Hero's Island (1962)

Very Cool!!!

A lot of fun.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

In 1960, Disney released "Swiss Family Robinson" and they made a HUGE fortune. In today's money, it would earn $350,000,000+---and that makes it a very, very successful film. So, it's not surprising that only a short time later they'd make "Hero's Island"--a film that bears much more than a superficial resemblance to the Disney film. But, although "Hero's Island" is similar, it's not at all enjoyable like this earlier film...and towards the end it gets pretty dumb.A particularly dumb family moves to a crappy island off the coast of the Carolinas in the 18th century. I say crappy because all sorts of pirate-types keep arriving and making their lives miserable. Heck, soon after they first arrive, one of the thugs kills the husband--leaving the wife and servants to try to survive with two young boys. Common sense would say to leave...but these folks don't seem to have a lot of that! Here is where it gets REALLLLLLY stupid. A guy (James Mason) washes up on the island and when the chips are down, you learn that he is NOT who he originally claimed to be but is Stede Bonnet--one of the infamous members of Blackbeard's gang. However, IMDb says that Mason is Blackbeard himself--he is NOT! And, after the pirates attack, he is ticked off and goes to deliver a well-earned butt-kicking.Despite the fact that this SHOULD have been an exciting adventure film, it was not. It's actually amazingly slow-paced and very low energy. And, on top of that, you really don't care much about the family. Plus, if Mason was playing a pirate, he played one of the dullest ones in film history. Not terrible...but not at all good either.

It's difficult to fathom the minority negative reviews submitted for this film, as it really is a fine effort, which is certainly different from the run of the mill films of this type. The dialogue suits the period, and definitely lends an authentic touch to the proceedings. The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, with particularly fine performances from James Mason, Warren Oates, and the ill-fated Kate Manx. The pace of the film is just right, and it proves to be an absorbing tale that retains the viewers attention throughout. Despite the fact that it is rarely seen, these days, it is well worth seeking out. An excellent and underrated film.

Offbeat work which pits a pious family against a bench of violent weirdoes on an Island .The main problem for the virtuous ones is that they shall not kill or hurt anyone.In 1956,the Quakers in William Wyler's wonderful classic "Friendly persuasion " had the same problems.The best part is the first one,with the family's arrival,the father's death and the omnipresence of biblical references.But as soon as James Mason 's character shows himself a fierce pirate,but a big-hearted one,the plot peters out,and it's nothing but routine action movie.The mother is akin to Grace Kelly's character in Fred Zinneman's "high moon"(1952),and like her,she will have to do what she 's very loath to.The main characters have backgrounds that could have provided many other movies with a subject.All this does not hang together well and ,all in all, it remains a poor man's "friendly persuasion"

Here's an underappreciated gem from the early 60s. Apparently a labour of love for co-producers James Mason and Leslie Stevens (who also wrote and directed), Hero's Island details the scramble for survival in the newly settled colony of Carolina. It raises interesting issues of ownership and propriety without sacrificing an exciting and realistic story. The cast is simply outstanding, particularly Warren Oates and (Harry) Dean Stanton in one of his earliest roles. Neville Brand is second billed but actually has quite a small role; future Andy Sidaris 'star' Darby Hinton gets a bigger chunk of screen time as a settler's son. The Panavision photography is uniformly outstanding, and frequently ravishingly beautiful as lensed by Ted McCord (Sound of Music, East of Eden, and many others).