Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Treasure Island: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Syfy plays it surprisingly straight with this adaptation.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 17, 2012

Those who may have noticed that Treasure Island is a Syfy miniseries with Robert Halmi, Sr. listed as one of the (many) producers could be forgiven if they came to a quick conclusion that this was yet another science fiction-esque reboot of a vaunted classic, a la Syfy’s previous entries like Tin Man (The Wizard of Oz), Alice (Alice in Wonderland), or Neverland (Peter Pan). But perhaps having become aware of the law of diminishing returns with regard to these fanciful revisions, not to mention the fact that none other than Disney had already attempted a sci-fi reimagining of Treasure Island with the new to Blu-ray Treasure Planet, this new retelling of the timeless Robert Louis Stevenson classic harkens back to another Disney effort, the live action Treasure Island featuring Robert Newton as the inimitable Long John Silver. This 2012 largely British miniseries features a surprisingly effective turn by outré comedian Eddie Izzard in the role previously played by Newton, and there’s really nothing in this outing that would seem to make it part of the Syfy tradition of classics transported to other planets or universes. The adaptation takes considerable liberties with Stevenson’s source novel, introducing characters who were either never in the book or were only touched on tangentially, and radically reinventing several other characters who were in the book but who bore completely different characteristics in Stevenson’s conceptions than they do in this outing. Still, for those who have (like I have) grown increasingly tired of Syfy’s relentless adaptations of classic works, injecting often needless science fiction elements into them for no other reason than that they will ultimately bear the Syfy brand, this Treasure Island has at least one simple thing to recommend it: it’s not science fiction.

The Pirates of the Caribbean films have reinvigorated the swashbuckler genre to a degree that perhaps could have spelled certain disaster for a reboot of Treasure Island. Long John Silver has elements of cartoonishness to begin with, especially when portrayed by actors like Robert Newton, and the choice of Eddie Izzard seems on its face designed to exploit that very possibility, pointing to a "Captain Jack" interpretation perhaps out of expectation if not necessity. Izzard is really rather restrained here, at least compared to some of his “normal” stand up appearances, and he does a rather commendable job of keeping Silver’s motivations ambiguous enough that Young Jim Hawkins (Toby Regbo) remains uncertain as to whether he’s friend or foe, or something in between.

The film also fleshes out certain elements that are only hinted at in Stevenson’s original, including offering a prologue of sorts where we get to meet Captain Flint (Donald Sutherland, in a scenery chewing cameo), the nefarious pirate whose exploits cost Long John his leg and also lead to the piece’s famous treasure being buried in the first place. Other padding includes a completely unnecessary set of interstitials which feature Jim’s mother (Shirley Henderson) and, rather incredibly, the wife of Long John (Nina Sosanya).

Elijah Wood is on hand as Ben Gunn, the increasingly mentally unbalanced castaway left on the island harboring the booty. Wood, made up to resemble a hippified Aborigine, plays the role like something akin to a Caliban from a bus and truck Tempest, injecting perhaps even more hyperbole into the proceedings than the usual culprit in Treasure Island adaptations, Long John Silver himself. There is a suitably huge cast here made up largely of excellent British character actors, and the miniseries does an exceptional job of offering really visually interesting people populating the pirate roles.

Despite the fact that this Treasure Island isn’t a manic science fiction reboot, director Steve Barron, best known for a series of music videos (that old A-Ha “Take on Me” vid was one of his) can’t help but inject a bunch of needless “tarting up” throughout the enterprise, like a just pointless step printing sequence when we first hear that iconic “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum” song. It’s as if Barron (or perhaps more likely, the producers) didn’t completely trust the material, feeling it needed some bells and whistles to somehow make it relevant to a younger audience.

The miniseries is inarguably too long, a lot of that length due to the aforementioned padding. That also deprives the piece of a certain momentum that should have made the action elements a central focus, rather than a passing distraction. What this outing has is scenery in abundance, as well as colorful characters and a rather astute depiction of the desperation experienced by those without money, whether that money came to them via hard work or good old fashioned piracy.

Treasure Island: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Treasure Island is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Vivendi Visual Entertainment with a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is an impeccably handsome production which pops quite well throughout this high definition presentation, though the image has been variously color graded and contrast boosted at times which has sometimes detrimental effects on fine object detail. Some of the interior scenes are too dark by half, something that becomes even more problematic when several of the actors are black or otherwise dark skinned, with shadow detail gobbled up in a general murkiness. The island footage is breathtaking, with beautifully saturated colors, though there seems to have been some stock footage used for a couple of establishing shots. Close-ups pop extremely well, and the elegant costumes and sets look nicely sharp and precise.

Treasure Island: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Treasure Island's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix takes off with a flurry of LFE and fantastic surround activity, and rarely lets up for the duration of the miniseries. Cannon fire, gunshots and the quicksilver sounds of metal blades clashing against each other are a regular feature of this soundtrack, and they are presented with sterling fidelity and some very impressive dynamic range. Dialogue is occasionally a bit hard to make out, due to a number of different and sometimes very thick accents, but the mix here is very well prioritized. The score is a bit on the strange side, with droning squeeze box accompaniments that do little to establish the swashbuckler idiom, but here, too, the surrounds are consistently utilized and help to create a good sense of immersion.

Treasure Island: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Director Steve Barron and Actor Eddie Izzard. Izzard is a little bit more of his "old self" on this commentary, though he often defers to Barron. There's quite a bit of interesting information here, especially with regard to some of the rigors of the shoot as well as at least a couple of the changes this adaptation made to Stevenson's source novel.


• The Making of Treasure Island (HD; 4:03) is a brief behind the scenes featurette offering interviews with Steve Barron, Elijah Wood, David Harewood, Eddie Izzard and others.


• Cast Interviews include Eddie Izzard (HD; 2:54), Elijah Wood (HD; 3:11), Toby Regbo (HD; 2:08), and Philip Glenister and Ruper Penry-Jones together (HD; 1:59).


• A Tour of the Hispaniola (HD; 2:03) is a neat little look at the tall ship that is a centerpiece of the film in several guises. Dan Malone, Marine Coordinator on the film, is the tour guide.


• Anatomy of a Stunt (HD; 1:15) looks at one of the stunts involving the ship's mast.


• Trailer (HD; 2:29)

Treasure Island: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chances "aarrrrrr" (sorry) if you do your own version of "pirate talk", you're channeling Robert Newton's Long John Silver from Disney's 1950 version of Treasure Island. That version has become so embedded in so many minds that it remains, for better or worse, the defining adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's immortal classic. The good news here is, this Treasure Island takes a much grittier look at the source novel, and it wisely eschews the increasingly silly science fiction injections that have become a Syfy staple over the past few years, especially for pieces produced by either one or both of the Halmis. What this adaptation doesn't exchew is needlessly "tarted up" camera work or a number of irrelevant and unneeded emendations or changes to the original novel. Still, taken generally, this is a colorful and often invigorating production, and Izzard is really surprisingly effective as Long John Silver. This Blu-ray offers great video and audio and comes replete with some good supplemental materials. Recommended.