N’Yar! – Now With Lubberly UPDATE

N.C. Wyeth, “One More Step, Mr. Hands” – Illustration for Treasure Island.

Greetings, my fellow port swillers!

Those friends who have spent any time around the decanter will by now know that when it comes to the subject of moovie adaptations of favorite books, Ol’ Robbo is most often wont to set his eye in fine frenzy rolling, glancing from heaven to earth, earth to heaven, and then to start heaving the crockery.  I hate ’em.  I do.

So you may be both pleased as well as slightly alarumed when I report that last evening I came across one that I actually, genuinely, like:  1990’s made-for-teevee version of “Treasure Island”.  (It’s available in DVD from Netflix.)

I’d seen positive mention of this film from time to time amongst the Moron Horde over at AoSHQ and determined to give it a try.  I was not in the least disappointed.

First, the film is eminently faithful to the book.  I happen to have reread it a week or two ago, so it was pretty fresh in my mind.  Almost all the dialogue was lifted verbatim, and, so far as I could tell, the screenplay was just about devoid of material R.L. Stevenson “might have written if only he’d been clever enough.”  Where it had to condense or cut or transpose, it did so intelligently, respectfully, and subtly.

Second, for a teevee movie, the cast is heavyweight.  Charlton Heston plays Long John Silver, with the young Christian Bale as Jim Hawkins, Oliver Reed as Billy Bones, Christopher Lee as Blind Pew, Julian Glover as Dr. Livesey, and Alan Tudyk as Steve the Pirate.  There were numerous other supporting cast members who I immediately recognized but couldn’t remember their names.  The whole thing was written and directed by Fraser Heston (who I suppose deserves the primary accolade for doing such a good adaptation job), and I got the vibe that it was something of a vanity project for the Old Man and his friends, and at the same time a boost for the son.

Did Ol’ Robbo have quibbles?  Of course Ol’ Robbo had quibbles!  But as they were largely technical and did not at all interfere with the spirit and flow of the story, I let them pass.  (Unless you want me to tell ’em.  Do ya? Do ya?)

Anyhoo, overall it was a delightful film and well worth a dekko.

UPDATE: This post has been up a couple days now.  Did nobody catch what I did in the emboldened bit up there?  Ye scurvy dogs!