L'Île du Dr. Moreau

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

** (out of 4)

Edward Douglas (David Thewlis) is found floating at sea in a raft and is saved when a boat being led by a man named Montgomery (Val Kilmer) comes to the rescue. The two men end up back on an island where all sorts of strange creatures are. These creatures, it turns out, are the work of Dr. Moreau (Marlon Brando) who is trying to creature the perfect mix of human and animal.

When I originally saw this film in 1996 I was shocked at how bad it was and I couldn't help but wonder how it turned out so bad. Then we got a brilliant documentary by David Gregory, which explains what happened during the production so I decided to re-visit the movie and I was surprised to see that time has actually been rather kind to the picture. There's no question that it's still a complete mess, which is no wonder considering what happened during the production but at the same time there's quite a bit of good things to be had here.

For starters, the special effects are actually wonderful and this is especially true for the make-up effects. The animal people's make-up is terrific and you actually feel as if you're looking at a real mix between humans and animals. Of course, these effects are a major step up from the stuff we had seen in earlier version. Another major plus is that the story manages to do a good job in the creatures "problems" with who they are. There are many scenes where they want to know if they're human or some sort of animal and I found these scenes to be rather intelligent.

The performances are also something that took a beating when the film was originally released but outside of Kilmer phoning in his performance, what we get here is actually pretty good. Thewlis makes for a good leading man and Fairuza Balk is good in her role of the panther woman. The various actors who appear as the creatures do a very good job at well and especially how hard it is to "act" with all that make-up on. Then, there's Marlon Brando. I hated his performance the first time I saw it but I must admit that it worked for me on this viewing. I thought he did a rather good job playing the "father" to these and I actually liked the way he tried to parent these creatures.

Of course, that doesn't cover some of the really bad stuff here including the entire sequence with the ice bucket on his head. Other decisions the actor made like the white make-up was also incredibly silly and just doesn't fit in the film. Another problem with the movie is the entire relationship between Douglas and the panther woman just doesn't work. There's also obvious issues with the production that shines through including a rather action-packed and silly ending. I'd also argue that it just seems like the original film wanted to be something more intelligent but that was scraped.

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU still isn't a good movie but at the same time it's certainly not as bad as it was viewed in 1996. I'm one of the people who really crushed this film when it was released but this latest viewing had me seeing it a tad bit better. Still, you can't help but call this a disappointment since the materials were there for something much better.

David Thewlis, looking like he's wandered in from another film, is totally miscast in this much-troubled version of the HG Wells classic.

After being rescued by toothy vet Val Kilmer and taken to the eponymous location, our Mancunian UN hero comes across cat girl Fairuza Balk and the balloon-like doc (Marlon Brando), all pasty-faced and with an Ealing comedy accent.

Marlon hasn't just been doing beached whale impressions on this exotic isle. You see, mad old Moreau has been messing around with gene-splicing and has created a race of humanoid beasts - courtesy of effects whiz Stan Winston.

He controls them with electric shock implants and is so taken with his work, has little other defence when the beasts inevitably start running wild. In essence, it all goes a bit Jurassic Park.

There are a few good points in this mish mash. A stunning opening titles scene - very necessary considering the lack of any adventure for the first 10 minutes; Thewlis' extraordinary presence; and an okay finale. In fact, any scenes without Brando and Kilmer are quite fascinating. This is partly down to the Richard Stanley screenplay which boasts some flashes of brilliance amid much re-worked studio editing and re-jigging.

This is one of those films where the making of the movie is perhaps more intriguing than the final product. Stanley, the film's original director, was fired and banned from the set. He actually went back, dressed up as a dog man extra, and watched the rest of the production unfold. Had he been allowed to finish his directing chores and had final cut, the result would probably have been a thousand times better.

However, John Frankenheimer does a fair job under the circumstances.

Ever wonder where Col. Kurtz would've ended up had he survived the end of "Apocalypse Now"? Well, now we know: He exiled himself to a deserted island to create humanimals - the horror, the horror.

This 1996 version of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" was such a troubled production that articles, books and documentaries have been made about it, like the 2014 documentary "Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau." Stanley championed the project, wrote the screenplay and was set to direct, but was fired after a few days of filming due to conflicts with Val Kilmer, who wasn't in the best of moods due to being served divorce papers while on set.

Actually that wasn't the main reason Stanley was fired. He was fine for small indie productions, but he was out of his league with a blockbuster like this. Veteran filmmaker John Frankenheimer was brought in to save the production from being a complete disaster. He got the job done, but his tyrannical approach didn't help matters.

The production was so bad that Fairuza Balk (the cat-lady, Aissa) literally tried to escape the set, but was caught at the airport in the nick of time. Add to this Brando's well-known eccentricities, not helped by the recent suicide of his daughter, Cheyenne, and constant rewrites and you have a formula for a cinematic chaos!

In light of the horrible production and the ensuing bad press you would think this would be a lousy movie, but it's actually not THAT bad. I can see why some people don't like it because parts of the third act are pretty crazy and don't flow very well, but if you're a sucker for lost-on-an-island type yarns and appreciate the mood & insanity of films like "Apocalypse Now" and the original "Planet of the Apes" ("It's a madhouse, a MADHOUSE!") you'll probably appreciate some of it. Don't get me wrong, it's nowhere near the caliber of either of those films, but comparisons are inevitable and there are entertaining bits.

The main problem is that the story isn't that compelling; the flow of the movie is off, which is mostly apparent in the mounting craziness of the final third, which tempts the viewer to tune out.

Thankfully, there are some positives. The title sequence is kinetic and dazzling; the score by Gary Chang is varied and all-around phenomenal; the plot is intriguing; the humanimal make-up and actors are quite good with Daniel Rigney's 'Hyena-Swine' standing out (Rigney would be dead a mere year after the film's release); there's some creative pizazz, like Marlon Brando's 35-minute stint where he's as captivating as always, albeit a fat bastage; the inclusion of Dr. Moreau's "Mini-Me" is hilarious in hindsight of the Austin Powers trilogy; and there are flashes of nigh greatness, like Edward's revelatory talk with Aissa in the third act.

Marlon's Dr. Moreau is a variation of Kurtz, i.e. nutjob in the jungle, albeit twenty years later. For Brando fans it's enjoyable seeing him in his old age. This was one of his final films and it shows that he had his magnetic charm 'til the end.

Furthermore, there are some interesting themes: The humanimals who get to live in Dr. Moreau's abode are more human-like in appearance than the animals living in the smelly humanimal 'village' in the forest; the most human-like one, Aissa, he even refers to as his daughter. Wouldn't this lead to tensions between the factions? Moreover, while Moreau is a benevolent dictator he's still a dictator and dictators are rarely good. When Hyena-Swine usurps the crown he immediately becomes a malevolent dictator.

The original version runs 96 minutes and the DC 99 minutes. The film was shot in Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

GRADE: C+

This is one of my favourite movies. I'm a fan of H.G. Wells' books and I think this movie is true to the book. It's much better than the 1977 version. Brando does a great job and Thewlis instantly became one of my favourite actors. Fairuza Balk is absolutely gorgeous!

Wells' stories are surprisingly advanced and mature. Island of Dr. Moreau and War of the Worlds were completely believable, unlike some of the modern adaptations of his works (e.g. the movie Independence Day). Considering that this story was written in the late 1800s, it's held up quite well and is more relevant than ever.

You will have to chalk me up as belonging to that camp of viewers who actually *wanted* to see a truly horrid film (as based on all the negative reviews) only to discover to our delight that there was a gem of a movie hiding there all along.

For me, watching the film was a *great* escapist experience. I felt exactly what the character played by David Thewlis would have felt, had I been in a similar "lost in the middle of the ocean, end up on a strange island" sort of predicament. The movie did a superb job of instantly whisking me away to a strange and beautiful and ominous place - the Island of Dr. Moreau - and I found myself staying with the fantasy the whole way through.

The cinematography was just beautiful, and if you have ever been in or near the tropics, the filming and the movie setting did an awesome job of conveying that hot, thick, humid, teeming-with-life feel that can only be found in the tropics.

I really enjoyed the eery background music, it really added to the overall creepiness of the whole weird "mad-science-gone-amok" theme of the story. Plus that scene where David Thewlis first encounters Faruiza Balk, and she starts to dance to that utterly hypnotic and awesome Balinese music, was just too spine-tingling for words. I only regret that I haven't been able to locate any soundtrack information yet on the movie, so I don't know who played that song, but the whole scene was absolutely and truly memorable. I'd watch it again just for that song and dance scene alone.

I noticed that many people didn't like the acting or the characterizations. I, on the other hand, felt that the four main characters (Brando, Kilmer, Thewlis, and Balk) were flawless in their depiction of a familiar tale. Brando was admittedly "weird" - but hey, give the guy his due, he was SUPPOSED to be a weird, crazed scientist. What were you expecting, the Maytag Repairman? Kilmer was deliciously evil, can't say enough good about Val Kilmer, he's always been one of my very favorite actors, and he DID NOT disappoint in this film, either. Balk, as mentioned above, was just awesome (and I REALLY liked the scene where she and "father" Brando had their moment of emotional bonding). Thewlis was right spot-on with his interpretation of an innocent "sane" observer who barely made it off this mad-house of an island without totally losing his own sanity. I think I would have done exactly as he had done, in his circumstances. Well Acted! Bravo!

One scene that didn't work for me was early on when the man-beasts were shown to be delivering a hideous-looking baby from a hideous-looking beast-woman. I don't know, but somehow I felt that it should have been Dr. Moreau and Montgomery (Brando and Kilmer) who should have been the doctors doing the delivery. Nevertheless, it was a truly creepy scene.

Finally, I thought the movie was well-stocked with thought-provoking comments on the morality of scientific experimentation. The scene at the dinner table, where Brando expounds on his personal views, comes to mind, as does the final parting comments, voiced by Thewlis. I had to watch the movie several times just to hear those words. They will REALLY make you think. I truly believe this movie should be seen and actively discussed by students at high school or college level - not just in science prep classes, but philosophy and social science courses as well. I don't care what the naysayers have to say, this was by no means an empty or shallow movie.

So, go take a trip to the Island of Dr. Moreau. You won't come back unchanged....