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Movies / On DVD / The Island
The Island

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The Island (2005)

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Reviews Counted:180

Fresh:72

Rotten:108

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: A clone of THX 1183, Coma, and Logan's Run, The Island is another loud and bombastic Michael Bay movie where explosions and chases matter more than characters, dialogue, or plot.

Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: Michael Bay ("Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor") directs the futuristic action thriller "The Island," starring Ewan McGregor ("Star Wars: Episodes I, II & III," "Moulin Rouge!") and Scarlett Johansson... Michael Bay ("Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor") directs the futuristic action thriller "The Island," starring Ewan McGregor ("Star Wars: Episodes I, II & III," "Moulin Rouge!") and Scarlett Johansson ("Lost in Translation," "Girl With a Pearl Earring"). Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid-21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island"—reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet—until he makes a terrible discovery that everything about his existence is a lie…and that he is actually more valuable dead than alive. Together with a beautiful fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson), Lincoln makes a daring escape to the outside world he's never known. Now, with the forces of the institute that once housed them relentlessly hunting them down, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a desperate race for their lives. Rounding out the main cast of "The Island" are Oscar® nominee Djimon Hounsou ("In America," "Gladiator") as the leader of the security team pursuing Lincoln and Jordan; Sean Bean ("National Treasure," "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy) as the head of the Institute; Steve Buscemi ("Ghost World," "Armageddon") as a man who befriends Lincoln despite working for the institute; and Oscar® nominee Michael Clarke Duncan ("The Green Mile," "Armageddon") as another resident who is elated and envied when he is selected to go to "The Island." Michael Bay directed "The Island" from a screenplay by Caspian Tredwell-Owen and Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci, based on a story by Tredwell-Owen. Walter F. Parkes, Michael Bay and Ian Bryce produced the film, with Laurie MacDonald serving as executive producer. "The Island" is a co-production of DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, with DreamWorks distributing the film domestically and Warner Bros. handling the international release. -- © Dreamworks [More]

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan

Director: Michael Bay

Director: Michael Bay
Screenwriter: Robert Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Caspian Tredwell-Owen
Story: Caspian Tredwell-Owen
Producer: Walter F. Parkes, Michael Bay, Ian Bryce, Laurie MacDonald
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC

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Reviews for The Island

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141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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The smoking ruins of a few real ideas can be glimpsed among the carnage.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
07/21/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Despite all the firepower, the movie is only sporadically exciting.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
07/21/05
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

After 2 1/2 grueling hours of this, you'll be begging for a trip to the island yourself. A real island, I mean. Not the movie.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/21/05
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Does its job without insulting our intelligence or unpleasantly jangling our nerves, and it leaves hope that beneath all those special-effects explosions there's a kinder, gentler Michael Bay struggling to get out.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
07/21/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

While it is too long and runs on automatic pilot toward the predictably concussive conclusion, it is just taut, succinct and entertaining enough to obscure how ridiculous it is.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
07/21/05
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Starts out as an interesting sci-fi thriller about cloning but then turns and takes a downhill course as just another action drama with crashes and explosions galore.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
07/21/05
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Degenerates into a fearsome chase movie.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
07/21/05
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A high-concept movie that director Michael Bay turns into Bad Boys III: Send in the Clones.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
07/21/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

The best that I can say about The Island is that it is a well-made popcorner that is well suited as an air conditioning flick or DVD fodder.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
07/21/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

...a sci-fier with roots in such films as "Logan's Run," "THX 1138," "Looker" and "Coma," that devolves into one big chase scene after another with lots of explosions

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
07/21/05
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

I really hoped The Island would be Michael Bay's second best movie. In actuality, it's only his third best.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
07/21/05
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

As pretty, very human stars, McGregor and Johansson put the main sizzle into The Island, since we've seen this plotline, and this Brave New World, in better sci-fi films.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
07/21/05
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

The Island could be read as a metaphor for societal ills if it weren't so shamelessly dumb.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
07/21/05
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

This lavish, exhaustingly kinetic film is smarter than you might expect, and at the same time dumber than it could be.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
07/21/05
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As futuristic nightmares go, The Island is pretty appealing.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
07/21/05
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

There’s a good idea and an intriguing story hidden underneath all of Bay’s boom-booms. Too bad the smoke doesn’t clear long enough to see it.

Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy | comment Comment
07/21/05
Sean McBride
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy

Michael Bay has made a movie that makes you ponder matters more meaningful than how cool that last car chase looked.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
07/21/05
Chris Vognar
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News

The first half is high-quality science fiction, the rest is a high-tech chase adventure with a gleeful yen for destructive thrills.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
07/21/05
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Classic Bay, except it's missing the crass director's fine-tuned rhythm, his feel for adrenaline, his breakneck edits and sense of humor.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
07/21/05
Allison Benedikt
Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune

The first half of Michael Bay's new film is a spare, creepy science fiction parable, and then it shifts into a high-tech action picture. Both halves work. Whether they work together is a good question.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
07/21/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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