Treasure Island (1950)

That was an excellent one.

So much average

Crappy film

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

" FIRE THAT MUSKET! AND I CUTS HIS THRRROAT! "One of the best Technicolor films and probably the best pirate film ever made, Disney's timeless production of Treasure Island hits on all marks and is just as watchable today as it was in 1950. I'd say it's the supremely excellent casting that's the single most important reason why this movie is so good. Robert Newton's iconic performance as Long John Silver never fails to light up the screen and his sidekick, the precocious youth Jim Hawkins (the only American in the cast) is charismatically played by a young Bobby Driscoll; plus several other seasoned English stage actors in varying roles, I say "actors" exclusively, because most unusually, there isn't a single female role in the entire movie. Special mention must be made of the great performances of Long Johns pirate crew, especially surly cut-throats like "George Mary" and "Israel Hands, master mariner for hire" often on the verge of mutiny, some real colorful and salty seamen form the ranks of Captain Long John's posse. But it's Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver that steals the show, in every scene he's in, a superlatively amazing and over-the-top performance. Words fail to sum up just how awesome and entertaining his performance is. Thrilling stuff indeed.Is their anyone who really doesn't know the plot to this story??? Well for those of you who don't (how is that possible) all the hints you need lay within the two words that form it's title. Once on the island you're likely to find yourself chuckling from the ramblings and antics of Old Ben Gunn, a mangy, silver-haired, goat-skin wearing marooned-loon of a man, who "Many's a night I drreeamed of cheese... toasted mostly". This guy's a riot, while making the most of his brief screen-time, watch him run about fleet-footed over the sand dunes and through the tropical foliage, often accompanied by tinkering xylophones, Old Ben Gunn proves to be the zaniest of side-character's. With comic relief aside, rest assured there is plenty of action, bloodshed and treachery with musket's firing and sabre's flashing - cannon fire too. Along with the usual weapons, this movie is armed to the teeth with something else, that being Pirate Slang; the movie is literally swimming in it, practically every single character that has a speaking role has some old-timey sailors slang in their vocabulary, especially Long John Silver he really lay's it on thick and it's a total pleasure to hear all these colorful old sayings, that you don't hear anywhere else. Anyway, as it comes as no surprise the good guys inevitably prevail in the end, in a volley of musket-fire and they find what they were looking for on TREASURE Island, marking the end of an infinitely entertaining, virtually flawless Technicolor adventure film. One of the best films of the year 1950, just maybe thee best.I believe this movie was filmed entirely in various locales in and around merry old England, if so they did an extremely convincing job of projecting the look of a tropical island. Treasure Island maybe not be a super-production by today's standards, but none the less, Walt dropped a sizeable pile of doubloons into this film and I think it shows, boasting consistently strong production values and a rousing musical score by Clifton Parker (newly recorded and available on Chandos Records for those interested). I've seen a few other..... attempts, at this quintessential pirate's tale over the years (MGM's 1934 version and the lifeless Charlton Heston version from 1990) and compared to this one, they all pretty much suck. The resounding excellence that Disney was able to achieve in 1950 has yet to be matched, let alone bettered and proves without a doubt, that this production of Treasure Island is THE definitive version of this classic tale.This classic film got the 1950's off to a great start, it was the 1950's that produced more classic nautical films than any other era. In the end, for a 66 year-old G-Rated Disney production, this movie is PIRATICAL TO THE CORE.Now if only Disney would get off their duff's and give the world the Hi-Def Blu-ray release this movie deserves.

Exciting film version of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel directed by Byron Haskin stars Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, a young lad in a coastal inn who becomes involved with a pirate treasure map of Captain Flint, which is sought after by pirate Long John Silver(played by Robert Newton in a robust performance) Jim Hawkins will later join Squire Trelawney in pursuit of Silver, on the high seas and later on the island where the treasure awaits...Well cast and entertaining film has good direction and period atmosphere, even if it isn't entirely faithful or credible at times, it is still good fun, and was Walt Disney's first live action film.

Hi there,Just a great family film, excellent exotic locations (Corwall LOL) and huge screen grabbing performance from Robert Newton as LJSHI.As for other post saying that LSJ was grooming Jim Hawkins ... LJS was grooming the whole wold for exploitation ... That was how he survived ... Let go of the modern diseases and just enjoy a rocket of a performance.Ben Gunn ... Why did he not feature a bi more? I guess to allow the surprise aimed at LSJ.Love the ending ... We all agree.

Anybody who knows me will probably know that I am very fond of Disney. Not only their animations such as Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio and The Hunchback of Notre Dame but also their live action films especially Mary Poppins and Old Yeller. While it was still enjoyable enough, Treasure Island doesn't captivate me as much as the aforementioned did. It does have its strengths but it has its weaknesses too.Treasure Island's main merit is the performance of Robert Newton. I know there are people who dismiss Newton as being hammy, I thought so myself initially, but when I revisited it I realised I liked Newton's performance this time around because he was on the hammy side. His swagger, his eyes, his charismatic presence, while it is not my favourite performance of his(Bill Sikes in David Lean's Oliver Twist is my favourite) I thoroughly enjoyed his turn as Long John here. Another strength is the locations, sets and costumes. They are very colourful and lavish, while the cinematography is also well done and the ship itself is of majestic scale. The direction is good too, and I liked the dialogue, Long John for me gets the best lines and the story, while just lacking the magic of the book it was interesting and amusing enough.However, Treasure Island also has its problems as well as I have said already. For me the length was just right, for me the pacing was the issue particularly in the middle half I found it a little too lethargic so some scenes dragged. Also, I felt Long John and Jim's relationship could have been developed more, while the chemistry is there it never quite comes across as humorous or poignant, and any scene that strived to be any of those things didn't have that emotional impact due to the relationship not being strong enough. That is of course my opinion. My main problem though is some of the supporting cast. If I were to coin the phrase hit and miss I would give it here. Starting with the good, Finlay Currie is good as Billy Bones, though with an actor as good as he was I would have loved him to have played a bigger role in the film. Less successful is Bobby Driscoll. Now I have nothing against Driscoll, I loved him in So Dear to My Heart, liked him in Song of the South(wasn't quite so sure initially) and his voice work as Peter Pan is gradually growing on me, but he didn't convince me as Jim, and I found his accent distracting. I also didn't like Geoffrey Wilkinson very much as Ben Gunn either, for me any part on his behalf that was intended to be amusing fell rather flat, sorry.Overall, not bad in fact it is pretty enjoyable, but I just don't revere it as a classic. I think people may think it blasphemy, but I preferred the Muppet version. 6/10 Bethany Cox