The Island 2005 Movie With Obi-Wan and Black Widow

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I'm watching this again for the first time in 14 years and this seems like a pretty decent movie. The set up is reasonable and it was set in 2019! The special effects over the first hour are good enough. When I first saw the film I didn't know anything about the plot. This time I remember the general story line and it hasn't ruined it.

FWIW, I think Michael Bay even did ok here.

Have any of you all seen this flick? In 2005 I thought for an action movie it was ahead of its time story wise.

Anyways, you don't see many primered HHR's, that was kinda cool.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_(2005_film)

[Lurkmoar]

When I first saw it, I was kind taken about by all the in your face product placement.

"Why the **** is there an X-box logo on a non-video game tournament there where it makes NO SENSE?" and the like.

When I thought about it later, I wondered if the director of Parts: The Clonus Horror wanted to sue. I was right. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parts:_The_Clonus_Horror#Lawsuit)

Not bad for a Bay film, but nowhere near is best. For me, his best was Pain & Gain.

[The Glyphstone]

When I first saw it, I was kind taken about by all the in your face product placement.

"Why the **** is there an X-box logo on a non-video game tournament there where it makes NO SENSE?" and the like.

When I thought about it later, I wondered if the director of Parts: The Clonus Horror wanted to sue. I was right. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parts:_The_Clonus_Horror#Lawsuit)

Not bad for a Bay film, but nowhere near is best. For me, his best was Pain & Gain.

Better than The Rock or Armageddon?

[Lurkmoar]

Better than The Rock or Armageddon?

Yeah, I prefer Pain & Gain over The Rock and Armageddon. I am a sucker for black comedies. Pain & Gain>Armageddon>The Rock>The Island>Those Transformers movies that made some big bucks and then trailed off at the end.

I do grant that I liked seeing Nick Cage and Sean Connery on the same screen.

[The Glyphstone]

Yeah, I prefer Pain & Gain over The Rock and Armageddon. I am a sucker for black comedies. Pain & Gain>Armageddon>The Rock>The Island>Those Transformers movies that made some big bucks and then trailed off at the end.

I do grant that I liked seeing Nick Cage and Sean Connery on the same screen.

I mostly like Armageddon because it's the mostly shamelessly Bay of any Bay movie pre-Transformers, and it rolls around gloriously in its own big-screen B-movie cheese. The Rock I point out as a movie starring Sean Connery and Nick Cage, directed by Michael Bay, that still somehow comes out as a functional and entertaining action flick - it's a better movie to me than Armageddon, but a worse Michael Bay movie.


EDIT: On-topic, the only thing I know/remember of The Island is how Bay ripped/stole his own chase scene footage from it and re-used it with Transformers CGIed over the top.

[comicshorse]

And with Boromir
I remember it being ok with a very cool hover bike chase to lift it a bit. And that's pretty much all I remember of it.

[Imbalance]

I got angry when they restricted his bacon consumption.

[Peelee]

Better than The Rock or Armageddon?

Psh. Armageddon doesn't even have Nicolas Cage!

[The Glyphstone]

Psh. Armageddon doesn't even have Nicolas Cage!

But it has Bruce Willis, and a hyper realistic animatronic replica of Liv Tyler.

[Peelee]

But it has Bruce Willis, and a hyper realistic animatronic replica of Liv Tyler.

Is that the going exchange rate for Nicolas Cages?

[The Glyphstone]

Is that the going exchange rate for Nicolas Cages?

If we assume net worth as a measure of exchange rate, one Liv Tyler (20 million USD) is worth 0.8 Nick Cages (25 million USD). One Bruce Willis (200 million USD) is worth 4 Nick Cages. So together that would be a 4.8:1 ratio of exchange.

[Peelee]

If we assume net worth as a measure of exchange rate, one Liv Tyler (20 million USD) is worth 0.8 Nick Cages (25 million USD). One Bruce Willis (200 million USD) is worth 4 Nick Cages. So together that would be a 4.8:1 ratio of exchange.

I think that is drastically devaluing Dino bones

[The Glyphstone]

I think that is drastically devaluing Dino bones

Didnt he have to give those back after it turned out they were stolen/illegally dug?

Though even at his peak, he was worth $150 million, so that would be a 1.46:1 ratio.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

I remember The Island being a decent enough action sci-fi thing. The premise is believable enough, as I remember it. The best organ replacements are your own, but a "fresh" version, no? Granted, I haven't rewatched it recently.

And The Rock vs Armageddon is a little too close to call for me. Seeing Sean Connery pull prison break sleight of hand never gets old. On the other hand, landing on an asteroid and drilling a hole to drop a nuke into it is so absurd a plot that it loops back around and works.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I haven't seen Pain & Gain, but The Rock blows Armageddon out of the water. Through some cosmic alignment Nicholas Overacting Annoyingly Cage and Michael Boom Baysplosion made a movie together with a thoughtful plot, respect for its antagonists, a brilliant soundtrack and even James actual Bond. And they didn't need to dial back to do it. Cage is still playing an annoying little ****er (except in his super badass opening scene) and it doesn't bother me, and the over the top chases and firefights and such that Michael Bay brings even work super well and are legit enjoyable as good. Plus it's a perfect example of giving your audiences what you promised. In the beginning we are promised two things: There will be a huge explosion or the world will be saved. The rest of the runtime you sit there figuring out how they're going to turn that or into an and. And spoiler alert: they do it. The makers of Jurassic World must have seen The Rock, they pull a near perfect but expanded imitation of this trick.

Armageddon is a silly flick that doesn't even respect most of its protagonists, or any of the story elements it's using. It's fine for the explosions with a touch of Titanic that it wants to be, but it's no The Rock. I might actually rank Transformers 2 (AKA the dumb one) above Armageddon because at least they get going with the explosions already. (Sorry Michael Clarke Duncan, it's just that you were better in The Green Mile.) The Rock is a ones in a lifetime strike of two dumbs colliding into semi-accidental brilliance. It's glorious.

I also sort of remember some bits of The Island. Somehow nothing about it really stood out to me, I might need to rewatch it some day.