When one thinks of movies generally two sub-genres come to mind. The first were old, swashbuckling movies, many starred actor Erroll Flynn (The Adventures of Robin Hood). The second is comedic as evidenced by The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise starring Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street). However, falling into neither of these categories is 1995's Cutthroat Island starring Geena Davis (The Long Kiss Goodnight) and directed by her then-husband, Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger). The action/adventure/so-called comedy ended up putting the final nail in the coffin for Carolco Pictures and didn't do well at the box office despite decent reviews. For fans of the film, Walmart has just released a 4k Steelbook.
Morgan Adams (Davis) discovers one piece of a treasure map that belonged to her father. She decides to go after the remaining pieces after buying a convict named William Shaw (Matthew Moline; The Dark Night Rises) and together they sail the high seas. However, Morgan's Uncle Dawg (Frank Langella; Frost/Nixon) is also looking for the hidden gold and will stop at nothing to get it including plotting with other treasure seekers against his niece.
Davis and Harlin both had careers that were on an upswing when they made Cutthroat Island. Unfortunately, It seemed to be the kiss of death for them temporarily. From the beginning there were problems. Originally Michael Douglas (Wall Street) was supposed to play Shaw but backed out when his part became significantly diminished as opposed to Davis'. Other actors then turned down the role which eventually went to Langella. Then during the first week of production, the film's original cinematographer fell off a crane and broke his leg causing a shooting delay until another cinematographer was brought in to replace him. Of course, all of the issues caused the movie to go well over budget.
The 4K combo pack has a beautiful steelbook case that houses the 4K disc, Blu-ray disc, and digital download. The film looks like it has been remastered before being transferred to 2160p resolution with a slightly altered 2.35:1 aspect ratio. While some of the film looks soft and blurred the overall picture quality is very good with a slight uptick from the 2009 Blu-ray release. Color shading is also decent.
The lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is rather good. Even though it isn't the strongest transfer I've heard, it is a solid version with ambient noise being given its fair due. Dialogue is solid and sounds travel across the surround sound giving the viewer the feeling they are in the middle of it all. The extras are housed on the Blu-ray Disc and include: The Adventure of a Lifetime: Making Cutthroat Island, Charting the Course: Creating Cutthroat Island, Across the Bow: Editing Cutthroat Island, Summon Your Courage: Scoring Cutthroat Island, Ecce Pirate: A Short Film by Matthew Modine, Audio Commentary from Director Renny Harlin, Making of, Behind the Scenes, Storyboards, Interviews, and the Original Trailer.
While Cutthroat Island was one of the biggest budget flops in movie-making history, the script and story aren't horrible. It is a fun little adventure movie about some pirates that starts on the wrong foot and hobbles all the way to the end.
This steelbook is an upgrade from the original movie and the 2009 Blu-ray release. Davis and Harlin fans will want to get this for their home entertainment collection and others might choose to buy it for the nostalgia aspect. I've seen some better transfers but, as they go, Cutthroat Island: The Walmart exclusive steelbook offers a good time, a great outer case, and some laughable moments, whether they are meant to be or not.
Grade: C+
