The Island

Bear Grylls has let the producers select a cast of WHIMPS that know nothing about how to live without a supermarket or their mommy's. (please spare us the politically correct "diverse" group.. and next time use competent and capable REAL MEN or Women).

Honestly, anyone that has gone through BoyScouts or camped out more than once could easily survive longer than these "new age" pampered millennials. Most have never seen the outdoors other than on vacation or from a postcard in a city store.

After each episode 1,2,3.. they have crying or complaining men that need to be removed from the island. Please, spare us of feminine or unfit men trying to survive on an island with no food or water.

I'm so disappointed, since his past shows had always drawn us into actual survival by someone that is TRAINED or mentally competent to solve the life or death problems that arise.

This show is a WASTE of time.. don't bother unless you like watching new-era dysfunctional city people off the street starving and crying on an island.

I feel like I have to come to the defense of this show, simply because the type of people who are initially drawn to it expect a certain type of presentation of survival. I will tell you now, there are no Ray Mears or Les Stroud types on this show. There will be no instructional how-to's on building a friction fire or how to set traps to catch food. This is a show about 14 normal modern American men attempting to survive on a Pacific deserted island.

The show is shot entirely by the marooned islanders themselves, but don't expect the worst camera work, 4 of them are trained cameramen. The rest of the islanders are a mix of white and blue collar professionals between the ages of 25 and 60+, with a few veterans sprinkled here and there. In general, most of these people seem very genuine, and not hand picked by producers to provide the most tension and conflict. The show is of course about cooperative survival, not a competition.

Without giving anything away, we watch these men struggle with finding fresh water, starting a fire, and of course some internal struggle. These are of course problems that will continue to arise, and no doubt there will be many others that they will have to face, but that's what this show is all about. We are watching these men struggle and overcome the adversities of survival.

If you're looking for a show like Survivorman or any of the series hosted by Ray Mears, you're probably going to be a little disappointed. If you're looking to laugh and cry with the struggles of these men however, I'd give The Island a try.

Bear Grylls drops fourteen ordinary American men on a deserted tropical island. They are given limited supplies. There are no crew as the men themselves do the filming. There is no prize money. There is no voting. The first problem and probably the most compelling danger is the shortage of drinkable water. Some may laugh at the guys losing the water they're given but people make idiotic mistakes all the time. On an island surrounded by sea water, the lack of drinkable water is the most immediate danger.

Most of these guys are out of their elements. They make all kinds of easy mistakes. They caught a pig that looks suspiciously domesticated although they also got a caiman which is impressive. A few of the men are obvious camera people from previous TV productions like this. After the early dangers, there are some minor conflicts of personalities which don't interest me that much. Without a task, a couple of the guys ended up waiting out the 28 days. It seems like others are pushing the conflict agenda simply to spice up the entertainment. It's six episodes and first couple are quite compelling as they struggle to find water. The rest of the show isn't as compelling. It's a short six episodes but even that is too long. I don't see this show continuing unless Bear can come up with some tasks for the contestants.

For starters this series only consisted of 6 episodes...

This show was supposed to be about 13 men or so surviving on a island for a whole month. Well between the bickering and sniveling of most of the contestants it turned out to be 13 little kids on an island whining about their personal space.

This show took a turn for the worst. It had high expectations in comparison to the British version of The Island. If this was the American Revolution Britain would have dominated and the US would have succeed. The US version of The Island was a disgrace and made that average American look futile.

Bear Grylls himself couldn't have been more disappointed in this failed botched attempt to revive survival TV in the states. I'm sure this will be his last.

I found all four seasons to simply not be appealing. What you will see is the customary people not getting along drama, very little in survival information and at some points you'll think the entire show has been scripted to the narration.

The biggest disappointment is the lack of relevant footage of survival. It is an endless montage of starving dehydrated people waiting out the 6 weeks.

Considering that the whole thing is filmed with the same people starving and dehydrated you should expect much and the don't disappoint.

Sadly it was a stupid idea thinking that you would get good film or scenes with the same people suffering what they are recording.