Cutthroat Island (1995)
Director: Renny Harlin
Starring: Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Harris Yulin
Primary genre: Adventure
Secondary genre: Swashbuckling
When it was released, “Cutthroat Island” sadly became the biggest box office bomb of all time. Upon revisiting, it is one of these films that action junkies will find plenty to admire in Renny Harlin’s big budgeted swashbuckling epic.
Back in 1995, Harlin (“Die Hard 2“ (1990), “Cliffhanger“ (1993)) believed that women can and should be great action heroes. Despite a few exceptions in the late 80’s and early 90’s, there was not a particular break out in mainstream Hollywood. Championing admirably for (his then wife) Geena Davis, Harlin convinced Carolco Pictures to give him 90 million dollars (!) to stage a pirate epic unlike anything we have seen before in a time that the genre was dead in the water.
“Cutthroat Island” does not attempt to reinvigorate (or pretend to do so) the genre the same way “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003) did eight years later. It fully embraces the swashbuckling adventure spirit of the pirate genre with all of its tropes (e.g., walking the plunk, sea storms, hangings from the mast, snobbish and noble Englishmen) simultaneously offering an appealing and luxurious presentation of a typical tale with some gender swapping to spice things up.
The screenwriters do attempt to add a few interesting dynamics with uneasy alliances and double crossings since no one is a man (or a woman) of their word. In a nice twist, Davis’ pirate lady Morgan is going toe to toe with her ruthless (also pirate) uncle Dawg (played by an gleeful and OTT Langella) and the British naval forces led by a delightfully deadpun Patrick Malahide. Unfortunately the interesting background of Morgan’s relationship with Dawg is not fully explored which could have given their frequent clashes more dramatic depth settling instead for childlike humor (which is fun, I admit) and a predictable plot that does not bear any surprises.
Despite Malahide and Langella bringing some almost Shakespearean quality to their line delivery, the absence of a strong chemistry between the two main leads sinks the film. Oscar winner Davis might look convincing in her fight scenes (with her tall and athletic figure) but she lacks the pathos of a Sigourney Weaver to pull this off. Modine - a last minute replacement of Michael Douglas - on the other hand feels like he belongs in a different movie and its their scenes together that grind the film to a halt since you never understand why these two like each other.
What it lacks in story and chemistry though, “Cutthroat Island“ makes up for it in visual flair. Harlin recreates the 17th century in exquisite detail with incredible production and costume design that brings to life, villas, ships, treasure caves, prisons and the entire Port Royal complemented by the luscious cinematography of Peter Levy that embraces sweeping exotic locations (Thailand dubbing for the Caribbean) in stunning sunsets.
Continuing to demonstrate his skill in crafting a gonzo and spectacularly pyrotechnic extravaganza surprisingly in a period setting, Harlin stages novel and complex action sequences with exceptional stuntwork and appropriately loud sound design (those canons!) that deserve the price of the admission alone: a chase that sees people, horses and the canons of an entire ship attempting to stop a carriage rivals any modern Michael Bay sequence while the climatic sea battle between two pirate ships is perhaps Harlin’s biggest set piece of his entire career.
While for some, “Cutthroat Island“ might feels an excuse for the Swedish director to overindulge in action with the yars! and ahoys! of the world, its biggest triumph remains the timeless and thunderous score of John Debney (“End of Days” (1999),”Passion of the Christ“ (2004)). Considered by many as one of the best scores of all time, Debney relies heavily on a traditional orchestral composition with a heavy choir that gives the film an appropriately epic and sweeping tone that energizes every single moment on the big screen.
“Cutthroat Island” sees an action filmmaker at his peak form delivering a swashbuckling adventure on a large scale with a female hero at its core. While Davis lacks conviction and chemistry with Modine, judging the film based on pure entertainment value, you won’t get disappointed with its pure genre escapism. It might feel occasionally like an empty spectacle but what a spectacle it is! Watch this on a huge screen and a massive surround system.
A pirate extravaganza with explosions…lots of explosions
+The score by John Debney; what a score!
+Amazing production and costume design
+Sound effects!
+Beautiful cinematography and vistas
+Novel and large scale action sequences
+Superb stunts
+Interesting dynamic between hero and villain
+Davis is physically convincing…
-But emotionally not
-Lack of chemistry between the main leads
-Modine feels out of place
-Predictable and occasionally cliched