This is a pretty good film as it goes but the main character of Long John Silver was the worst casting error in Eddie Izzard that l have ever seen, there was no 'Ey Jim Lad' Izzard just spoke in a cultured English accent, l have noticed that a lot of remarks on this film say they had never seen any version of Treasure Island before this, let me recommend the Disney version made in the 50's in colour with the wonderful Robert Newton, now here is an actor who 'was' Long John Silver, eyes rolling, the right type of accents, and as sly as they come.The other actors in this 2012 version did a fair job, Daniel Mays was good as Dr Livsey, as was Phil Glenister and Penry-Jones, so in all this film was good but Eddie Izzard as Silver oh no.7/10

This yet-another cinematic version of Treasure Island is a typically well-made and remarkably accurate British portrayal of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic masterpiece swashbuckling 1891 novel. It is not over-dramatised whilst also not "over-softening" the violent and bloody scenes.As a TV miniseries, the run time of three hours when viewed all at once on DVD isn't too much either. I found it well worth the time spent and, whilst knowing what to expect having read the book, no less enjoyable. I did notice a couple of continuity errors that I thought unusual for such a well-made movie - in particular, the number of men in Long John Silvers' party before and after several were killed in their siege of the stockade but I suppose it didn't make it any less enjoyable.For what it's worth, I couldn't help visualising Jason Statham in the role of of Long John Silver (not that Eddie Izzard didn't do a great job - it was just that I kept seeing him in his more typical comedic role) and Sam Neill as Captain Smollett. Donald Sutherland was brilliant as Captain Flint and Elijah Woods a bit quirky as Ben Gunn and nothing like I'd previously imagined the character from the book. Another big surprise was Billy Bones being a negro but certainly not out of character.I also thought that Tony Regbo, an actor I had never heard of prior to this movie did a very competent job as Jim Hawking - arguably the star of the novel. It will be interesting to see what this leads to for him.All in all, a jolly good British evening's entertainment.

Robert Louis Stevenson's classic gets another dramatic outing in this 2012 production starring comedian Eddie Izzard in the role of Long John Silver. The screenplay was written by Stewart Harcourt who made some unsubtle and to my mind unnecessary changes to the story. His altered representations of two of the major characters, Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey, make little sense and add no extra dramatic value. Director Steve Barron works for a rather realistic representation of the story with a mixed race crew of pirates posing as honest seamen on board the Hispaniola. This helps to steer a course away from unnecessary comparisons to 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. Izzards John Silver lacks the matey easiness of Robert Newton's classic 1950 characterisation, as well as the colour and roguishness. He is believable however, and at times gives a very good performance but I never found him as threatening as Newton's Silver. Philip Glenister was excellent throughout as Capt. Smollett, the professional sailor who begins the voyage with grave misgivings but remains steadfast during all of their adventures. Perhaps the only instance of miscasting was that of Elijah Wood as Ben Gunn, not only too young but again re-written for no real advantage. Wood himself gives it a good go, there's no faulting his performance, it is just that there is again no reason behind the changes to the character. This could have been an excellent version of Treasure Island, certainly the production values are high and the cast are for the most part enjoyable but the curious move away from Stevenson's original characterizations, the change to some of their motivation, and the totally unnecessary emphasis on a 21st Century reaction to materialism, mars this version. If you have never read the novel then this might pass as an entertaining adventure film but Stewart Harcourt's adaptation looses too much of the original and criticises social conventions in such a way as to suggest a lack of historical integrity or even understanding. Fun but not a patch of the 1950 classic.

I started seeing this movie without reading the book, so I cannot compare the two.Before I started I heard mixed reviews, but looking at the details still made me want to watch the movie as I normally like a good pirate movie.The beginning was alright, so I stuck to it for a good while. All in all I can only say that the acting was just terrible, and so typical nothing new kind of approach. Lets first kill the people we hire to do one set so nobody will miss them and eventually we will get to the more important people. But that is not even the worse, the worse is that at some point you just ask yourself. What am I doing, why am I still watching this. I am proud that I made it to around 2 hours before I just felt the need to get on IMDb to warn people not to see the movie. The only upside was the costume of Elijah wood witch I thought was really cool. But the rest, from the I am a pirate on one leg with a parrot on my shoulder to the bad story.