Under the lens Film Retrospectives are long-form reviews that take a deep look at films by focusing in on the particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse.
Treasure Island is perhaps the most famous pirate novel ever published. Written by Robert Louis Stevenson, the book was responsible for many of the pirate tropes we know and love today. The novel has seen many many film and TV adaptations, most notably the 1950 Disney film of the same name. However, it’s a little-remembered 1990 British-American production that delivers the best on-screen version of the novel to date.
Released in 1990 by Turner Pictures, Treasure Island sports a STACKED cast of actors, with a young Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins the brave cabin boy and hero of the story. Screen legend Charlton Heston as Long John Silver, Oliver Reed as Billy Bones, Christopher Lee as Blind Pew, and Pete Postlethwaite as George Merry. It’s an incredable cast of actors that were assembled, and the picture was directed and written by Heston’s son Fraser Heston.
I remembered watching this picture as a kid when I rented it from Hollywood Video on VHS, I was curious to see if it held up so I rented it from Amazon, and was very pleased to find up it did!
Writing and Accuracy of the Novel
One of the major issues when adapting a book that has been filmed so many times is remaining true to the source material while also putting a fresh spin on it. Fraser Heston did a very good job adapting the story while adding a bit to it, for example, Heston keeps almost all the scenes from the novel while expanding on them.
In the novel the duel between Black Dog and Billy Bones is very brief, however in the picture we see it drawn out a bit, and the battle at the stockade is also lengthened. When the Pirates bring up a cannon to shell the fort, this adds intensity to the battle and also gives it a climactic moment as the heroes must blow it up to win the battle.
We also get more of a climactic battle at the treasure site, when Geroge Merry attacks Silver and we get a sword duel. All of the additions made were in the service of the story and did not deviate from the source material only expanded on it. Which ended up adding a lot of flavor to the picture, which allowed it to stand out without compromising the novel.
Acting
The acting in this picture is all very good, with a few stand-out performances. Christian Bale is 16 in the film, and delivers a great performance as Jim Hawkins, playing him as not a boy but also not a man yet. He is brave but foolish, scared yet desperate to prove himself. At its core, Treasure Island is a coming-of-age story and this comes out with Bale’s performance.
Charlton Heston on paper makes no sense as Long John Silver, and I was weary of it when I first saw the casting. However, being a fan of his, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and boy does he deliver what I now feel is the definitive version of the Pirate Captain and one of Hestons best late-career performances. Heston manages to have so much chemistry with Bale, and we feel that charm and menace in every line he delivers. He plays Silver as a bloodthirsty murderer who you end up liking and almost wants to be friends with. A standout scene is near the end as he and Hawkins talk on the ship and Silver reveals how scared he is of hanging (or is he manipulating Jim?) and Jim has a heart-to-heart with him, you feel the emotion between the two as Silver was in many ways a bit like a father to Jim. Heston does a great job of bringing the character from the novel to life.
Lastly, Christopher Lee as Blind Pew is frightening under prosthetic makeup, as the disabled Pirate who is far more dangerous than he appears to be. His role is not large, but it sets off the chain of events from the story.
Overall I can’t think of a single performance in the picture that is bad, everyone delivers on the characters they are playing.
Script
Coming in at 2hrs and 12mins the picture is not overly long but also not short. However there are a few minor issues of pacing in the first half, the story moves at a breakneck speed in the first act and into the second, then slows way down in the third. This slowdown is good as it allows our characters to breathe and interact with one another, and I found myself enjoying these character moments very much. Jim and Israel Hands interacting on the ship after Jim steals it was very good, as were all the interactions between Silver and Jim.
I can’t help but feel the script would have been strengthened by an additional 10-15mins in the first act to lay everything out a bit more. That being said the script is not bad, and does a perfectly fine job of telling the story.
Filmmaking
Overall this film was well-directed, Heston has a good eye for framing this picture in the traditional adventure genre, I felt at times like I was watching a picture from the swashbuckling days of the 1940s and 1950s such as The Sea Hawk or Captain Blood. His handling of the actors was well done as they all delivered good performances and all felt well suited to their characters.
The set design and locations are all wonderful, with filming on location in Great Britain’s Cornwall and Jemaca, the picture feels lush and “Lived in” The sailing ship itself was beautiful and Heston makes the most of it framing it wonderfully.
Conclusion
After viewing this film, I would describe it as the definitive film edition of the novel. Its outstanding cast, beautiful locations, and script that is true to the source material while also breathing life into it allow this adaptation to stand head and shoulders above the rest.
I was somewhat surprised to see that Fraser Heston only directed a few more films after this one, I was impressed upon finding out that Treasure Island was only his second feature, and I would have loved to see him break out as a director.
Treasure Island delivers on thrills and feels, with the relationship between Jim Hawkins and Silver being at the forefront. It’s a film that while sadly mostly forgotten I think stands the test of time, at this time it has 4.5 stars out of 5 on Amazon from 1200 reviews, so I can only hope that it continues to be discovered by Pirate and film fans alike!
While wild horses could not drag Jim Hawkins back to that cursed island, wild horses could not keep me away from rewatching this film for many years to come.