Cutthroat Island (1995) MGM/Action-Adventure RT: 124 minutes Rated PG-13 (some strong pirate action/violence and brief sensuality) Director: Renny Harlin Screenplay: Robert King and Marc Norman Music: John Debney Cinematography: Peter Levy Release date: December 22, 1995 (US) Cast: Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Stan Shaw, Maury Chaykin, Patrick Malahide, Harris Yulin, Rex Linn, Paul Dillon, Chris Masterson, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Harris Yulin, Angus Wright, Ken Bones, George Murcell. Box Office: $10 million (US)
Rating: ***
Cutthroat Island is the bomb that sank Carolco Pictures. It cost roughly $100M to make and managed only a meager domestic box-office take of $10M (plus another $6M overseas). It still holds the record for the biggest box office bomb of all time.
Executive producer Mario Kassar, one of the co-founders of Carolco, had a lot riding on Cutthroat Island. It was a risky venture making a pirate movie given how unpopular they had become with audiences- e.g. the 1986 Roman Polanski swashbuckler Pirates did only $1.6M against a $40M budget. It didn’t help that it was a lousy picture. In any event, Kassar needed a hit to save the studio he founded with former partner Andrew Vajna. Instead, he fired the kill shot.
Contrary to what you’ve heard over the years, Cutthroat Island really isn’t all that bad. It’s actually a pretty good flick, especially if you like pirates. Unfortunately, its fate was sealed long before it sailed into theaters circa Christmas ’95. Reports of a troubled and chaotic production- rewrites, casting issues, going over budget and falling behind schedule- went public. The bad reviews didn’t help any. It quickly sank taking Carolco down with the ship. Now to be fair, that might not be entirely accurate. According to director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2), the studio was already in financial ruin before Cutthroat Island even went into production. They actually filed for bankruptcy a month before its release. Whatever the case may be, it disappeared over the horizon almost immediately. It was a distant memory by Martin Luther King Day.
I saw Cutthroat Island at an advance screening a few days before it opened. I braved a snowstorm to see it; my movie addiction knows no bounds. Despite the inclement weather, there were a fair number of people in attendance. I guess, like me, they were curious, but didn’t want to pay to see it. I steeled myself expecting the worst. If what I heard was true, it would be the second big-budget water-logged dud- Kevin Costner’s infamous Waterworld came out that summer- in the space of a year.
I have to admit I was surprised. It wasn’t terrible. It’s bloated, miscast and there’s no chemistry between the two leads, but it kind of/sort of works. Why? Simple, it touches upon all the necessary and expected conventions of the pirate genre- i.e. salty buccaneers, big ships, sea battles, sword fights, cannons blasting, a map leading to buried treasure, a mutiny, a dastardly villain and a swashbuckling hero- or in this case, heroine. Yes, it’s a pirate movie for the 90s!
Geena Davis, Mrs. Renny Harlin at the time, stars as Morgan Adams, the daughter of the infamous pirate Black Harry (Yulin, Scarface). She becomes the captain of his ship the Morning Star after he’s murdered by his brother/her uncle Dawg Brown (Langella, 1979’s Dracula) over his piece of a map showing the location of a huge stash of gold. Before he dies, Harry gives his piece (which is tattooed on his scalp) to his daughter. There are three pieces in all. Dawg has one and another uncle has the final piece. Whoever has the whole map is going to be rich.
Just one problem, the writing on Morgan’s map is in Latin. She needs a translator. At Port Royal, she learns that William Shaw (Modine, Full Metal Jacket), a thief/con man about to be auctioned off as a slave, is fluent in the language. Morgan wins the auction, but destroys the port in the process of escaping after Governor Ainslee (Malahide, The Long Kiss Goodnight) recognizes her from her wanted poster. Once Morgan and company hit the open sea, it’s a race against Dawg to obtain the third part of the map and locate the gold.
Cutthroat Island is a robust pirate adventure not much different from the ones that delighted kids at Saturday matinees in the 40s and 50s. The only real difference is the huge price tag. The good news is that it shows in the finished product. The film boasts a few cool action set-pieces including a final sea battle between two ships replete with cannons firing and pirates swinging from one ship to another. The effects team does a masterful job as do the stunt people. Best of all, it’s all practical work, no CGI or green screen here.
Alas, Cutthroat Island isn’t flawless. It has some pacing issues and the chemistry between the two leads just isn’t there. To be fair, Modine wasn’t the producers’ first choice. The role was supposed to be played by Michael Douglas, but he bowed out before filming began because his screen time kept getting reduced in favor of Davis’ character. A whole bunch of A-list actors (e.g. Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves and Liam Neeson) turned down the part of Shaw before Modine accepted. He’s a fine actor as evidenced by Full Metal Jacket, but he’s too mild-mannered to play an action hero. He does, however, lend some nice comic relief.
Davis, on the other hand, does a good job in the lead. Cutthroat Island is her foray into action and she executes herself quite well. Her physique (she’s six feet tall) definitely helps. Langella hams it up nicely as the villain of the piece. He positively oozes malevolence. Maury Chaykin plays John Reed, a writer along for the ride. His role is similar to Saul Rubinek’s in Unforgiven. The supporting cast also includes Stan Shaw (Harlem Nights), Rex Linn (Cliffhanger), Patrick Malahide (The Long Kiss Goodnight) and the late Jimmie F. Skaggs (Puppet Master).
Just because a film flops at the box office, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s bad. Personally, I enjoyed Howard the Duck, Hudson Hawk and Last Action Hero. Ishtar, not so much. Cutthroat Island is one of the good ones. It’s a fun movie. What more can you ask of a pirate movie?
