The Island of Dr. Moreau

A great cast in an average movie. This film is a weird one and the story kind of stalls in a few places. If you like Sci fi films this aint the best movie ever but it is worth the watch.

I don't know why people hate this movie. I thought it was good. It's a good science fiction movie. The acting was good. The plot and the effects were good. It had some action in it. I especially like the ending. There wasn't really anything wrong with the movie. In my opinion it was a good remake. Why anyone doesn't like this movie I'll never know. But I do recommend this movie to anyone who likes a good Science Fiction movie, and liked the book.

This wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe and was often nightmarish as well as gripping. I understand it was a troubled production and that may explain the uneven lurches in action. This film was saved by the excellent and committed performances by the actors who played the animals, who were really heartbreaking. Wells himself had an ambivalent attitude to the human race and was said to have had certain facist sympathies. However, Any philisophical points tended to be drowned by the rather garish direction. Brando's accent seemed wrong for the modern day setting of the film as well. A sad and distressing film that is well worth a look.

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.