Buccaneers of Death (film)
Movie | |
---|---|
German title | Privateer of death |
Original title | The Island |
Country of production | United States |
original language | English |
Publishing year | 1980 |
length | 114 minutes |
Rod | |
Director | Michael Ritchie |
script | Peter Benchley |
production |
David Brown , Richard D. Zanuck |
music | Ennio Morricone |
camera | Henri Decaë |
cut | Warner E. Leighton |
occupation | |
|
Buccaneers of Death ( The Island ) is a 1980 American film based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Peter Benchley. Directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Michael Caine and David Warner .
content
New York City journalist Blair Maynard is investigating the disappearance of numerous ships and boats in the Caribbean . Divorced, he and his twelve-year-old son Justin are off to the Caribbean to investigate the incidents. Even the arrival is extremely unfortunate: the pilot who brings you to a remote island crash-lands and after the three passengers have saved themselves, the plane explodes. A local police officer arrests the pilot and sends Blair and his son to a hotel. There they check in. The hotel is owned by an older, friendly looking man. You go on a fishing trip and are kidnapped by pirates. Blair kills one of the attackers. The pirates are mentally retarded, disordered and cruel. You speak with a strange and ancient accent. It turns out that they are descendants of the notorious privateer François l'Olonnais and live on pirate trips. Since Justin is young, he is admitted to the colony and brainwashed. He is successfully persuaded that his father is an enemy. The son feels himself to be a full member of the gang and proudly describes himself as a buccaneer . The father is sentenced to death in a court farce, but is left alive for the time being. He is chained and is supposed to father children for the tribe in order to counter the negative effects of inbreeding. Maynard tries to flee, but fails. To his horror, he discovers that the hotel owner they checked in with is allied with the gang and is covering them up. He is fascinated by their way of life and supports them in their crimes.
After further raids, various ships are robbed. The passengers are murdered. The son also murders a passenger and is enthusiastically celebrated by the others.
The gang succeeds in hijacking a coast guard ship. Maynard can break free and end the ghost. Using the on-board machine gun, an MG50-1 , he settles accounts with the pirates and kills almost everyone except his son. Two other pirates can be killed using other weapons. In the end it turns out that his son can still find his way back to normal.
book
The book was published in Germany in 1980 by Ullstein-Verlag ( ISBN 3-548-20313-2 ).
production
A United States Coast Guard ship , the Dauntless , was used in the film. In the film it was called USCGC New Hope .
Awards and nominations
The film earned two nominations for the newly created negative award Golden Raspberry.
- Nominated: Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor 1981: Michael Caine (also for his portrayal in Dressed to Kill )
- Nominated: Golden Raspberry for Worst Director 1981: ( Michael Ritchie )
Web links
- Buccaneers of death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Buccaneers of Death in the online movie database