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Treasure Island Movie Review

Treasure Island is a 1950 adventure film directed by Byron Haskin and starring Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newman in the most important roles. It’s a very strong, wonderful adaptation.

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“Them that die will be the lucky ones!“

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This movie is important for a couple of reasons. It wasn’t just the first truly expensive adaptation of the eponymous Robert Louis Stevenson novel, but it was also the very first Disney live-action feature. The end result was a huge box office hit, but a movie that nowadays isn’t as well-known as you would think. It remains quite underappreciated as many live-action Disney movies are.

It’s very faithful to the source material and actually not as Disneyfied as you would think. Certainly the violence here isn’t too graphic, but it is still there and those battles were at least present, albeit they weren’t particularly intense. The adventurous tone is beautifully achieved here and the movie’s sense of discovery is also evident.

My only issue is that the movie is too short and not as lively as it should have been. Clocking in at just one and a half hours, the movie does adapt most of the book it’s based on, but because it’s so short, we are left with many scenes that are somewhat rushed. I did not get to linger with these people and moments as much as I would have liked.

And the same goes for the sense of excitement as the movie is surprisingly not as fun as you’d expect from Disney. The action scenes are there, but they are unfortunately not all that well executed nor are they especially entertaining.

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Thankfully, the technical aspects were fantastic. Treasure Island not only sounds terrific due to a great score and phenomenal sound design, but it also looks absolutely beautiful. The production design is gorgeous as many of the sets here are just so stunning and staggeringly detailed.

The same goes for the cinematography. It’s astonishing. I don’t know if they actually filmed some scenes on an island, but the island itself looks so realistic that if it was done on a set, it was a surprisingly believable set indeed. The Hispaniola looks beautiful as well and we get to see the ship from all of its angles and in all its interiors. The editing is also solid as is the directing, but again the pacing should have been better.

When it comes to the performers, this is where this adaptation shines the most. Everybody delivered a strong performance and the standouts are Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newton. Driscoll himself was a big child star during this era and here he delivered his most iconic role. He really is Jim Hawkins as he perfectly acted out both the character’s innocence and resilience.

Newton himself stole the movie as his work here was wonderful. His Long John Silver is a bit over-the-top, but suitably so for a somewhat villainous character. Her effortlessly played the character’s polarizing personality. The friendship between the two was so strong here and that ending was very emotionally rewarding as a result.

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Others also fared well. Dr. Livesey is a great character as in the book while Squire Trelawney is a lot of fun. Ben Gunn was a bit too ridiculous and too much screechy screaming was involved in his case, but otherwise the characters really worked in this film that also features undeniably strong emotional engagement. I just wish that it was more energetic, but for the most part I was very happy with this adaptation.