Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

SteveResin Legendary movie I only saw once, back in the day when it was released. I remember watching it with mouth wide open, aghast at what I was seeing. It's widely regarded as one of the worst films in history, and in many ways it is, if you consider the quality of the cast, director and budget.But revisiting it 20 years later after seeing the interesting documentary "Lost Souls" about this car crash of a movie, I didn't find it quite so bad. It's poor, no doubt about it, but it's not tedious and mind numbing in a Battlefield Earth kind of way and nowhere near real dross like Batman & Robin or The Spirit. It's entertaining for many reasons, chief among them being Marlon Brando's blatant trolling of the entire production, insisting on wearing white make up and using buckets instead of hats to keep his head cool. His performance is worth the admission alone.The rest is worth watching for the implosion of Val Kilmer's career as an A-List actor. Fresh from the success of films like The Doors, Batman Forever and Heat he was apparently extremely arrogant during the making of this film, and he just oozes apathy in every scene he's in. If he truly was as insufferable as he's been accused of in "Lost Souls" then karma certainly paid him a visit here, as his career never recovered from this wreck. Fairuza Balk is decent and tries her best with weak material, Ron Perlman is solid as always, but David Thewlis is miscast, his North England accent and bad teeth detracting from his performance. But those scenes with Brando and the worlds smallest man as his freaky sidekick are pure gold.The make up effects are decent, and the location is gorgeous. Everything else is terrible. But it's certainly entertaining, even if it for all the wrong reasons.

Joe Stemme I followed the legendarily messed-up production history of ISLAND OF LOST SOULS from the time the stories first started hitting the press. Once the film came out and met with such a dire reception, I never did actually see it. But, it was on HBO this week, so I figured 20 years was a long enough wait. Dang! TWENTY YEARS! Yup, it's a mess. The bare bones outline of it isn't that unworkable as a relatively modern take on the HG Wells tale. Unfortunately, it seems that everyone in involved from the two Directors, the various screenwriters and all the main actors -- we all making different films! Directors Frankenheimer and the dispatched Stanley certainly didn't see eye to eye, and their scripts reflected that disconnect - when there was a script. Several of the actors report that scenes and bits were improvised along the way and lots of folks deviated even when there was a scripted scene.But, even if you ignore all that, the principal actors were all doing their own thing: Kilmer seemed to think he was in some bizarro 80s stoner flick. Brando was doing a nutso version of his Apocalypse Now Kurtz character -- if he was at all focused on doing any one thing in particular (the ice bucket on the head bit is a very amusing improv bit). Poor David Thewlis who was dragged over there as a replacement for Rob Morrow when he quit a couple of days into the shoot. Thewlis seemed to be trying his best to deliver an earnest performance against all odds. But, even he, seems to have lost it in his last scene with Kilmer, grinning deliriously (probably because he really wanted to pummel him). Fairuza Balk manages to be sympathetic somehow in all the mess. Never understood why she hasn't had a bigger career. She's been very good in everything I've seen her in. Fortunately for Ron Perlman and the rest of the manimals they get to hide behind their (very good) Stan Winston makeup.In the two decades that have passed a small cult has grown around the film making it out into some kind of so bad it's good masterpiece. While I did find amusement in some of the asides (like the Ice bucket and Kilmer's Brando impression), LOST SOULS is just a bad movie. After having seen it, I can understand why a fine actor like Thewlis has sworn that he will never even watch it.

AaronCapenBanner Troubled adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel, directed by John Frankenheimer after he replaced original director Richard Stanly, who wrote the script. Marlon Brando gives an indescribable performance as Dr. Moreau, as if he's barely there at all, looking and acting like a phantom, though it is strikingly original! Val Kilmer is bizarre as his assistant Montgomery, playing it for camp, yet it is an amusing performance. David Thewlis is Edward Douglas, shipwreck survivor who looks every bit as bewildered as the character he's playing. Fairuza Balk is the panther woman Aissa, and she is quite effective, as is Ron Perlman as the Sayer of the law.Film is faithful in spirit to Wells, if not in execution, and though it is far from a success, there is some guilty pleasure enjoyment out of it, and has some striking end narration in its memorable finale.The type of film that was more entertaining to watch than it was to make, if the first hand accounts from the cast and crew are to be believed!

Veronika Lackerbauer This movie is likely to be the worst movie I've ever watched. It's not only incredibly bad work concerning special effects and make-up but also a lousy performance of all highly decorated actors. I can't believe that Marlon Brando accepted a role in such a project. He was awarded a "Golden Raspberry" for his performance and he deserves it. H.G.Wells novel contains a lot of social critics and critics on sciences and medicine. There's nothing left from Well's intentions in that adaption from 1997. I'd recommend reading the book rather than wasting time with that movie. But after all this movie is bad on such a level that it is already worth being watched!