Who needs aliens or space monsters for a horror flick? "The Island" is a horror film. It's billed as an action and adventure drama. It's not sci-fi but it would more accurately be described as a suspense and horror movie. It fits in that sub-genre of human horrors that include "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." The movie is based on a 1979 novel of the same title by Peter Benchley. Benchley worked on the screenplay as well. Movie fans, if not readers, will know him from his 1975 blockbuster film (and 1974 book), "Jaws." Benchley's works were mostly set around the ocean. Sea monsters were usually his subjects, but in this case, he conjured up human monsters in the form of a colony of savage pirates. This group is descended from 17th century pirates and has lived undetected since then in the Caribbean Sea. The story suggests that this band of bloody brigands may be responsible for the many disappearances of boats and ships over the decades in the Bermuda Triangle. It was a novel idea. The cast for this film is very good and the acting is probably very good. But this is the type of film in which one can't appreciate the arts of movie making because the plot is so heinous. The movie, "Jaws" set an all-time box office record through 1975. But it pitted people against a sea monster. "The Island" pits humanity against barbarism. It isn't in the same class of films and failed at the box office. I'm not a fan of horror films about the human race on rampage. This is the most gruesome film I've ever watched. I had to watch to the end to see if Michael Caine's Blair Maynard and his son, Justin (played by Jeffrey Frank) survived. They do, so there's no need for anyone else to have to struggle through this film. It's definitely not a film for children, or even the vast majority of adults for that matter. I can't think of who might enjoy this film. The box office is good evidence, in this case. I can't imagine why Michael Caine or David Warner (the character John David Nau) would want to appear in this film, even if it offered lavish salaries. This is a hard movie to stomach – the kind that otherwise belies being able to be rated for its quality.

Michael Caine plays a reporter who runs afoul of modern day pirates when investigating a rash of ship disappearances in the Caribbean. His son tags along with him and the pirates attempt to make him one of them. This film came with high commercial hopes since it's an adaptation of a Peter Benchley novel, but it tanked, mostly because it's not a very good film. The biggest problem is the pirates who largely come off as more goofy than threatening. A lot of great actors, lead by David Warner, fail to menace Caine convincingly or do much of anything interesting. Michael Ritchie is a really odd choice to direct this, and I'm sure some of the bizarrely unsuccessful tone can be credited to this choice.

I haven't seen the whole film BUT...I saw David Warner a few years back talking to a bunch of people and he ABSOLUTELY REFUSED- very strongly!- to talk about THE ISLAND! Does anybody know what went wrong on this film? I wonder what Michael Caine thinks about it?I saw about five minutes on TV once and it looked somewhere between awful (considering the talents involved) or intentionally humorous + engagingly bizarre.I've always thought that Michael Ritchie was a criminally underrated director of comedies that were both unique and reliably funny (Survivors, Couch Trip). He seemed to have a track record for working well with great actors. Again, what went wrong?-Dr. Paybaragon

This is quite simply one of the worst motion pictures ever made for the big screen. Michael Ritchie was lucky he was ever allowed near any kind of camera after directing this cinema abomination. The story is utterly ridiculous and the script a total piece of absurd trash. Peter Benchley made a fortune writing mindless garbage but this is the very nadir of his limited talent. While Michael Caine is always able to rise above the horrible films in which he has periodically appeared, that was not the case with this abysmal effort. Caine has never given a really poor performance except in this unholy turkey. It's as if he lost all sense of what he is as an actor or even as a human being and became a horror movie clown suddenly. A lifetime ago I paid to sit through this cinematic waste and was stunned by the ineptitude, the embarrassment, the unpleasantness, and stupidity that flickered before my eyes. It was and is awful beyond all comprehension. There is no way one can grasp the purpose of this movie except everyone involved wanted to make a fast and easy buck. Of all the films ever produced, this is one of those rare ones that lacks any redeemable value at all and is absent all merit. There is no excuse for this thing and everyone involved should feel deeply and eternally ashamed for not only participating in this film's production but especially for inflicting such ugly, disturbing swill on audiences wishing for nothing more than escapist entertainment.