Cutthroat Island (1995) ***

Eight years before the huge success of the first film in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series, when the public seemed to be ready to embrace pirate movies again, Cutthroat Island (1995) was released. Famous for bankrupting Carolco Pictures (though the company was already in financial straits), the movie is listed in the Guinness World Records as the biggest box office bomb of all time (adjusted for inflation).

While I won't deny many of the criticisms that have been aimed at CI, it's still a fun, entertaining adventure picture, featuring a grand score, beautiful production design, gigantic sets, plenty of swashbuckling, and impressive stunts (and one incredibly enormous explosion), all practical and wonderfully devoid of CGI. 

There's definitely something lacking in the final product, but it's due to many factors (including a number of production troubles). Geena Davis does her best, but she just can't quite carry the film (her delivery isn't emotive enough and I don't find her character believable). Matthew Modine has an appropriate Errol Flynn look, and does good work, but lacks the charisma to really grab the viewer as well (Davis and Modine don't quite have the right chemistry either). Frank Langella is definitely the highlight on the acting front—he makes a truly great "evil" pirate. Additionally, somehow the way Renny Harlin frames certain shots doesn't elicit the type of excitement it should.

Cutthroat Island is far from a bad film. All the elements are there, and I still enjoy and appreciate a lot about it. It's just a shame that it's not the home run that it could have been.

Renny Harlin Films Ranked