Treasure Island (1999)
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 84 mins
Synopsis: Frank (Lance Baker) and Samuel (Nick Offerman) are government employees working in a secret base in Northern California in 1945. World War II is in full swing, and the body of an unidentified American has been discovered by the military. Frank and Samuel are assigned to establish a false... Frank (Lance Baker) and Samuel (Nick Offerman) are government employees working in a secret base in Northern California in 1945. World War II is in full swing, and the body of an unidentified American has been discovered by the military. Frank and Samuel are assigned to establish a false identity for the corpse that will include bogus documents to be attached to the body, which will then be dumped into the Pacific in hope that the Japanese will find it. Samuel is married and repeatedly brings home strange men to have sex with his wife. Frank has two wives as well as a Japanese mistress who must remain in hiding. The corpse, who reveals himself to be a young gay man with a healthy sex drive, seems to pop up at inopportune times, catching both quiet Frank and boisterous, macho Samuel off guard. But is the corpse really alive, or is it just attempting to teach the living men about their true selves? Cryptic dialogue and unanswered questions fuel the film until V-J Day brings it to an even more chaotic conclusion. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Lance Baker, Nick Offerman, Jonah Blechman, Pat Healy, Rachel Singer
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 30, 2001
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
- Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - 1. Scott King - Director
- 2. Scott King - Director
- Deleted Scenes
- Isolated Audio Track - 1. Music Score
DVD-ROM Features:
- Making Of
- Trailer
- Electronic Press Kit
Additional Products:
- Booklet
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
...all of the bad things that make up what we call 'independent film.'
No matter how bright many of its ideas may be, however, Treasure Island is far from satisfying, as such matters as narrative coherence and dramatic credibility have been treated as annoyances worthy of being ignored.
There is a dreamlike logic at work here, but viewers are expected to put the pieces together themselves.
Ought to bypass the theaters entirely and go straight to cult status, joining the likes of Night of the Living Dead and Plan 9 From Outer Space.
You may not like Treasure Island when you see it, but what you can't dismiss is that it's definitely not commercial.
Climaxing with images shanghaied from Ugetsu and Dr. Strangelove, Treasure Island can be thin and underrealized.
Though it will surely confound mainstream audiences, it should prove something of a treasure for viewers prepared for a provocative and idiosyncratic work.
For all the ideas it tosses around -- and many of them are useful and painful correctives to our rose-colored fantasies -- Treasure Island is too crude a movie to muster much rhetorical clout.


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