeside School of Speech and Drama, Marple.Whalley first appeared as a child in How We Used To Live and bit parts in soap operas, especially Coronation Street and Emmerdale...
, Brando was dealing with the suicide of his daughter Cheyenne
Cheyenne Brando
Tarita Cheyenne Brando was the daughter of Marlon Brando by his third wife Tarita Teriipia, a Tahitian whom he met while filming Mutiny on the Bounty in 1962....
, as well as the implications of a French nuclear test near the atoll he owned
Tetiaroa
Tetiaroa is a private atoll in the Windward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean. Once the vacation spot for Tahitian royalty, the atoll is widely known for having been purchased by Marlon Brando...
. Upon completion of Kilmer's final scene, Frankenheimer said to the crew "Now get that bastard off my set".
As a joke Stanley reportedly told the production designer to burn the set down, security was tightened in case he was actually trying to sabotage the project. One rumor surfaced (promoted by Stanley) that he did however manage to sneak back on the set in full costume as one of the many human-animal hybrids. Another reports that he also showed up at the film's wrap party where he ran into Kilmer, who was said to have apologized profusely for Stanley's removal from the film.
Thewlis skipped the film's premiere by choice.
Director's Cut
Eventually, a director's cut was released on DVD containing four minutes of extra footage from the theatrical release. Some highlights:- An extended prologue. Douglas and the two men in the life raft fight over the last canteen of water as in the theatrical version, but with a more violent ending. It begins as usual. One man pulls out a knife and stabs another in the back. The wounded man pulls the knife out and stabs his attacker in the stomach. They continue to fight as Douglas threatens one man with a flare gun. He is unsuccessful, but the other two men are knocked overboard while a hungry shark bites into one of the men. The other man that escaped the shark appears out of the water to attack Douglas, but he bashes the man's skull in with one of the oars in the raft. The film continues as usual.
- Dr. Moreau's death. His death lasts a bit longer and is more graphic. Hyena eventually rips off his arm by the wrist.
- Douglas shoots at Hyena. Following the previous extension, before Hyena runs off, he throws Moreau's arm down.
- Azazello's implant removed. Azazello in the theatrical release says that he knows where there's more of "the fire that kills". This scene explains the blood spot on his left chest in the rest of the film. Hyena and his followers rip out Azazello's implant in his chest.
- Montgomery's death. There is a more graphic shot indicating what really happened to Montgomery. He is shot in the chest. In the theatrical release, this is where the scene ends. In this extension, Hyena takes Azazello's gun and shoots Montgomery's dead body several more times.
- Hyena's destruction of Dr. Moreau's office. There is a shot of Hyena shooting aimlessly in a circle at the walls of Moreau's office.
- Hyena tortures Douglas. Although Hyena never physically tortures Douglas, he uses the implant shock treatment to psychologically torture him in the theatrical version. In this extension, several of Hyena's followers shoot innocent mutants on the ground to death, scaring and making him fear Hyena even more.
Reception
The film was met with negative reviews.Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
rated the film with a 23% "Rotten" based on thirty-one reviews. The film grossed only $49 million worldwide, only covering the $40 million budget.
The Island of Dr. Moreau later got six nominations for the Razzie Awards
Golden Raspberry Awards
A Golden Raspberry Award, or Razzie for short, is an award presented in recognition of the worst in movies. Founded by American copywriter and publicist John J.B. Wilson in 1981, the annual Razzie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles precedes the corresponding Academy Awards ceremony by one day...
including Worst Picture and Worst Director, "winning" Worst Supporting Actor for Marlon Brando (Val Kilmer was also a nominee in this category). The film also got nominations for two Saturn Awards: Best Make-Up and Science Fiction Film.
See also
The two earlier versions of the story:- 1933's Island of Lost Souls (1933 film)Island of Lost Souls (1933 film)Island of Lost Souls is an American science fiction horror film starring Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi and Kathleen Burke as The Panther Woman. Produced by Paramount Pictures in 1933 from a script co-written by science fiction legend Philip Wylie, the movie was the...
starring Charles LaughtonCharles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
and Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his... - 1977's The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977 film)The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977 film)The Island of Dr. Moreau is the second movie version of the H. G. Wells science fiction novel about a scientist who attempts to convert animals into people, starring Burt Lancaster, Michael York, Barbara Carrera, and Richard Basehart...
starring Burt LancasterBurt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
and Michael YorkMichael York (actor)Michael York, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:York was born in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, the son of Florence Edith May , a musician; and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery British Army officer and executive with Marks and Spencer department stores...