Review of Treasure Island

I agree with the earlier comment, just wanted to add some of my thoughts. I had only just recently read Stevenson's "Treasure Island" for the first time, and even being a 30something woman, I liked this "boy's adventure" very much. I found nothing of that in the two-part TV-film except for some names. The plot was artificially blown up (like the storm scene or the prostitute scene), but a lot of things were missing - for example, we never get a good view of the map, and we never learn about the setting of the island and the way to the treasure, which are so very detailed in the book. Instead, the map keeps disappearing annoyingly throughout the film. There was a lot more brutality than called for - I wouldn't have needed to see Jürgen Vogel as Israel Hands shot through the throat in close-up. A lot of people were killed when I didn't even understand why - I mean, the mutineers as well as the "Englishmen" (as Trelawney, Livesey and Smollett are called for some mysterious reason throughout the film) count on sailing the Hispaniola back with the treasure, so you'd think they'd keep as many hands alive as possible for that feat (in the book Stevenson describes how hard it is to sail the ship with a limited crew). Then, that "girl in boy's dress" plot line - horrible! What was that for, to show that the infamous Captain Flint also had a soft side? Or rather that viewers can see some naked female breasts at different times, which seems today as necessary as the brutality? From a feminist view, even if the girl is shown to be tough, her character is mostly used as a victim that Jim Hawkins can save (I counted at least three times). But what I liked least, and what the other comment has already mentioned, is how the characters were twisted. None of them was especially likable, so you really didn't care who got the treasure in the end. The largest difference to the book is, however, that Stevenson's men are men of honour. They stand by their word. This may seem naive and old-fashioned today, but that's a reason why I like to read those old stories. Stevenson's Dr. Livesey was a doctor who would tend to every patient, no matter if nobleman or mutineer, because he gave that Hippocratic oath. In the film we actually see him poisoning one of the pirates. Then, the social issues. The film asks us to side with the mutineers because they have been badly treated by the marine and are only men that seek freedom and independence. Didn't the author do any research on piracy to know that it was done for the Crown? That piracy was a common method between seafaring nations trying to outdo each other? Well, enough of that. Let's just say that Tobias Moretti and Jürgen Vogel had some cool costumes. And maybe that's what this film was all about - that some of our great guys could play pirates, just like Johnny Depp did.