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Treasure Island (1990 film)
Encyclopedia
Treasure Island is a 1990 film
adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson
’s famous 1883
novel Treasure Island
. It was filmed in 1989 on location in Cornwall
, England
, and in Jamaica
, and also at Pinewood Studios
in Buckinghamshire
, England.
Jim Hawkins
(Christian Bale
) discovers a treasure map and embarks on a journey to find the treasure, but pirates
led by Long John Silver
(Charlton Heston
) have plans to take the treasure for themselves by way of mutiny.
The film was an original production filmed and aired by the TNT network, and directed by Fraser Clarke Heston
(Charlton Heston's
son); it was released theatrically outside the USA. The name has appeared on some film covers as "Devils Treasure", rather than "Treasure Island". This version of the story is noted for its faithfulness to the book, with much of the dialogue coming directly from it. It also removes several violent scenes from the book.
The music was composed by Paddy Moloney, leader of the Irish folk music group The Chieftains
, and performed by the group; selections from it can be heard on their album Reel Music: The Filmscores.
According to Allmovie, Charlton Heston "plays the character of Long John Silver
as written: a cold, crafty, cunning rogue, by turns charming and deadly, but never to be underestimated" and, unlike other filmed versions of the story, the movie "adheres with utter fidelity to the Stevenson novel". However, Tom Shales of the Washington Post wrote of the film: "The mast ain't all that's mizzen in a dreary and confused new production of Treasure Island...miscasting and embarrassingly poor performance of Charlton Heston as Long John Silver, a laborious mistake from arrival (in the second half hour) to departure. That Heston is one of the most humorless hulks who ever stood before a camera helps not a bit..." (Tom Shales, The Washington Post, January 22, 1990, STYLE; PAGE B8)
Despite cult status, for many years the film was only available on out of print VHS
and Laserdisc
, and had yet to see a release on DVD. The VHS gained a five-star rating on Amazon from customer reviews, many complaining of the lack of a DVD release.
The DVD release is planned for September 27th, 2011 with a running time of 131 Minutes .
Charlton Heston filmography
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
’s famous 1883
1883 in literature
The year 1883 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Phantom Fortune*Rhoda Broughton - Belinda*Wilkie Collins - Heart and Science*Jonas Lie - Familien paa Gilje ...
novel Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
. It was filmed in 1989 on location in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and also at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England.
Jim Hawkins
Jim Hawkins (character)
James "Jim" Hawkins is a fictional character in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. He is both the protagonist and narrator of the story.-Appearances:...
(Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
) discovers a treasure map and embarks on a journey to find the treasure, but pirates
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
led by Long John Silver
Long John Silver
Long John Silver is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Silver is also known by the nicknames "Barbecue" and the "Sea-Cook".- Profile :...
(Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
) have plans to take the treasure for themselves by way of mutiny.
The film was an original production filmed and aired by the TNT network, and directed by Fraser Clarke Heston
Fraser Clarke Heston
Fraser Clarke Heston is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor. The son of actors Charlton Heston and Lydia Clarke, Fraser Clarke Heston was born in Los Angeles, California....
(Charlton Heston's
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
son); it was released theatrically outside the USA. The name has appeared on some film covers as "Devils Treasure", rather than "Treasure Island". This version of the story is noted for its faithfulness to the book, with much of the dialogue coming directly from it. It also removes several violent scenes from the book.
The music was composed by Paddy Moloney, leader of the Irish folk music group The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
, and performed by the group; selections from it can be heard on their album Reel Music: The Filmscores.
According to Allmovie, Charlton Heston "plays the character of Long John Silver
Long John Silver
Long John Silver is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Silver is also known by the nicknames "Barbecue" and the "Sea-Cook".- Profile :...
as written: a cold, crafty, cunning rogue, by turns charming and deadly, but never to be underestimated" and, unlike other filmed versions of the story, the movie "adheres with utter fidelity to the Stevenson novel". However, Tom Shales of the Washington Post wrote of the film: "The mast ain't all that's mizzen in a dreary and confused new production of Treasure Island...miscasting and embarrassingly poor performance of Charlton Heston as Long John Silver, a laborious mistake from arrival (in the second half hour) to departure. That Heston is one of the most humorless hulks who ever stood before a camera helps not a bit..." (Tom Shales, The Washington Post, January 22, 1990, STYLE; PAGE B8)
Despite cult status, for many years the film was only available on out of print VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
, and had yet to see a release on DVD. The VHS gained a five-star rating on Amazon from customer reviews, many complaining of the lack of a DVD release.
The DVD release is planned for September 27th, 2011 with a running time of 131 Minutes .
Cast
- Charlton HestonCharlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
as Long John Silver - Christian BaleChristian BaleChristian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
as Jim Hawkins - Oliver ReedOliver ReedOliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
as Billy Bones - Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as Blind Pew - Richard JohnsonRichard Johnson (actor)Richard Johnson is an English actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and has also had a distinguished stage career. He most recently appeared in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.-Life and career:...
as Squire Trelawney - Julian GloverJulian GloverJulian Wyatt Glover is a British actor best known for such roles as General Maximilian Veers in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, the Bond villain Aristotle Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only, and Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.-Personal life:Glover was born in...
as Dr Livesey - Isla BlairIsla BlairIsla Blair is an India-born actress of British descent. She made her first stage appearance in 1963 as Philia in the London debut of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and her first credited film appearance in the 1965 horror film Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.- Biography :Isla Blair...
as Mrs Hawkins - Clive WoodClive Wood-Film and television:Wood's first starring TV role was as Vic Brown, opposite Joanne Whalley and Susan Penhaligon, in the 1982 ITV drama series based on the novel A Kind of Loving. He has played Matt Kerr in Press Gang, DCI Gordon Wray in The Bill and Jack Morgan in London's Burning...
as Captain Smollet - Nicholas Amer as Ben Gunn
- John Abbott as Joyce
- James CosmoJames CosmoJames Cosmo is a prolific Scottish actor, with numerous credits in film and television since the late 1960s and Cosmo is still currently acting. Cosmo was born in Clydebank, Scotland, the son of actor James Copeland...
as Redruth - James Coyle as Morgan
- Michael Halsey as Israel Hands
- Michael Thoma as Hunter
- Peter Postlethwaite as George Merry
- Robert Putt as Job Anderson
- John BenfieldJohn BenfieldJohn Benfield is a British actor, who has appeared in 75 TV episodes or films starting in 1981. He lives in Oxford with his wife, Lillian, and son, Fred.-Selected filmography:*Sharpe*The Worst Week of My Life*Cassandra's Dream...
as Black Dog - Richard BealeRichard BealeRichard Beale is a British actor. He has had a long career in television, stage and film, stemming back to the 1950s.Beale served as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.Selected filmography:*Compact...
as Mr Arrow - Brett FancyBrett FancyBrett Fancy is a British TV and Film actor.-Theatre career:He has worked extensively in producing theatres including Chichester, Watford. Bristol and Clwyd.-TV career:...
as Young Tom - Steven MackintoshSteven Mackintosh-Personal life:Mackintosh was born in Cambridge, the son of Dorothy and Malcolm Mackintosh. He has a sister, Lynda Ellingham .He is married to the actress Lisa Jacobs and the couple have two children, Martha and Blythe.-Film:...
as Dick - Bill Sloan as Scarface
Charlton Heston filmography
Charlton Heston filmography
This is a listing of the film and television appearances of actor Charlton Heston. Several of his radio credits are listed as well.- 1941 – 1959 :-1961 – 1970:-1971 – 1980:-1982 – 2003:- 1949-1960 :- 1961-1980 :...