In 1960, Disney released "Swiss Family Robinson" and they made a HUGE fortune. In today's money, it would earn $350,000,000+---and that makes it a very, very successful film. So, it's not surprising that only a short time later they'd make "Hero's Island"--a film that bears much more than a superficial resemblance to the Disney film. But, although "Hero's Island" is similar, it's not at all enjoyable like this earlier film...and towards the end it gets pretty dumb.
A particularly dumb family moves to a crappy island off the coast of the Carolinas in the 18th century. I say crappy because all sorts of pirate-types keep arriving and making their lives miserable. Heck, soon after they first arrive, one of the thugs kills the husband--leaving the wife and servants to try to survive with two young boys. Common sense would say to leave...but these folks don't seem to have a lot of that! Here is where it gets REALLLLLLY stupid. A guy (James Mason) washes up on the island and when the chips are down, you learn that he is NOT who he originally claimed to be but is Stede Bonnet--one of the infamous members of Blackbeard's gang. However, IMDb says that Mason is Blackbeard himself--he is NOT! And, after the pirates attack, he is ticked off and goes to deliver a well-earned butt-kicking.
Despite the fact that this SHOULD have been an exciting adventure film, it was not. It's actually amazingly slow-paced and very low energy. And, on top of that, you really don't care much about the family. Plus, if Mason was playing a pirate, he played one of the dullest ones in film history. Not terrible...but not at all good either.
A particularly dumb family moves to a crappy island off the coast of the Carolinas in the 18th century. I say crappy because all sorts of pirate-types keep arriving and making their lives miserable. Heck, soon after they first arrive, one of the thugs kills the husband--leaving the wife and servants to try to survive with two young boys. Common sense would say to leave...but these folks don't seem to have a lot of that! Here is where it gets REALLLLLLY stupid. A guy (James Mason) washes up on the island and when the chips are down, you learn that he is NOT who he originally claimed to be but is Stede Bonnet--one of the infamous members of Blackbeard's gang. However, IMDb says that Mason is Blackbeard himself--he is NOT! And, after the pirates attack, he is ticked off and goes to deliver a well-earned butt-kicking.
Despite the fact that this SHOULD have been an exciting adventure film, it was not. It's actually amazingly slow-paced and very low energy. And, on top of that, you really don't care much about the family. Plus, if Mason was playing a pirate, he played one of the dullest ones in film history. Not terrible...but not at all good either.