User:LancedSoul/sandbox/The Island

The Island is a 2005 American science fiction thriller film directed and co-produced by Michael Bay. It stars Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi.

The Island has been described as a pastiche of "escape-from-dystopia" science fiction films of the 1960s and 1970s, such as Fahrenheit 451, THX 1138, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and Logan's Run. It opened on July 22, 2005 by DreamWorks Pictures in North America and internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures

Plot
Futuristic thriller about a contained, seemingly utopian facility in the mid-21st century. The residents hope to be chosen to go to the Island - the last uncontaminated place on Earth, but when one inhabitant discovers that there are sinister forces at work, he and a female friend make a daring escape.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The premise of the compound inhabitants are clones used for organ harvesting as well as surrogates for wealthy people in the outside world where they attempts to escape with and expose the illegal cloning movement is interesting, despite having a clone of THX 1183, Coma, and Logan's Run.
 * 2) The action scenes aren't that bad, such as the gunfights and the car chase.
 * 3) Unlike rest of Michael Bay movies, it toned down for the explosions.
 * 4) Steve Jablonsky gives a great score.
 * 5) Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson gives decent performances. Same can be said for Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Being the Michael Bay films, the movie overused the explosions, but at least there is less.
 * 2) Most of the elements were recycled it has from THX 1183, Coma, and Logan's Run, although the premise is interesting.

Reception
Despite The Island received generally mixed reviews from critics, audiences have received increasingly positive. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 40%, with an average rating of 5.35 out of 10 based on reviews from 200 critics. The website's consensus consensus reads, "A clone of THX 1183, Coma, and Logan's Run, The Island is another loud and bombastic Michael Bay movie where explosions and chases matter more than characters, dialogue, or plot.". On Metacritic, the film received "mixed or average reviews," with a weighted average of 50 out of 100 based on 38 critics. The user score was 8.7/10 based on 794 ratings, meaning "universal acclaim". It was well acted and had impressive special effects but did not deal with the ethical issues it raised as well as it could have. Many reviewers noted that The Island seemed like two separate films.

Trivia

 * This is the first Michael Bay film not produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
 * The Cadillac Cien, driven by Lincoln Six Echo, is a one-off concept car built for the 2002 Detroit Auto Show. The car was named to celebrate Cadillac's 100th anniversary, Cien being the Spanish word for "hundred." Powered by an experimental 750 horsepower 7.5-liter V-12 engine, it features a rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive powertrain, and a carbon fiber composite body.
 * In the scene where the jet bike crashes through the office building, an extra is pushed by the oncoming bike into a glass window. This was completely unscripted; the extra was not a stuntman, and couldn't clear the bike's path fast enough. Fortunately, the special effects crew managed to detonate the explosives to shatter the glass a few seconds early, which, according to Michael Bay, may have saved his life. Miraculously, the man sustained no serious injuries.
 * "I guarantee there are people out there who would have this," Bay says, adding that some among the wealthy would do this even knowing the clones were living, breathing people too. He believes that China's high rate of capital punishment up to 10,000 people per year "has to do with the ordering of black market organs." So yes, Bay might be a conspiracy nut. He also goes on to say that he knows about a wealthy prince, who he won't name, who has his own 747 jet complete with a surgery unit on the top floor. Inside there at all times is a 24 year-old man with the same blood type whose family has been paid off so that when the prince's heart gives out surgeons can perform a transplant from the younger man. "I can credibly tell you that this is dead true,but I'm not gonna tell you the country where it's from, but I know people who've actually been on the plane, and I know people who've actually met the kid."

Comments
2000s films]] Box Office Bombs That Received Positive Feedback]]