Captain Flint (Donald Sutherland) led one of the most feared and successful pirate crews around. When it came to his treasure, he was the master at hiding it. Unfortunately for his crew, he was also very greedy about sharing it. When it came time to divide the loot, he simply got rid of all but a handful of crew and gave them nothing. Among this discarded and disgruntled lot are Long John Silver (Eddie Izzard), Ben Gunn (Elijah Wood), and George Merry (Shaun Parkes), along with quite a few others. Flint goes as far as to shoot off the bottom of Silver’s leg just to make his point that they are dead to him.
Several years later, Billy Bones (David Harewood) shows up at an inn outside Bristow. Billy was one of the few that was not kicked off of the ship by Flint. The inn is run by young Jim Hawkins (Toby Regbo) and his mother, Meg (Shirley Henderson). Jim is trying his best to be the man of the house since his father died, but he is finding it difficult. His father left behind a string of debts and not much to cover them, but the Hawkins’ are doing the best they can. When Billy Bones shows up and promises to pay in gold, Jim makes the decision to let him stay, even though he is obviously a pirate and therefore most likely trouble. Jim is fascinated with the tales of piracy and Billy Bones’ stories but when another pirate, Black Dog (Sean Gilder), shows up, the reality of a pirate’s life hits home. Meg is determined to get the money Billy Bones owes them, and she does, but Jim takes something much more valuable. He takes the diary of Captain Flint. While the diary is interesting, it is nothing compared to the map to the treasure.
After getting away, Jim takes the map to the family friend, Dr. Livesey (Daniel Mays), who decides that they need to get financing for the expedition from Squire Trelawney (Rupert Penry-Jones). The squire finances it, of course, realizing how much money he can make. He hires Captain Smollett (Philip Glenister) to captain the ship. So far things are going pretty well, but when Long John Silver hears about the expedition, he signs on as the ship's cook and helps fill the ship with most of the rest of the men that Flint discarded, unbeknownst to Captain and the squire. The journey is quite interesting and Silver takes Jim under his wing. Poor Jim’s loyalties are going to be tested on both sides and he is going to really have some tough decisions to make if any of them are going to survive the voyage and make it off of Treasure Island alive!
Having not read the book or seen other movies based on the book, I won’t be able to compare them, but I really enjoyed Treasure Island. I felt like it was quite well done and, by far, the best made for TV movie that I have seen in a long time. Considering that it was made for TV, I never noticed where commercial breaks were meant to go, which was very good. The acting was amazing. Elijah Wood, in particular, really got to show his skills since his character was so different from the beginning to the end of the movie. Eddie Izzard really shined as John Silver. Silver is such a complex character with so many little nuances that Izzard nailed perfectly. You can hear him talk about the experience in the Behind the Scenes featurette and in the Cast Interviews. There are also a few more Special Features that, while short, really add to the knowledge of the film. If you’re looking for an exciting and yet family (older children at least, there is some violence and blood) appropriate presentation of a classic novel, check out Treasure Island.
