Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

TheLittleSongbird I have always loved Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, it is such a great story and a real page-turner. Of the four versions I've seen so far- this, 1950, the Muppet film and the recent one aired over the Christmas break- I do agree with those that say this is the best one.The wonderful story is still as compelling as before, throughout here it is well paced and interesting. The dialogue is witty and complex as well as maintaining the basic feel of the book's prose. Add to that assured direction, authentic locations that are rich in atmosphere, sumptuous costuming and photography, energetic action sequences and a music score that is both rousing and with a Celtic lilt and you have a treasure. But you cannot mention the cast mentioning this Treasure Island. To me at least three cast members are definitive, they are Charlton Heston as Long John Silver, Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins and Nicolas Amer as Ben Gunn.Heston is perfectly cast in a role he was born to play, his interpretation is charismatic and complex being both menacing and human, and it is easily one of my favourite performances of his. Likewise with Bale, whose appealing, never overly-sentimental and easy-to-identify-with Jim Hawkins has only been surpassed I feel by his performances in American Psycho and Empire of the Sun. Amer's Ben Gunn is both amusing and poignant, a perfect balance and the only performance of the character so far I've seen to have that perfect balance.That's not all. We also have Richard Johnson's generous Squire Trelawny and Julian Glover's gutsy Dr Livesey, as well the most vivid and most dangerous Billy Bones in Oliver Reed, a genuinely scary Blind Pew in Christopher Lee, an excellent Clive Wood as Captain Smollet and standout turns from Pete Postlethwaite, Isla Blair and Michael Halsey.Overall, a fantastic version, both as an adaptation and on its own terms with a wonderful cast especially. 10/10 Bethany Cox

h-l-workman This is easily and by far the best film version of Treasure Island ever created (I think I've seen them all since Treasure Island is one of my favourite books). Even being, as I am, critical of movies based on books, especially historical books, I can't find any fault with it. The historical accuracy is spot on, the sets are wonderful, the fact that it was filmed on location perfect, the use of an actual ship showing a die-hard loyalty to the book, the cast is excellent, the costuming great, and equally important to all of this, the soundtrack is riveting! I've long been a fan of the Chieftains and this film helped to further raise my respect for them. The scene in which Jim is pitted against Israel Hands would be nothing without that wild tapping as Jim runs up the rigging! One of the things I particularly love is how realistic the fight scenes are. Things are slowed down by the re-loading of the guns or complicated by the powder getting wet. And the film doesn't have the silly dancing about with rapiers that previous film versions of the book have, but furious slashes with heavy cutlasses and vicious, ungentlemanly kicking. The fight between Billy Bones and Black Dog is hilariously clumsy, but in a terrifying life-like way. I simply cannot say enough good things about this film. There is only one question that I have: WHERE IS THE DVD VERSION!!???

bryankendallm I have read the book many times and have every version of this classic available. I am a devotee of pirate history as well so I hope to speak with some qualification.This is, without doubt, the finest, richest version of Treasure Island I have ever seen. The director seems to capture the mood of the story and the broad strokes are well directed making for a well told tale. But, the movie is marvelously rich in detail.The ensemble acting is .......with good chemistry. No one actor steps out as a soloist ......as it should be. And the young man acts a lad should.Why, why, oh, why is this not on DVD?

ewilgus I am a life-long fan of the book. This film captures wonderfully the book's spirit (Adventure!). Prior to this film, I had always disliked Charlton Heston for his pompous saintliness. In this film, however, as a villain, he is a WONDERFUL villain - refreshingly non-stereotypical, and a good translator of the author's ambiguous character (the amoral ship's cook). And Israel Hands, the quintessential pirate-up-the-mast, with his, " Ahhh, Jim, you didn't keep your powder dry!" lends a great flavor to the translation. Mr. Bale, as the hero, has good substance, though older than the original character. After thinking about this film for years - both my thumbs up.