Cutthroat Island
Encyclopedia
Cutthroat Island is a 1995 action
adventure film
directed by Renny Harlin
. The film stars Geena Davis
, Matthew Modine
, and Frank Langella
. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a major box office bomb
: listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest box office flop of all time. It was the last film Carolco Pictures
produced before it went bankrupt.
) hunts down her uncle and fellow pirate Dawg (Frank Langella
), who has captured her father, Black Harry (Harris Yulin
), who has one of three pieces to a map to a huge stash of gold on a remote island called Cutthroat Island. Dawg has another piece while their brother, Mordachai (George Murcell
), has the third. Dawg tries to force Harry to give him the map, but Harry refuses and escapes with Morgan's help, but not before being mortally wounded. Before dying, Harry reveals to his daughter the location of the map piece: on his scalp.
After scalping her dead father for the piece, Morgan, now the captain of her father's ship, the Morning Star, sets out for the treasure. Unfortunately, the instructions are in Latin, which no one on board reads. So, they go to nearby Port Royal to find a translator. There, they learn that one of the slaves up for auction, a con man and thief named William Shaw (Matthew Modine
), is fluent in Latin. After threatening a man determined to win, Morgan wins the auction. Unfortunately, she is recognized from her wanted poster and is chased out of town (which is demolished), along with her crew and Shaw. Humiliated, Governor Ainslee (Patrick Malahide
) vows to find her.
The crew then goes to Mordachai in Spittlefield Harbor. Before they can learn where the second piece is however, Dawg appears. A fight ensues, during which Mordachai is killed, Morgan is shot, and Shaw secretly finds the piece and keeps it to himself. After they escape on the Morning Star, Morgan collapses from her wound, but is saved by Shaw, who is a self proclaimed doctor. During this time, the two start a romance.
Eventually, Dawg's ship, the Reaper, bears down on them. Morgan directs the ship toward a coral reef...and a gale. Shaw tries to piece together the location of Cutthroat Island with his and Morgan's piece, but is caught and thrown in the brig. During the storm, the majority of the crew mutinies against Morgan and shanghai her and those loyal to her in a boat. Ironically, though the boat is wrecked, the tide takes them straight to Cutthroat Island.
As Morgan goes after the treasure, Shaw, who escaped during the storm, steals the last piece from Dawg, who's on the island, but runs into quicksand. Morgan finds him and, after finding out he has the piece, frees him. Together, they find the gold, only for it to be stolen by Dawg, forcing them to flee.
After regaining consciousness, Morgan then learns that Dawg has joined forces with the mutineers and Ainslee with the intent of a three-way split between them. In addition, they've captured Shaw. She manages to retake the Morning Star, but Dawg is not fooled and gives chase. A huge open sea fight ensues, during which Shaw escapes. Morgan eventually boards the Reaper and duels Dawg while Shaw gets trapped below in rapidly rising water with the treasure. Eventually, Morgan kills Dawg with a cannon and saves Shaw, forced to abandon the treasure to escape the sinking ship. Luckily, Morgan uses a trick to retrieve the treasure and the newly rich crew sets sail for their next adventure in Madagascar.
, Carolco Pictures
, and of Davis as a bankable star
.
In a radio interview in 2011, director Renny Harlin discussed the film's box-office failure. He pointed out that Carolco was already in ruin before the film even began shooting and studio executives knew that they would not produce another film after this. MGM, the film's distributor, was in the process of being sold and thus could not devote itself into financing a marketing campaign for the film. Carolco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a month before Cutthroat Islands release.
The abject disaster of Cutthroat Island is also credited with significantly reducing the bankability and Hollywood production of pirate-themed films, which only recovered with the production of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
in 2003.
This film was nominated for one Razzie Award, for Harlin as Worst Director, and has a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
.
has been critically acclaimed, and compared with the works of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
.
(no patron under the age of 15). Distributors decided to target a family audience and so over a minute of film was cut to get a PG
certificate.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
directed by Renny Harlin
Renny Harlin
Renny Harlin is a Finnish-American film director and producer. He is best known for Die Hard 2 , Cliffhanger , The Long Kiss Goodnight and Deep Blue Sea...
. The film stars Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
, Matthew Modine
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine is an award-winning American actor. His film roles include Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, the title character in Alan Parker's Birdy, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, football star turned spy Alec McCall in Funky Monkey and the...
, and Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a major box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
: listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest box office flop of all time. It was the last film Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments was an American independent film production company that, within a decade, went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being bankrupted by...
produced before it went bankrupt.
Plot
The film begins in Jamaica in 1668. After bedding and outsmarting a bounty hunter trying to arrest her, female pirate Morgan Adams (Geena DavisGeena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
) hunts down her uncle and fellow pirate Dawg (Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
), who has captured her father, Black Harry (Harris Yulin
Harris Yulin
Harris Yulin is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of Hollywood and television films.-Life and career:Yulin was born in...
), who has one of three pieces to a map to a huge stash of gold on a remote island called Cutthroat Island. Dawg has another piece while their brother, Mordachai (George Murcell
George Murcell
George Murcell was a British character actor. His first wife was Josephine Tweedy whom he married in 1953, and his second was the actress Elvi Hale whom he was married to from 1960 until his death....
), has the third. Dawg tries to force Harry to give him the map, but Harry refuses and escapes with Morgan's help, but not before being mortally wounded. Before dying, Harry reveals to his daughter the location of the map piece: on his scalp.
After scalping her dead father for the piece, Morgan, now the captain of her father's ship, the Morning Star, sets out for the treasure. Unfortunately, the instructions are in Latin, which no one on board reads. So, they go to nearby Port Royal to find a translator. There, they learn that one of the slaves up for auction, a con man and thief named William Shaw (Matthew Modine
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine is an award-winning American actor. His film roles include Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, the title character in Alan Parker's Birdy, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, football star turned spy Alec McCall in Funky Monkey and the...
), is fluent in Latin. After threatening a man determined to win, Morgan wins the auction. Unfortunately, she is recognized from her wanted poster and is chased out of town (which is demolished), along with her crew and Shaw. Humiliated, Governor Ainslee (Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
) vows to find her.
The crew then goes to Mordachai in Spittlefield Harbor. Before they can learn where the second piece is however, Dawg appears. A fight ensues, during which Mordachai is killed, Morgan is shot, and Shaw secretly finds the piece and keeps it to himself. After they escape on the Morning Star, Morgan collapses from her wound, but is saved by Shaw, who is a self proclaimed doctor. During this time, the two start a romance.
Eventually, Dawg's ship, the Reaper, bears down on them. Morgan directs the ship toward a coral reef...and a gale. Shaw tries to piece together the location of Cutthroat Island with his and Morgan's piece, but is caught and thrown in the brig. During the storm, the majority of the crew mutinies against Morgan and shanghai her and those loyal to her in a boat. Ironically, though the boat is wrecked, the tide takes them straight to Cutthroat Island.
As Morgan goes after the treasure, Shaw, who escaped during the storm, steals the last piece from Dawg, who's on the island, but runs into quicksand. Morgan finds him and, after finding out he has the piece, frees him. Together, they find the gold, only for it to be stolen by Dawg, forcing them to flee.
After regaining consciousness, Morgan then learns that Dawg has joined forces with the mutineers and Ainslee with the intent of a three-way split between them. In addition, they've captured Shaw. She manages to retake the Morning Star, but Dawg is not fooled and gives chase. A huge open sea fight ensues, during which Shaw escapes. Morgan eventually boards the Reaper and duels Dawg while Shaw gets trapped below in rapidly rising water with the treasure. Eventually, Morgan kills Dawg with a cannon and saves Shaw, forced to abandon the treasure to escape the sinking ship. Luckily, Morgan uses a trick to retrieve the treasure and the newly rich crew sets sail for their next adventure in Madagascar.
Cast
- Geena DavisGeena DavisVirginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
as Morgan Adams - Matthew ModineMatthew ModineMatthew Avery Modine is an award-winning American actor. His film roles include Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, the title character in Alan Parker's Birdy, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, football star turned spy Alec McCall in Funky Monkey and the...
as William Shaw - Frank LangellaFrank Langella-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
as Dawg - Maury ChaykinMaury ChaykinMaury Alan Chaykin was an American-born Canadian actor. Best known for his portrayal of detective Nero Wolfe, he was also known for his work as a character actor in many films and on television programs.-Personal life:...
as John Reed - Patrick MalahidePatrick MalahidePatrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
as Ainslee - Stan ShawStan ShawStan Shaw is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, he is the son of Bertha Shaw and saxophonist Eddie Shaw, and cousin of the late soul singers Sam Cooke and Tyrone Davis Brother of Vaan Shaw...
as Mr. Glasspoole - Rex LinnRex LinnRex Maynard Linn is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Frank Tripp in the television series CSI: Miami.-Early life:...
as Mr. Blair - Harris YulinHarris YulinHarris Yulin is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of Hollywood and television films.-Life and career:Yulin was born in...
as "Black" Harry Adams - Angus WrightAngus Wright (actor)-Biography:Angus Wright was born in Washington, D.C., the youngest child of Virginia and Patrick Wright. His father's career in the British Diplomatic Service took the family to the Lebanon, the United States, the U.K., Egypt, Bahrain, Luxembourg, Syria and Saudi Arabia.Angus gained an M.A...
as Captain Trotter - Ken BonesKen BonesKen Bones is a British actor best known for his television, film and stage appearances. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.-Theatre appearances:...
as Toussant - Chris MastersonChristopher MastersonChristopher Kennedy Masterson is an American actor known most for his role as Francis on Malcolm in the Middle.- Early life :Masterson was born to Peter and Carol Masterson on Long Island, New York, on January 22, 1980...
as Bowen
Aftermath and legacy
Cutthroat Island had a total cost of $98 million and the total U.S. gross was approximately $10 million. It is widely believed to be a contributing factor to the demise of the film's production companyProduction company
A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
, Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures
Carolco Pictures, Inc., Carolco International N.V., or Anabasis Investments was an American independent film production company that, within a decade, went from producing such blockbuster successes as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first three movies of the Rambo series to being bankrupted by...
, and of Davis as a bankable star
Bankable star
A bankable star is an actor famous or charismatic enough to be "capable of guaranteeing box-office success simply by showing up in a movie". A bankable director is a similar notion.- Overview :...
.
In a radio interview in 2011, director Renny Harlin discussed the film's box-office failure. He pointed out that Carolco was already in ruin before the film even began shooting and studio executives knew that they would not produce another film after this. MGM, the film's distributor, was in the process of being sold and thus could not devote itself into financing a marketing campaign for the film. Carolco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a month before Cutthroat Islands release.
The abject disaster of Cutthroat Island is also credited with significantly reducing the bankability and Hollywood production of pirate-themed films, which only recovered with the production of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 adventure fantasy film based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
in 2003.
This film was nominated for one Razzie Award, for Harlin as Worst Director, and has a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Music
By contrast, the film's swashbuckling music by John DebneyJohn Debney
John C. Debney is an American film composer. He received an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ...
has been critically acclaimed, and compared with the works of Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
.
United Kingdom release
The British release of the film was originally rated 15British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
(no patron under the age of 15). Distributors decided to target a family audience and so over a minute of film was cut to get a PG
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
certificate.