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The Island of Dr. Moreau
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Directed by John Frankenheimer
On a remote tropical island, Dr. Moreau has appointed himself ruler over a menagerie of genetic mutants fashioned in his gene-splicing chamber of horrors. The products of his misguided attempt to create a more "pure" human species, the man-beasts worship Moreau as their god and "father" and live by his code of law -- a code rigidly enforced by radio-operated implants in their bodies capable of inflicting pain and death. Into this surreal nightmare arrives UN negotiator Edward Douglas (David Thewlis), the sole survivor of an airplane crash. Douglas is brought ashore on Moreau's island -- against his better judgment -- by the doctor's insane, drug-addled assistant, Montgomery (Val Kilmer), and eventually becomes a prisoner. Horrified by the doctor's monstrous experiments and afraid for his own life, Douglas seeks the aid of Moreau's lovely daughter, Aissa (Fairuza Balk), in escaping the island, but is foiled at every turn by Montgomery and his armed man-beast lackeys. Eventually, the creatures discover the existence of their electronic implants and remove them, providing the opportunity for an armed rebellion -- but eventual regression into their original animal state causes their revolt to collapse into anarchy. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
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AlienLazerAlienLazer Sad... so freaking sad!
by AlienLazer in AlienLazer Blog
liked it.
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I loved this movie! This used to be one of my all time favorites, and it has such a sad story. :( I fell in love with Fairuza Balk because she has that Cat Woman thing going on, but I was already taken aback by Val Kilmer in "The Saint". Yeah, that made this movie weird for me in a very appealling way since those two weren't liking one another indeffinately. Craziness and stuff is what made this movie what it is an " [More]
mercurialmercurial Re:Weekly Theme for February 16 ...
by mercurial in Weekly Theme
"A number of my guilty pleasure films involve getting away to tropical destinations. Besides Joe vs the Volcano, there is the wacky Captain Ron which I've probably seen upwards of 30 times and somehow never gets old. "Have ya heard of Pomme " [More]
All Movie Guide Logo
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
disliked it.
Troubled by cast and crew changes, constant script revisions and poor advance press, this oddball adaptation of the H.G. Wells story represents one of horror cinema's more interesting failures. Marlon Brando assays the title role in one of the goofiest performances of his increasingly eccentric career, playing Wells' seminal mad scientist in pristine cleric's robes, dark glasses and clown-white makeup. Veteran action director John Frankenheimer (who stepped in after Richard Stanley was removed from the project) keeps the weirdness coming at a fairly energetic clip, but the end result is a climactic overload of flashy pyrotechnics and ill-fitting action-movie setpieces that completely obscures the moral center of the original story. Wells' tale of unfettered scientific ambition seems increasingly prophetic in an era of DNA cataloguing and Dolly the sheep, which makes it all the more disappointing that this attempt to bring his message into the 21st century is destroyed by inarticulate storytelling and Hollywood high-concept blather. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
 

Community ratings

mavens
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lost interest.
most people
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lost interest.

Other opinions

Kami
Kami
loved it.
s_brethauer
s_brethauer
loved it.
TromaFan
TromaFan
loved it.
SkyPilot
SkyPilot
is not interested.
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razordead
is not interested.
patbanks
patbanks
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