Rating: 
Summary: Thrilling Adventure/One of Disney's Masterpieces
Review: "Treasure Island" is one of Disney's masterpieces, a superb adaptation of the wonderful Robert Louis Stevenson novel which had one of the most vivid characters in history, Long John Silver, here brought to life in all his colorful glory and brio by Robert Newton. This is a fantastic production from stem to stern. Set in England in 1765, the period captured in beautiful Technicolor detail, it tells the story of young Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll), working at the Admiral Benbow Inn in his mother's absence, who becomes in possession of a treasure map that pits him against pirates on a hunt for buried gold. The story comes alive with a cast of British character actors who are vivid and memorable and larger-than-life enough to appeal to kids and adults alike, ranging from Geoffrey Wilkinson as Ben Gunn (absolutely delightful, reminds me of "Dobie the Elf" from the "Harry Potter" series) to Newton, the definitive Long John Silver. Newton's crusty one-legged pirate with the terrific real parrot on his shoulder, complete pirate regalia, saucy wink and mannerisms (including his "Ahr! Shiver me timbers!") has never been bettered. There is also an interesting mutual respect and relationship that builds between Long John Silver and young Hawkins. I'd put it in a league with Errol Flynn's swashbuckling adventures. It isn't at all marred by the over-sugary element that can give some Disney productions tooth decay; there's actually some surprising, appropriate violence. Talented Bobby Driscoll, a clean-cut and cute Disney kid (and the only one with an American accent in the production), holds his own against this formidable cast to make a very appealing protagonist. On all counts- thrilling adventure for all, matey!
Rating:
Summary: classic tale told in classy production
Review: (...)Who in the world actually thinks that a movie made from a book should include every line of dialog from the book? The beauty and art of cinema is supposed to be in the many interpretations of the same story/tale. Each director/producer team makes these interpretaions for themselves. Byron Haskin (director) and Perce Pearce (producer) have made a wonderful adaptation of the R.L. Stevenson classic tale.This Disney movie can be enjoyed by both children and adults. I personally have seen this movie as a child in the 1960's, as a teenager in the 1970's and yet again as an adult in my thirties in the 1990's and appreciate it now more than ever. Who says that a child can only be entertained by cartoon characters and silly songs? As a child I loved the adventure storyline and friendship between pirate Long John Silver and young boy Jim Hawkins. The quality of this film can be traced directly to the production team of Haskin/Pearce and indirectly to Walt Disney himself. All of the Disney films by this production team ( Treasure Island, The Sword and the Rose, Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and, I think, Song of the South) have the same beautiful stage sets with a look not seen elsewhere, rousing and thrilling musical scores by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, lush cinematography shot in the English countryside and excellent casting and acting. If the characters were not perfectly casted then there were certainly none that seemed out of place. Treasure Island has all these good qualities about it. And finally, this movie as well as the others listed were released when Walt Disney himself were still alive. After Walt died the quality of Disney fare became... uh.... well, one can see the quality of today's Disney with Eisner in charge. I'll leave it at that. I hope that I am wrong, but I don't think cinema like this will ever show up again. To bad! What a great treasure of a movie! (Pardon the pun)
Rating:
Summary: For children only - No!!
Review: Although 30 years of age I still love this. It is a pity that nowadays few people seem to appreciate the charm of this movie. If you ever read the book you'll find Robert Newton is exactly the Long John Silver presented by Stevenson. And not to forget the fine British cast. They make the movie all the more worthwile. There are other, more recent versions but they lack both energy and charme. And in comparison with the book: Sometimes they've even kept the exact words, but also changed part of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Strictly A Child's Tale
Review: Although this production follows the script and the intents of Robert Louis Stevenson, it is no more than an "As Expected" production of the book. I don't blame the producers, directors, or the actors but rather the work. Stevenson - most unlike Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, or Herman Melville did not write works to be read by both adults and young adults (children) like Huckleberry Finn, House of the Seven Gables, and Moby Dick. The book itself reads as no more than a fairy tale and every screen production I have seen comes across as a cartoon or at best, "an animated feature." The background music is particularly disappointing in that it tries too hard to sound like something out of 18th century sea chanties. The best thing adults can do is pop this video in the V C R and say "Here kids, watch," and then leave them alone and do something for an hour or so while the movie runs its course.
Rating: 
Summary: Treasure Island Summary
Review: Billy Bones, an old, scarred sailor arrives at the Admiral Benbow inn, where Jim Hawkins works. Billy Bones fills Jim's ears with stories of the open sea and warns him to be on the lookout for a one-legged man. Some of Bones' former shipmates appear and give him a slip of paper with a black spot on it, terrifying the old man. Bones dies of a stroke, and Jim escapes with his treasure map as the other sailors polish the inn. Jim takes the map to Dr. Livesey, who forms a plan with his friend Squire Trelawney to sail after the treasure, which was buried by the pirate Captain Flint.
Jim travels to Bristol to meet up with the ship, the Hispaniola. In Bristol, he meets the ship's cook, Long John Silver, a one-legged man who recommended many of the ship's crew to Trelawney. Despite Billy Bones warning about a one-legged man, Jim is won over by Silver's friendly charm. Then, after an uneventful voyage, Jim is on deck one night and overhears Silver plotting a mutiny.. While on the island, Jim sees Silver kill a sailor who won't join the mutiny and meets Ben Gunn, a marooned sailor who lives on the island. Meanwhile, Dr. Livesey, Squire Trelawney, and the others leave the ship and find a stockade on the island, where they settle in for a fight.
Under Captain Smollett's command, they endure the pirates' first attack. Jim arrives at the stockade and joins the defenders. The pirates storm the stockade, and several men are killed and Captain Smollett wounded in a bloody battle.
After anchoring the ship in a new place to fool the pirates, Jim returns to the stockade, where he is captured by Silver's men (this is the climax of the story). Silver tells Jim that Dr. Livesey and the others agreed to give the pirates the stockade and the treasure map. (Dr. Livesey did this because he discovered that Ben Gunn had already dug up the treasure.) Silver lets Jim live when Jim promises to testify for him if the mutineers are caught. The pirates set out to look for the treasure, but find only an empty hole. When they turn on Silver and Jim, Dr. Livesey, Ben Gunn, and another loyal man ambush the pirates and drive them off. They rejoin the captain and Squire Trelawney, who are waiting with the treasure. They sail back to England, but Silver escapes when they land in South America.
The theme of the story is the victory of good over evil. Saving the treasure from the hands of the pirates and their safe return also records Jim's journey from an immature young lad to a responsible youth.
Rating:
Summary: "The Disney Version" is better than the novel.
Review: Don't believe it? Read the book. The reviewer who said "...every screen production I have seen comes across as a cartoon or at best, 'an animated feature'," wasn't paying attention. Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate story _is_ a children's fantasy. (Stevenson - whose grandson would later become one of Disney's "house directors" -- says as much in the book's introduction.) The principal characters are well-drawn and believable, but the story is 98% adventure. There is no _dramatic_ thrust to events. And it's told from the view of a 20-year-older Jim Hawkins, which tips off the reader that Jim is never in any real danger. The emotional focus of the story is Jim's attraction to / repulsion by Long John Silver. In the novel, the adult Jim briefly acknowledges that he was attracted to Long John Silver as a surrogate for his recently deceased father, but turned away, because Silver is plainly untrustworthy. Stevenson fails to develop the relationship any further. Not the screenwriters -- they bring it front and center. The story is now properly focused where it should be -- can Jim _really_ trust Long John Silver? Silver is also worried about Jim, who plainly doesn't need "Piracy for Dummies" to recognize Silver is not altogether on the up-and-up. In a scene not in the book, Long John attempts to sweet-talk Jim -- one might even call it a seduction -- ending with the presentation of his parrot as a gift. The effect is subtly erotic -- especially as the gift comes from someone with such an obviously phallic name. (One is tempted to think Stevenson's name choice was deliberate -- he must have known how cabin boys were "mistreated.") And though Silver is married in the novel (to an unseen wife), the movie leaves his marital status unstated. Long John Silver is a morally ambiguous character, and the film plays up this ambiguity. Silver alternates between protecting and threatening Jim, and you believe his sincerity in both instances. At the end, Jim is forced into deciding whether he should let Long John escape or be turned over to justice, completing the film with a solid dramatic "bang!" (The novel simply peters out -- Silver is taken captive, later wandering off with some of the loot.) Robert Newton's interpretation of Long John Silver has always been controversial. There's no question it's totally "over the top." But that's how we expect pirates to behave, and it's how Stevenson wrote the character. I've seen "Treasure Island" several times -- Newton isn't simply chewing the scenery. His is a conscious interpretation, and he's in full control at all times. It's a great performance.
Rating:
Summary: "The Disney Version" is better than the novel.
Review: Don't believe it? Read the book. The reviewer who said "...every screen production I have seen comes across as a cartoon or at best, 'an animated feature'," wasn't paying attention. Robert Louis Stevenson's pirate story _is_ a children's fantasy. (Stevenson - whose grandson would later become one of Disney's "house directors" -- says as much in the book's introduction.) The principal characters are well-drawn and believable, but the story is 98% adventure. There is no _dramatic_ thrust to events. And it's told from the view of a 20-year-older Jim Hawkins, which tips off the reader that Jim is never in any real danger. The emotional focus of the story is Jim's attraction to / repulsion by Long John Silver. In the novel, the adult Jim briefly acknowledges that he was attracted to Long John Silver as a surrogate for his recently deceased father, but turned away, because Silver is plainly untrustworthy. Stevenson fails to develop the relationship any further. Not the screenwriters -- they bring it front and center. The story is now properly focused where it should be -- can Jim _really_ trust Long John Silver? Silver is also worried about Jim, who plainly doesn't need "Piracy for Dummies" to recognize Silver is not altogether on the up-and-up. In a scene not in the book, Long John attempts to sweet-talk Jim -- one might even call it a seduction -- ending with the presentation of his parrot as a gift. The effect is subtly erotic -- especially as the gift comes from someone with such an obviously phallic name. (One is tempted to think Stevenson's name choice was deliberate -- he must have known how cabin boys were "mistreated.") And though Silver is married in the novel (to an unseen wife), the movie leaves his marital status unstated. Long John Silver is a morally ambiguous character, and the film plays up this ambiguity. Silver alternates between protecting and threatening Jim, and you believe his sincerity in both instances. At the end, Jim is forced into deciding whether he should let Long John escape or be turned over to justice, completing the film with a solid dramatic "bang!" (The novel simply peters out -- Silver is taken captive, later wandering off with some of the loot.) Robert Newton's interpretation of Long John Silver has always been controversial. There's no question it's totally "over the top." But that's how we expect pirates to behave, and it's how Stevenson wrote the character. I've seen "Treasure Island" several times -- Newton isn't simply chewing the scenery. His is a conscious interpretation, and he's in full control at all times. It's a great performance.
Rating:
Summary: Old memories
Review: Emotions ran high when I saw this movie again after more than 50 years. It was as exciting now as when I was a young child. Robert Newton's performance is a classic. After half a century, he is still the baddest (best) pirate ever.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for the film. 1 star for the DVD!
Review: I have loved this movie since I was but a wee lad (I'm 36 now). I had the record LP as a child and still have the VHS tape. It remains to this day my favorite live action Disney film and the best pirate movie to date (we'll see what they to with Pirates of the Carribean). This DVD is a travesty!!! The colors are good but there is still lots of work to be done on it to call it "fully restored". Plenty of grain remains on the print. And what's all this about no special features?!?! No 2nd disc?!?! This film is a milestone in Disney's history! Yet here it is treated as second rate! Nothing more than quick sell DVD to put on the same display self as Traesure Planet(which I have not seen and can't comment on). Disney is famous for re-releasing lack luster DVDs at a later date in some sort of special addition form. Well? Get on with it! Give us what we want. No need to wait. I'll buy it right now! Shame on you Disney! What would Walt say?!
Rating:
Summary: All Aboard With Long John Silver
Review: Jim Hawkins is a tavern owner's son who acquires a map showing the location of buried treasure. He shows it to an adventurous squire who recognizes its value and outfits the good ship Hispaniola to set off in search of the prize. The squire hires Jim as a cabin boy and persuades his own physician to join the crew as ship's doctor. The gullible squire's first big mistake is to sign up a rascal named Long John Silver as ship's cook. His second mistake is to allow Silver a chance to recruit some of his old shipmates from his pirate days as members of the Hispaniola's crew. TREASURE ISLAND is an excellent movie with plenty of realistic action and convincing settings. Robert Newton is brilliant as Long John Silver and Bobby Driscoll shines as young Jim Hawkins. A strong supporting cast includes Basil Sydney, Denis O'Dea, Ralph Truman, Walter Fitzgerald, Finlay Currie and Geoffrey Wilkinson. Director Byron Haskins also directed THE WAR OF THE WORLDS.
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