Survival Island
Encyclopedia
Survival Island, also known as Three, is a 2006 film written and directed by Stewart Raffill
. It stars Billy Zane
, Kelly Brook
, and Juan Pablo Di Pace
.
in the Caribbean
during Christmas. One of their crew is the handsome Manuel (Di Pace), who is cursed by his angry ex-girlfriend as he prepares to leave on the yacht
. He is clearly bothered and has a difficult time fulfilling requests for the crew and guests. After the captain confronts him, Manuel quits and throws down a rag as he storms out of the galley. The rag lands on a gas flame and causes the entire yacht to catch fire. The captain is unable to control the blaze with a fire extinguisher
so they abandon ship. Their lifeboats
are capsize
d by a storm later that night and everyone becomes separated.
Washing up on a deserted island, Jennifer is completely alone until she sees the body of the captain in the water. As she attempts to resuscitate him, Manuel appears and also unsuccessfully tries to revive the man. They bury the captain and, under Manuel's guidance, set out to build a shelter and find food. Eventually, Jack also turns up on the island. Although things go smoothly for a little while, Jack eventually suspects Manuel of having designs on his wife and declares the man his enemy, promising to ruin his life once they get off the island. Manuel responds that Jack had better get home soon, because he can ruin Jack's life right there on the island. This puts Jennifer in the uncomfortable position of her loyalty to Jack conflicting with the realization that they both need Manuel's help to survive. A proud man, Jack insists that he can provide for them both, but it quickly becomes apparent that he cannot. Jack and Jennifer's relationship also starts quickly deteriorating.
Jack steals Manuel's goggles
to go fishing
one day and when Manuel discovers this, he threatens to kill Jack. Jennifer attempts to get him to calm down and, in a fit of passion, they have sex
. Afterwards, Manuel reveals that he has loved Jennifer from the moment he first saw her, but it is also clear that this is a way for him to hurt Jack. When Jack returns, Jennifer accidentally hints at him what had happened and Jack furiously rejects her. He breaks up with her and drags her by the hair to Manuel's hut so she can live with him.
While fishing another day, Jack finds a boat on the ocean floor. He drags it to shore and attempts to repair it. Manuel gives Jennifer the idea of stealing the boat, and they do so while Jack is out fishing. They do not get far before the boat begins to sink, and they realize that Jack's plan all along was for them to take the boat and drown. They are forced to swim back to the island and to Jack, who attacks the now-exhausted Manuel with a spear. An intense fight sequence ensues, interwoven with scenes of Manuel's ex-girlfriend performing a voodoo ceremony. The scene climaxes when Jennifer pins Jack to the ground, attempting to kill him with his own knife. Manuel, with Jack's spear
stuck in his back, picks up a heavy rock with which to crush Jack. He loses his balance and falls backward, impaling
himself on the spear, to Jennifer's horror. Simultaneously, the voodoo girl impales his effigy
on a spike.
One year later, a yachting family drops anchor
near the island and explores it, discovering Jennifer asleep in her hut. She, still somewhat distraught over Manuel's death, leaves with them, but does not mention that her husband is also on the island. Jack, who is fishing, sees her leaving on the yacht and calls out, but Jennifer ignores him out of revenge and the family inside the boat cannot hear him. Jack is abandoned on the island and his eventual fate is left ambiguous.
This film combines elements of love triangle
stories and desert-island survivor-type movies.
before being released to DVD on August 21, 2006. The cinematic release lasted for just one week in many cinemas. Three was released on DVD in the United States
on August 15, 2006. It was also released theatrically in a number of European countries under its original title.
Actors Billy Zane and Kelly Brook met during the course of filming and later became engaged. In late 2005 Zane and Brook unsuccessfully challenged the film's producers to remove Brook's nude scenes from the movie, the eventual DVD
release kept these scenes intact.
Robert Hanks of The Independent said "[Three is] an unholy amalgam of Lord of the Flies
, The Blue Lagoon
and The Admirable Crichton
... At odd moments it rises to risibility, but mostly it is just dull..."
Stewart Raffill
Stewart Raffill is an American director and writer of many films.Raffill's The Philadelphia Experiment, won the "Best Film" award of the 1985 Fantafestival. While You Were Waiting, won the Silver Award in the Short Dramatic category of the 2002 Atlantic City Film Festival. In 2009, he directed...
. It stars Billy Zane
Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...
, Kelly Brook
Kelly Brook
Kelly Brook is an English model, actress, entrepreneur, television presenter and Playboy model.-Early life:...
, and Juan Pablo Di Pace
Juan Pablo Di Pace
Juan Pablo Di Pace is an Argentine-born actor, model and director.Juan Pablo Di Pace studied in Europe and speaks Spanish, Italian, and English...
.
Plot
The film revolves around Jack (Zane) and Jennifer (Brook), a rich couple who are yachtingYachting
Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
during Christmas. One of their crew is the handsome Manuel (Di Pace), who is cursed by his angry ex-girlfriend as he prepares to leave on the yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
. He is clearly bothered and has a difficult time fulfilling requests for the crew and guests. After the captain confronts him, Manuel quits and throws down a rag as he storms out of the galley. The rag lands on a gas flame and causes the entire yacht to catch fire. The captain is unable to control the blaze with a fire extinguisher
Fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...
so they abandon ship. Their lifeboats
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
are capsize
Capsize
Capsizing is an act of tipping over a boat or ship to disable it. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is called righting.If a capsized vessel has sufficient flotation to prevent sinking, it may recover on its own if the stability is such that it is not stable inverted...
d by a storm later that night and everyone becomes separated.
Washing up on a deserted island, Jennifer is completely alone until she sees the body of the captain in the water. As she attempts to resuscitate him, Manuel appears and also unsuccessfully tries to revive the man. They bury the captain and, under Manuel's guidance, set out to build a shelter and find food. Eventually, Jack also turns up on the island. Although things go smoothly for a little while, Jack eventually suspects Manuel of having designs on his wife and declares the man his enemy, promising to ruin his life once they get off the island. Manuel responds that Jack had better get home soon, because he can ruin Jack's life right there on the island. This puts Jennifer in the uncomfortable position of her loyalty to Jack conflicting with the realization that they both need Manuel's help to survive. A proud man, Jack insists that he can provide for them both, but it quickly becomes apparent that he cannot. Jack and Jennifer's relationship also starts quickly deteriorating.
Jack steals Manuel's goggles
Goggles
Goggles or safety glasses are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and in woodworking. They are often used in snow sports as well,...
to go fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
one day and when Manuel discovers this, he threatens to kill Jack. Jennifer attempts to get him to calm down and, in a fit of passion, they have sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
. Afterwards, Manuel reveals that he has loved Jennifer from the moment he first saw her, but it is also clear that this is a way for him to hurt Jack. When Jack returns, Jennifer accidentally hints at him what had happened and Jack furiously rejects her. He breaks up with her and drags her by the hair to Manuel's hut so she can live with him.
While fishing another day, Jack finds a boat on the ocean floor. He drags it to shore and attempts to repair it. Manuel gives Jennifer the idea of stealing the boat, and they do so while Jack is out fishing. They do not get far before the boat begins to sink, and they realize that Jack's plan all along was for them to take the boat and drown. They are forced to swim back to the island and to Jack, who attacks the now-exhausted Manuel with a spear. An intense fight sequence ensues, interwoven with scenes of Manuel's ex-girlfriend performing a voodoo ceremony. The scene climaxes when Jennifer pins Jack to the ground, attempting to kill him with his own knife. Manuel, with Jack's spear
Spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...
stuck in his back, picks up a heavy rock with which to crush Jack. He loses his balance and falls backward, impaling
Impale
Impale may refer to:* Impaled , a magic trick simulating impalement* Impaled , American death metal band* Impalement, accidental injury, torture or execution* Impalement arts, a group of performing arts that includes knife throwing...
himself on the spear, to Jennifer's horror. Simultaneously, the voodoo girl impales his effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
on a spike.
One year later, a yachting family drops anchor
Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...
near the island and explores it, discovering Jennifer asleep in her hut. She, still somewhat distraught over Manuel's death, leaves with them, but does not mention that her husband is also on the island. Jack, who is fishing, sees her leaving on the yacht and calls out, but Jennifer ignores him out of revenge and the family inside the boat cannot hear him. Jack is abandoned on the island and his eventual fate is left ambiguous.
This film combines elements of love triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
stories and desert-island survivor-type movies.
Cast
- Billy ZaneBilly ZaneWilliam George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...
as Jack - Kelly BrookKelly BrookKelly Brook is an English model, actress, entrepreneur, television presenter and Playboy model.-Early life:...
as Jennifer - Juan Pablo Di PaceJuan Pablo Di PaceJuan Pablo Di Pace is an Argentine-born actor, model and director.Juan Pablo Di Pace studied in Europe and speaks Spanish, Italian, and English...
as Manuel - Todd Collins as Bill
- Gabrielle Jourdan as Gail
- Gary BrocketteGary BrocketteGary "Tex" Brockette was an American actor, assistant director, writer and co-producer. He was born in Denton, Texas.-Career:...
as Captain Richards - Isabelle Constantini as Maggie Richards
Production and release
The film was produced during 2003 and was originally set for cinema release under the title Three in 2004. Three went on limited cinematic release on May 3, 2006, in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
before being released to DVD on August 21, 2006. The cinematic release lasted for just one week in many cinemas. Three was released on DVD in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on August 15, 2006. It was also released theatrically in a number of European countries under its original title.
Actors Billy Zane and Kelly Brook met during the course of filming and later became engaged. In late 2005 Zane and Brook unsuccessfully challenged the film's producers to remove Brook's nude scenes from the movie, the eventual DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release kept these scenes intact.
Critical reception
Three as it was known in the UK suffered from poor reviews, gaining a rare one-star rating on the BBC Movies website.Robert Hanks of The Independent said "[Three is] an unholy amalgam of Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies (1963 film)
Lord of the Flies is a 1963 film adaptation of William Golding's novel of the same name. It was directed by Peter Brook and produced by Lewis M. Allen, known since for producing films based on modern-classic novels. The film was in production for much of 1961 though the film was not released until...
, The Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon (1980 film)
The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser. The screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart was based on the novel The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins...
and The Admirable Crichton
The Admirable Crichton (film)
The Admirable Crichton is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Kenneth More, Diane Cilento, Sally Ann Howes and Cecil Parker. The film was based on J. M...
... At odd moments it rises to risibility, but mostly it is just dull..."
External links
- Three film trailer at You Tube