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Last night saw the first of Sky One’s two-part swashbuckling sea voyage “Treasure Island” air on New Year’s Day television. Adapted from the much-loved novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson this latest telling of the classic tale boasts a very impressive cast that includes Eddie Izzard, Philip Glenister, Geoff Bell, Donald Sutherland, Elijah Wood and many more.
The classic story follows a young man by the name of Jim Hawkins (Toby Regbo) who finds himself in possession of a treasure map that belonged to the crooked and despicable pirate Captain Flint (Sutherland). Flint had amassed a hoard of treasure, double crossed his crew and murdered anyone who tried to stop him as he buried his treasure on an island in the West Indies. When Hawkins comes into possession of the map he enlists the help of Dr Livesey (Daniel Mays) who turns to Squire Trelawney (Rupert Penry-Jones) in order to borrow enough money to hire a boat and a crew to find the treasure and enrich their lives. However, Trelawney has plans of his own and has decided that he shall claim the treasure himself with the help of Captain Smollett (Glenister) at the helm. What none of them were counting on was that Long John Silver (Izzard) had been planning his own assault on the treasure and has cleverly managed to convince Trelawney to crew the ship with his men as they plan to reclaim the treasure that Captain Flint double crossed them for.
As the ship sets sails for the West Indies murder, treachery and backstabbing become the order of the voyage as everyone has their eyes set on treasure. As Silver manoeuvres and manipulates all aboard the ship in order to get his hands on the treasure map trouble brews, unbeknown to Squire Trelawney and Captain Smollett. Jim finds himself stuck in between right and wrong with the lines defining both of them rather blurred. As he becomes drawn into the murky world of piracy on the high seas Jim tries to figure out a way he himself can get the treasure home to his Mother. Who will do whatever it takes in order to claim the treasure for themselves?
Treasure Island is a decent piece of family entertainment and as expected the high calibre cast all put in outstanding performances. However, I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that the script could’ve been better. The 90 minute long episode took quite a while to get going and it wasn’t until there was only minutes left that things began to really get interesting. Everything up until then had been whispers, talk of mutiny and the threat of violence. The Sky One website boasts of high-octane action adventure, but none of those were on display last night.
Until last night I had no real knowledge of what Treasure Island was about, the story or any of the characters beyond recognising the name Long John Silver. Therefore, I came into the story with entirely fresh eyes and nothing to compare it with in terms of its previous outings or the original text. My point of view comes purely from a storytelling perspective and last night I was left disappointed by a show that promised so much.
To add to the lack of action it was also visually dull. The advantage TV has over a book is that it can use imagery to create a visual feast that enthrals an audience and draws them into a world created by the story. Firing canons, pirates, stunning views and intelligent camera trickery can create pace, drama and action that keeps you engrossed no matter what your level of reading. When coupled with great characters enhanced with great performances it cannot fail. Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty good at doing this and enjoyed the spoils of box office success as a result.
Treasure Island has not been anywhere near as interesting to watch. Instead I spent most of my time trying to remember in what films and TV shows I had previously seen each member of the elaborate cast. I also spent a fair amount of time wondered how much Donald Sutherland and Elijah Wood got paid per second of screen time since sneezing at the right time could’ve seen the audience miss Wood’s performance and the average time spent urinating could’ve seen Sutherland go by the by also.
I was looking forward to Treasure Island. I was excited for Treasure Island. I’m not sure if I’m going to watch part two of Treasure Island.
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21 Comments
Another good review DJ , I was going to watch , don’t know whether I’ll bother now .
This adaptation shows what happens when you take an extremely tightly-written and richly-textured adventure and let modern TV try to improve it. The suspense and power of the novel were missing and the characterisations hopeless. The changes to the personalities of key characters and pointless alterations to the plot left us with a flat story. The gradual revelation of the true nature of Silver and his crew was totally missed and his own character: extrovert, intelligent and charismatic, was turned into something like a used car salesman. The counterpointing of the pirates by the decent but slightly childish squire, the brave and competent doctor and the brusque, but honest captain went out of the window as did Jim’s complex relationship with the two poweful adults in his life: Silver and the doctor. How to ruin a classic.
Spot on – absolutely right in every way. Shame really, as the ‘look’ was fine and the production values were good, but ruined by pointless meddling with a classic plot…
Totally right! Spoiled classical story completely. I feel sorry for those who haven’t read the book or seen more to book adaptation, as this one is absolute rubbish!
I and my family really enjoyed the first episode, it was such a breath of fresh air after the rubbish dished up over Christmas, Downton Abbey comes to mind, looking forward to the final part tonight.
I don’t know anything about the reviewer but I would guess he/she is a product of the modern age where everything has to be done for the audience bcause it lacks imagination and intelligence. Get drawn in,mate. Get some empathy going. I shall certainly watch the second part and I don’t expect it to reflect all aspects of the novel because, clearly, it can’t. It’s a piece of television which is a different and, some would say, inferior medium. Reviwers should climb down from their own bottoms.
I totally agree. I am fed up with reading miserable reviews by people who believe they are the only authority on these things, and consequently are forever putting down brilliant productions and making people who watched and enjoyed them seem inferior. Particularly like your last comment.
This was a good version and I enjoyed it a lot – I hate dramas which are all shooting and fighting and no proper build-up which you would get with a book. Sutherland will no doubt re-appear, and of course anyone who knows the story will also be aware that Elijah Wood has a major part to play in part two as he is playing Ben Gunn! Atmospheric and well-acted – make sure you watch it! This is a well-thought out representation of the story.
Sadly we’ve been spoiled by pirates of the Caribbean and nothing is going to top that in the pirate section.
This is a story that’s well known if you are a literacy follower.. You just have to enjoy seeing the star line up..
SHockingly bad – looks like it has been done on the cheap or what was spent on the cast had to be saved on the script and production.
Adequate for a fifth form drama club – even the sound is rubbish.
ONe to forget.
Oh dear. I really wanted to like this, but could not get past the lack-lustre casting and lack of atmosphere which, considering what a cracking story they had to work with, all amounted to a big disappointment. I like Eddie Izzard, but he had nothing like the acting power or character required to get behind the vital lead role as Silver, and everything else suffered as a result. Similarly, Elijah Wood’ Ben Gunn was simply nowhere close to what it should have been (more serious mis-casting), and was barely intelligible. Overall – not good at all. What a shame.
Opinions are like, well you know what – we all have one. And this one is awful. Treasure Island is not (thank god) Pirates of the Caribbean and if you get bored watching a story develop, well, as far as I’m concerned that is more a reflection of an attention deficit culture than anything else.
I thought this was a very good adaptation – although I accept Martin’s reservations – but therein lies the rub. If you want the subtleties and genius of the novel, read the novel, if you want burlesque watch POTC. But as modern TV productions go, as far as I was concerned this was pretty much as good as it gets. More like this please.
The second episode was vastly superior to the first, with the action hotting up and Jim torn betweeh the goodies and the baddies. Mind you they have ruined the boy’s adventure element by intruding a ridiculous leftwing outlook on the goodies! Glad they kept the apple barrel! I like the racial mix of the pirates, and the shots conveying the exciting majesty of the Tall Ships. But the poor acting, and the silly upstairs/downstairs feel to the ship, means it’s hard to empathise with anybody, even Jim.
I dunno what half of you have been watching ! I thought this was superb ! All the actors were class and Izzard’s Silver was awesome. Like a few have said, don’t compare it to the book or you’re on the wrong thought path right away ! Well done Sky
How nice to watch scripted television that assumes knowledge on the part of the viewer. So much better not to be spoonfed drivel and despite a few changes, a rather faithful adaptation of the story. I am a great fan of Stevenson in general and must confess to my favourite treasure island being the muppet
version.
I love the little touches too, the scrimshaw crutch, Izzard and Glenister along with the analysis of greed in the presence of ill gotten riches.
Damnation and redemption, evil and grace, courage and cowardice, pride and humility.
Wood plays Gunn’s madness very well, Izzard’s borderline sociopath and Glenister’s iron willed captain. It was a beautifully shot, beautifully played script and I loved every minute.
Here, here Brian !
Really enjoyed the first part on New Years Day. A great cast who were all totaly convincing in their roles. A modern adaption of one of my favourite childhood classics by Robert Louis Stevenson And well directed too. Cant wait to watch part two now.
I have to disagree, having read the book and seen most if not all of the previous incarnations, this version looked and felt close to how the book read. The book is slow to get going as it built character back stories.
I liked how it gave a different perspective on some characters, Ben Gunn is more believable in this version, Elijah Wood was surprisingly convincing. Eddie Izzard brought the character of Long John Silver to life, it’s hard to believe Eddie being evil but you’re not sure and that just how it comes across, perfect.
I liked the addition of the beginning scene where you find out just how Silver lost his leg.
I loved it and would happily watch it again.
Just to note I’m disagreeing with DJ Hasa, not the other commenters. Don’t let this review put you off watching.
People might read your review and decide not to watch it. That would be a shame. Reviewers should be wary about destroying other people’s good work just because they like the sound of their own voices.
To compare this with Pirates of the Caribbean misses the point. POTC is a rollicking parody, and vey good. This is the original and the problem is that if you play it as it was written (with all the archaic cursing) it rapidly turns into an ooh-aaring pantomime. That is no doubt why they have chosen to underplay this aspect. It is none the worse for that. I for one found part one gripping and will watch part 2 later. I commend it.
I think there are two approaches to this mini-series that result in disappointment: 1) “I don’t know the story but I want a fun, pirate action-movie.” and 2) “I love the story and want to see it play out exactly as it does in the story, ideally exactly the way I envision it as a reader.”
Personally, I loved this adaptation because my approach was, “I like the story and I’m curious to see what might be made of it.” This film’s got a lot of heart, great costuming, atmosphere and acting which met my simple desire to just see Treasure Island. On top of that, I really enjoyed how they took what has traditionally been a movie with only white guys (except for Jim’s mom usually only in the first five minutes) and made it pass the Bechtel test by creating the character of John Silver’s wife and having her interact with Jim’s mother in an interesting subplot. I also appreciated the racial diversity of the cast which made it clear that seaports at this time weren’t just full of white English people. Black people and asian people were there doing more than token appearances and weren’t even just there as pirates — Mr. Arrow, the sailor appointed by Captain Smollett to be first mate, is Jamaican. So good on the filmmakers for all of that.
Regarding the changes to the plot and characterization… Someone a few comments above me snidely alluded to this as “interjecting leftist values.” That’s one way to put it. You can agree or disagree with the message, but it is a fine counterargument to some of the unconscious assumptions implied in the original text, in my opinion, raising some points to consider and possibly discuss, if nothing else (if I were teaching Treasure Island, I’d consider showing parts of this to students to get some debate going).
Instead of asking us to just accept that pirates are just bad and immoral and the english gentleman good and full of truth, this adaptation points out the similar motives and actions on both sides. It invites you to think about how the “good guys” in the book wind up doing essentially what Captain Flint did; they want to earn a fortune on the backs of a whole crew which they do not intend to pay. They do it without even recognizing it as immoral, because they have the privilege of having the power of law (and money and connections, etc.) on their side. Flint does it through outright murder and betrayal. Both Flint and Trelawney/Smollet end up profiting on dead men whom they had hired and then killed. Flint did it preemptively because he realized that his men would violently challenge such an arrangement (piracy being sort of a failed version of democracy that comes out more like mob-rule most of the time, tyranny at other times and anarchy in the middle); the captain and squire, etc., assumed everyone would just be fine with the unfair arrangement (in fact, they thought they’d never even have to know). They get to kill everybody who wanted a share AFTER those people (who’d already at least once been denied a fair share in the same exact treasure) violently revolt.
This adaptation doesn’t exactly glorify the pirates, but it blurs all the distinctions between the good and bad characters more consciously than the book ever seems to. Jim in the book never really learns anything — he comes out as confused as he went in, wanting the fun and wealth of being a successful pirate, but the safety and power and righteousness of being a gentleman. The Jim of this particular adaptation confronts that hypocrisy a little more head-on.