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.

Treasure Island is one of my absolute favorite books, and so I tend to shy away from movies of it; they never do the book justice. This feature is no exception- and yet it is one.The deliciously adult depictions of the pirates, the times, and the addition of the storyline about Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. Silver work beautifully to add twist and interest to what might be an over-familiar tale. I thought Izzard was a brilliant Long John Silver. I also felt Wood's Ben Gunn was wonderfully true to the spirit of the character, and the twist to his tale (away from the original book storyline) at the end also was thoughtful and interesting, and more just to the character.On the other hand, the serious destruction of the characters of the Squire and the Doctor utterly destroy the main contrasts and points of the original story: the pitting of honesty, generosity, courage, and loyalty in believable, likable characters against the evils of self-indulgence, trickery, greed, and cowardice of the pirates. It also takes away from Jim Hawkins coming-of-age by handing that role- strangely- to the Doctor.I also thought it utterly idiotic to dump the treasure at the end. It is almost like somebody decided they wanted to have the treasure dumped in an allegory against greed, and so they fit the "good guys" to this ideal, making them into bad guys, just like the pirates. Or, perhaps they wanted you to cheer harder for Long John Silver and be happier about him getting away in the end (I'm all good with Jim helping him to escape, especially with the insertion of the woman-at-home storyline to compliment it), so they had to make the "good" guys into cowardly jerks so you wouldn't want them to win- which is, of course, superficial and stupid.In the end, it is a beautiful rendition, if you can get over the annoying changes to the Squire and the Doctor- or just take them as given as they are, and watch it for the wonderful complexity of Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins and their shifting and changing relationship.

This is a very well done pirate movie. They did an excellent job getting most things accurate for the time period. From a sailing side, I didn't like some of the things on screen. (i.e. a shot with a loose flying Jib Boom Sail. This would have NEVER happen on a real ship with a knowledgeable crew.)My main disappointment was the complete miss on the relationships between the character's from the book. One of the main reasons the original book was so appealing and became so famous was because of the trust, and faith the adults in the movie had for the child, Jim Hawkins. In the book, just about every adult had the utmost faith and trust in the information Jim provided. I found it very frustrating that no one but John Silver put trust in Jim in the movie.Another issue I had with this was the relationship between the Squire, The Doctor and Jim. I think this triangle was something that was so vital to ability to believe the original story. It was changed so much in the movie, that it was hard to accept.Again .. I really thought the movie was great. But perhaps it would have been better to change the title and claim it as a adaptation of treasure island rather than saying it IS treasure island ... because it's not.Kudos though to all involved, I commend you for taking on such a large scale production. I know ship movies in general are expensive and difficult. It was a really great movie on a whole.

Stevenson's Treasure Island was one of my favorite childhood books I used to read over and over again. Currently I can't remember its nuances - the plot of course I do - and I enjoyed the 2012 version. Background and costumes seems realistic and one can notice at once that it non-US movie - compared to Pirates of the Caribbean, for example.Izzard, Regbo, Sutherland and Wood are very good, the rest are just above average - or their characters are too "simple" to make some real shine out of them. On the other hand, it is good that no one really steals the show as Depp does when portraying Jack Sparrow. Fight scenes, collusions etc are also more "medieval" here.In short, highly recommended for those fond of historic adventures, and not seeking deep philosophy or reasoning.