Shipwrecked

OK, it is not the greatest film of the century. OK, the characters are not so very three-dimensional, OK, they do not develop very much through the film, OK, the end is as predictable as the one of "Cinderella". But it really does not matter. I watched 'Håkon Håkonsen' with kids and they loved it - they kept talking about it for a long time after we had finished. To my considerable surprise, I found myself greatly amused too. It is a family film in the true sense of the word, it has a hero and a heroine and a bad guy - perfectly cast with a chilling Gabriel Byrne - lots of action and adventure, humor, serious moments, and a happy ending. In a sense it resembles some Disney productions, but lacks the slightly superficial, American touch. It is a good film, a good story, created by people who want to tell children a fairy-tale and who knows how to do so. Recommended.

STORY: Haakon Haakonsen is a young boy which joins his older brother, Jens, on a ship with a mostly foreign crew. As the youngest and most unexperienced member of the crew, Haakons gets a really hard time from the others. But he learns fast, and builds up respect from some of the crew over time. Then one day the ship gets hit by a huge storm, and gets wrecked. Haakon Haakonsen wakes up at an island alone. He now stands in front of many challenges, and gets to use the moral, and the skills he have built up inside of him. He also meets some of the crew-members again, and gets to learn that they don't earn all the respect they had on the ship at all. Haakon now stands in front of the challenge of survival, and then to get off the island..

INFORMATION/RATING: The story's time-line I believe is somewhere in the late 1800's or early 1900, as the ship they work on is a Caravel type of ship, among with other time-like indicators.

This is a movie is a good and typical adventure-movie, which contains moral-like characters, and cynic pirate-like characters. Of course, there is a treasure too:) The story in "Shipwrecked" is a lot like "Mutiny on the Bounty", "Robinson Crusoe", so if you like movies/stories like these, you will very probably enjoy this too! "Shipwrecked" is from 1990, and it's a Norwegian-produced movie, so you cannot expect the hugest Hollywood-effects in it, but i think this could be a positive factor too. Still I believe that this is a indicator to the "User Rating" of the movie. Many watchers forget this when they watch movies. My point is; If "Shipwrecked" was made today, with the same story, I believe the user-rating would be up at 7.0 - 7.5 and maybe even higher. As I use to tell my friends: You need to know what you are watching, if not the watch is being watched:) If you are critically focused when you watch this movie, I'm sure you will find a lot of errors and goofs, but if you watch it with clean sheets I'm sure you'll love it. When I take the production year- and production country in mind, i give this movie: 8 of 10

Good, clean fun for the family. We first watched this movie 10 years ago when my kids were under 6. They're all teenagers now and they still enjoy this movie. It's a great adventure story that's a throwback to a simpler type of movie-making, relying on character development and plot rather than special effects. The villains aren't cartoons, and Haakon is a believable protagonist. If sex, graphic violence, gratuitous profanity, and anti-heroes are your idea of a good time, you'll hate this movie. But if you crave films that you wouldn't be embarrassed to have three or four generations watch, you'll love this one -- again and again.

PS -- the thing with Haakon's shoes IS hilarious!

Shipwrecked is a tale about a young boy who finds his destiny and friends along the way. It is quite an interesting movie, very different and more thoughtful than most American movies. Stian Smestad does an excellent job as Hakon Hakonsen, and the actors who played Mary and Jens were wonderful also. This is a timeless classic with a good lesson in it. *** out of ****

Very cute, "lightly" based on the work of Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Treasure Island", despite being highly popular in the cinematographic world, the plot always attracts me, sea, shipwrecked, island (desert or not), cute and determined children, evil pirates, fun and adventure...