DANGER ISLAND
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
97 min., not rated, Suspense/Action, 1992, Made-for-television Director: Tommy Lee Wallace Cast: Lisa Banes, Richard Beymer, Maria Celedonio, Gary Graham, Kathy Ireland, Joe Lara, Christopher Pettiet, Beth Toussaint, Eddie Valez, Nikki Cox, June Lockhart, Gina Malina Aurio
Several people are stranded on a tropical island after the private plane they were in crash-landed in the ocean. The island, which seems uninhabited, turns out not to be a vacation in paradise. Something in the ocean attacks two of the people, which one of disappears soon after, and the other one gets physical deformities. The rest of the people travel through the island trying to find help, unaware of the strange things that are going on around them.
DANGER ISLAND, which was made for the NBC television network, is exceptionally good, especially for a television film. I hope that it gets released on video cassette, because it would allow people who missed it when it was aired to see it. On a scale of zero to five, I give DANGER ISLAND a five.
DANGER ISLAND is very well written and seems to transcend its television roots. The story is interesting as well as suspenseful. The characters are well developed and are ones that found myself wanting to know more about. The special effects are very well done. The locations picked for the filming look great. Interestingly enough, the film leaves itself open for a sequel. Whether this was intended or not I don't know. If handled correctly, a good sequel could be made.
I think that this is one of the best television films that I have ever seen. The budget for the film seemed to be larger than most television films. The major problem with most television films is that they are either one of the many "disease of the week" films, which I, at least, am getting sick of, or the film has a good idea, but it seems that a talented writer couldn't be found that would fit in the budget. This isn't a "disease of the week" film (thank God!) and the writer did a great job (meaning he probably won't be working for television for very much longer).
-------- Ken Johnson blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu
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