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Cutthroat Island (1995) More at IMDbPro »

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145 comments in total

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36 out of 54 people found the following comment useful :-
Island of Cut-Throats, 6 December 2004
Author: DarthBill from United States

Making a valiant stab at becoming an action figure, Geena Davis plays Morgan Adams, a wily, rough & tumble pirate woman who lives for adventure and the like. When her evil Uncle Dawg (Frank Langella) turns on her and her dad, it's a race against time for Morgan as she tries to piece together a map that will lead her to Cut-Throat Island, where unimaginable wealth in stolen pirate gold resides. Along the way she is pursued by an evil British officer who goes into cahoots with treacherous crew members and Dawg, aided by a pretty boy Jack-of-all-trades thief named William Shaw (Matthew Modine), and confronted with a series of wildly over the top set pieces that no human being could possibly survive.

One of the most expensive flops ever made, this overlong but endearing and even occasionally exciting film deserved much better than what it got in the summer of the mid-90s. Not quite as funny as "Pirates of the Caribbean" but still fun.

Already a cardboard cut-out role to begin with, Geena Davis struggles to overcome her natural aura of motherly warmth to play the roughish Morgan, but she plays the part well enough (she really does come across as somebody's mother, albeit the kind of mother neighborhood boys fantasize about). It's easy to imagine her in the ring with Keira Knightley - who played Elizabeth Swann in "Pirates of the Caribbean" - and to have Geena walloping Keira's waif like frame. Matthew Modine has his moments as Shaw and Frank "Dracula/Skeletor" Langella is enjoyably hammy as Dawg.

If nothing else, rent it for the expensive sets, fancy costumes, and elaborate, over the top stunts - many of which Davis and Modine did themselves.

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30 out of 45 people found the following comment useful :-
Just a good movie to relax to., 2 February 1999
Author: Jeff (spoonjef@aol.com) from L.A. CA

Cutthroat Island is a movie that you can just sit back, relax and watch it with a big goofy grin on your face. Sure it tanked at the box office, but don't disregard it totally. It's entertaining as hell. Geena Davis is rather engaging as a female pirate and Frank Langella seemed to be enjoying himself. Most people will say that this movie can't hold a candle to the pirate films of Errol Flynn, and they're right. But for a rock em sock em pirate adventure with more explosions than the high seas ever saw, watch Cutthroat Island.

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19 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
A very entertaining high seas adventure…, 21 May 2007

Author: ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico

The film opens in Jamaican coast in 1668…

While the Port Royal governor wants so badly the lady pirate, Morgan Adams, and will pay well for her, Dawg Brown (Frank Langella) was grabbing Morgan's father Black Harry (Harris Yulin) to take the first piece of a map (split into three separate pieces) to Cutthroat Island, where a treasure of a Spanish gold ship is said to be buried there…

Each of the other sections of the map is held by Morgan's two uncles: Dawg—the bad pirate who doesn't want to share the treasure—has the second piece stolen from a now-deceased brother, and Mordachai holds the third at Spittlefied Harbor…

So to seek the Spanish Treasure and to avenge her father's death, Morgan (Geena Davis) has to join with her uncle Mordachai and fight her murderous uncle to obtain the third part of the map…

The governor of the island (Patrick Malahide) offers Morgan two alternatives: One, an ignominious death on the gallows or she might cut him in for a share of her grandfather's treasure…

At the slave market, Morgan was looking for a man who can read Latin… So she picked a handsome convict who passes himself off as a physician with a natural pitch for music and a perfect taste in wine… His name was William Shaw (Matthew Modine).

If you enjoy Seventeenth Century pirate movies, and like to see how 92 million dollars were spent in sea-battles, rope-swinging, slow motion swashbuckling action, cannons with many explosions and many fires, plenty of rum, cove and cliffs, lots of treasure, the destruction of two Jamaican towns, gorgeous ocean vistas and breathtaking visuals … don't miss this one!

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25 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :-
Tongue in cheek action/adventure fun, 31 January 2005

Author: armittj from norway

I bought this on DVD not having heard of it or read any reviews so I watched it with an open mind. It is for me a good, fun to watch, action movie which entertained me - so I don't care if it wasn't (or ever will be) Oscar material - it just entertained me and that is why I watch films. The locations used in the film are first class as are the costumes. The fact that many of the stunts in the film were performed by the actors and not stunt doubles seems to add an immediacy and credibility to the film. There is what I would call "non-nasty" violence in the film (think of the A-Team) and occasional language which although again not really nasty, could deter parents from allowing the younger members of the family from sitting down and watching this as a kind of family matinée film.

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26 out of 41 people found the following comment useful :-
A Femme Fatale Swashbuckler!, 12 October 2004

Author: jrfranklin01 from Palm Beach, FL

Who says women can't be good pirates? Being a woman certainly doesn't stop Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) from plundering and "manning" the high seas. Sure, she's a bit incredible at first, but this movie is more about the classic treasure-hunt adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson than any life realities. Just look at the success of Pirates of the Caribbean! At least this movie is far more realistic than that, without any curses and such and...sadly, without the prizewinning role played by Depp.

Davis does manage to lend credence to the part of a strong woman who still maintains some rules and beliefs in her pirating. She is the daughter of a pirate captain. Her father is murdered by her uncle, Dawg (Frank Langella), in his search for a mysterious treasure. Apparently, several of the family members each carried a piece of the map to this treasure but none of them wanted to share it and thus, it has remained unfound. Morgan begins a journey to get that which is rightfully her's and her shipmates, all while being pursued by the British navy, her uncle, and amorously pursued by a professional thief, William Shaw (Matthew Modine). Cutthroat Island is a new tale of a pirate classic! 8/10

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17 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Controversial, but some may like it, 27 June 2004

Author: RNHunter from California US

This is certainly a controversial film, with some who dislike it. And one also cannot ignore that the film has lost a lot of money. However, I was one that actually enjoyed the film - a lot. It was a good film for me to just simply "enjoy". And that is one great reason for watching movies in the first place.

I did like Geena Davis in the main role. In fact, the two roles that I liked her the best in were Cutthroat Island and Last Kiss Goodnight. I would have loved to see her do more of these action type roles. She is certainly good in other roles, but I prefer her in the action roles such as this one.

I was indeed surprised when visiting the Guiness Records building in Hollywood California, and learning that this movie was the largest box office loss. My feelings on learning that were "but, I liked it".

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19 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
SUPER-CHARGED PIRATE ACTION ADVENTURE., 2 September 1999
Author: ALAN MOUNT from CARDIFF, WALES

I was pleased to see all the good things other users have had to say about this super-charged pirate action adventure.From the moment we are introduced to the character of Morgan Adams and the roistering score booms out we are set for two hours of rollicking good entertainment and a movie that was inexplicably damned by critics all over the world.I think they disliked the admittedly huge cost of the project rather than the movie itself and maybe Renny Harlin did go over the top in this respect, but when what you are seeing on the screen is as exciting as this who cares.Frank Langella made an excellent villain and his comrades were as black hearted a bunch as ever sailed under the skull and crossbones.Matthew Modine was a bit weak as the second lead although he visibly tried hard."CUTTHROAT ISLAND" rightfully belongs to Geena Davis as she swashes her buckle with abandon throughout.One thing though,I fail to see how anyone could call Geena Davis a beautiful woman;indeed she is positively ugly here.For a truly beautiful female swordfighter check out Maureen O'Hara in 1952's "AT SWORD'S POINT" ("SONS OF THE MUSKETEERS" in the U.K.).Ignore nit-picking critics,sail to "CUTTHROAT ISLAND" and join Morgan Adams in her audacious adventures.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
not fair, 4 August 2003

Author: HotEarsHoulihan from Denmark

This film was responsible for the bankruptcy of the company behind it, Carolco. Which is a shame, but the film is not as bad as it is rumoured to be. Far from it. It's above average oldfashioned entertainment.

The soundtrack alone is a standout. Sweeping and powerful, it serves the plotline well and it's a joy to listen to on its own. Although the characters aren't among the most complex and well defined in movie history, they work (with a couple of exceptions, among them Maury Chaykin as John Reed, whose acting just doesn't match the tone of the film). And then there's the beautifully reconstructed pirate ships, well choreographed action sequences and terrific special effects.

In short this is a film that has an unfair rep and it is really worth your time. A great warmup for Pirates of the Caribbean (which hasn't opened yet in this neck of the woods).

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15 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
A Woman Pirate?, 9 September 2004

Author: Barry (fjord_fox) from Stavanger, Norway

I am a native Californian, but I have been living in Norway since 1996. Therefore, since only the box office blockbusters seem to make it over here, I did not have a chance to see this in the theater. Somehow, I seemed to have missed it when it came out in California. Nonetheless, I have seen it here on TV a couple times. The first time I saw it was just after I had seen "The Pirates of the Caribbean" (POTC) and I thought it was made afterwards in an effort to be as good or better than POTC. Then I came to IMDb and I was surprised to find that it was actually done so many years ago and I hadn't known about it. I do not think it was better than POTC, but it is certainly every bit as good, and Geena Davis does an excellent job of portraying what Anne Bonny must have been like as a pirate. If you are a Geena Davis fan, I would say that this is a MUST SEE. I personally thought she did a much, much better job on this movie than she did as the lame-brained "Larry" in Fletch or the saccharine-sweet mommy in the Stewart Little movies.

I have noticed that most of the people posting on the message board about Geena Davis have said that they think the role should have gone to someone else (a male) because 1) she is a woman, 2) she was the ship's captain, and 3) she had pearly white teeth.

Being a woman pirate IS historical, but most people do not know about it. There WAS a general rule that there were to be no women aboard because it was considered bad luck and it was often considered such a grievous sin that any man disobeying the rule would be immediately put to death. Nonetheless, there WERE a few women pirates who were smuggled aboard dressed in men's clothing. However, they had to know how to pull it off by fighting like a man. Two women of notoriety were Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who were both smuggled aboard by the captain himself, "Calico" Jack Rackham. You can find biographies about all three of these pirates (among others) at several websites under the keyword "pirates".

So far as Geena Davis not being convincing because "she was a woman playing a pirate -- a Captain at that", in the "Trivia for Cutthroat Island", IMDb tell us the following: "The flag flown by Morgan Adams was in reality the flag flown by "Calico" Jack Rackham, one of the only Caribbean Pirates to have women on his crew; Anne Bonny and Mary Read. He later turned his ship over to the two women." With that in mind, wouldn't it be more than safe to assume that this must have been the catalyst in writing this movie, and therefore, the movie would most likely have been written as a fantasy of what it would be like to have a woman pirate as the ship's captain?

The "pearly white teeth" thing is also believable because, after all, women pirates were few and far between, and when they were aboard, it was in their teenaged years and because they were smuggled on in men's clothing and they were bound to be caught soon, I would imagine that they would have had pearly white teeth. By the way, where did the idea come from that all pirates had rotten teeth?

I wonder if the reason that this movie did not make it in the box office is because of the woman pirate concept. If that is the case, why don't the critics bother to get out their history books or surf the web to find out if there WERE any women pirates in the annals of history?

I wonder if they would have begun the movie with a written history of women pirates, and if they would have stated that the flag that Geena Davis flew in the movie was the authentic flag that was flown by the woman pirate, Anne Bonny, if that would have added creditability to the movie--especially if it were read by some famous celebrity. On the other hand, the name of the movie is everything, so I wonder if the name "Cutthroat Island" was to its demise. Perhaps if this movie were called "Pirates of the Caribbean" and backed by Disney Studios, it would have been a smash hit. Too bad it wasn't.

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20 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
A Fun Movie....But TOO Much Action, 27 March 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Despite being fun to watch and very entertaining, this is not a film that draws me back for many viewings. Maybe it's too absurd: a beautiful woman pirate "Morgan Adams" (Geena Davis) punching everyone out at every turn can get a ridiculous and tiresome after awhile. It just an excess of everything, almost cartoon-like.

If you haven't had enough action in first hour (and you do), the last half really goes crazy with a non-stop battle scene that goes on and on and on.

Nevertheless, there are some good things to watch in here besides Davis and her pretty face. the movie was filmed in Malta and in Thailand and features some beautiful island photography. The ship is magnificent and when two ships are side-by-side firing cannons at one another, it's an awesome sight and even more awesome sound. You really need to watch this with a good stereo system to appreciate the great audio work in here.

Frank Langella also makes for an interestingly effective villain ("Dawg Brown") while Matthew Modine ("William Shaw") chips in with a co-star and male companion for the good guy, er good girl , Davis character.

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