As Good As It Gets

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed this movie. I wasn't sure how authentic a movie from the 50's would look, but then I saw the scenes in the Tavern. I was instantly transported. From the foggy alley outside to the dank interior, this was a great set piece. The other highlight was the lead character, Long John. He was essentially Jack Sparrow 50 years ahead of time. He plays people against each other, has hidden motivations, and always comes out on top by planning 5 steps ahead. There are some politically incorrect elements, mostly involving Hispanic stereotypes, and I thought the story got less interesting once they got onto Treasure Island. However, a fun ending made up for that, so I would recommend this for someone looking for family oriented adventure.

Robert Newton returns once again to his famous role from TREASURE ISLAND, that of Long John Silver. Once more he chews the scenery with gusto and is just grand fun to watch in this particular role any time you can catch him.This time Long John sets out to save young Jim Hawkins (played by Kit Taylor who sadly doesn't possess the memorable screen presence that his predecessor Bobby Driscoll put into the role) from a cutthroat pirate named "El Toro" Mendoza (Lloyd Berrell) but also added into the mix are a slightly more memorable crew of pirates following after Long John's lead and Long John's frequently comedic interactions with his main squeeze Purity Pinker (Connie Gilchrist), who has her eyes firmly set on marriage and settling down the old sea Captain. Things become truly adventurous when the band of pirates set out for a return to Treasure Island and meet up with some most unexpected surprises and obstacles along the way.In many ways, this unofficial sequel to the classic Walt Disney film, has a more gritty, real down to Earth feel about it although it really adds little new to the mix. Still any boy who ever dreamed of pirates and searching for lost treasure should find much to enjoy here. Great fun overall, Newton is just a pure delight to watch in this entertaining, surprisingly well-written and executed boys fantasy brought to life.

This Australian production made four years after Walt Disney's version of Treasure Island has Robert Newton reprising his role of Long John Silver. Returning characters from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island are Jim Hawkins and Israel Hands.The Disney version of Treasure Island was a once in a lifetime mating of an actor so perfect for the role he was cast in. Robert Newton was a man who needed a firm directorial hand normally, but Long John Silver is one of those larger than life parts where the sky isn't even the limit when it comes to chewing scenery. Newton throws himself into this role just as he did in Treasure Island and again in Blackbeard the Pirate, he was put on this planet to play pirates.This film finds Long John rescuing the Governor of Jamaica's daughter and then returning to Treasure Island for more treasure. Jim Hawkins, who apparently never went back to the UK, is also along for the ride. On Treasure Island Newton has to deal with another pirate captain named Mendoza and Israel Hands from his old crew.Now all of us who know the story of Treasure Island know that Jim Hawkins killed Israel Hands in the story. But it turns out not to be the case. Seems that he only blinded him and Hands has been living on Treasure Island ever since waiting for the return of Silver and Hawkins. In this film, Hands is played by young Rod Taylor in his second film and under his full name of Rodney Taylor. As resourceful as Taylor makes Hands, there ain't no way I believe a blind man survived on an uninhabited island for years. Another character is introduced here, a woman who runs a waterfront dive named Purity played by Connie Gilchrist. She has hopes of marrying the incorrigible reprobate Silver, but no such luck. Gilchrist and Newton's scenes are very cute and are more than faintly reminiscent of Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler.The success of this film led to a TV series Long John Silver with both Newton and Gilchrist and young Kip Taylor as Jim Hawkins. It might have gone on longer than a season, but for Robert Newton's death from acute alcoholism. Read David Niven's memoir Bring on the Empty Horses for a fine account of a man much loved by friends and colleagues, but with a deadly weakness for the 'craiture' as the Irish refer to it.Long John Silver is a film with a lot of weaknesses in plot and structure, but carried by the indomitable Robert Newton and the strength of his career role.

There is not much new in this sequel to "Treasure Island", which has Robert Newton return in the role of "Long John Silver" and getting involved in new adventures that nevertheless have a familiar feel to them, but it is still an entertaining movie. Made four years after the original, it has Kit Taylor replacing Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins, but the relationship between the characters is still much the same. Newton is the main strength, since he captures his character very well, and he is fun to watch even when there is not a lot else going on.The story has Long John meeting up again with Jim and with various old friends and old rivals, while carrying out his usual assortment of schemes. It all has a familiar feel to it, with some of the same settings and many of the same plot devices getting recycled, and quite a few references to events and characters from the original story.If you enjoyed "Treasure Island", you would probably enjoy "Long John Silver" as well. Although it doesn't have much new material, it has plenty of adventure and the same kinds of scheming and counter-scheming. You could also enjoy it perfectly well, assuming that you have an interest in the genre, without having seem the first movie. The occasional links with the original are probably easy enough to figure out, from the context and/or from a passing acquaintance with the story from literature or elsewhere.