Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1654 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-01-09
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
An intriguing action adventure set in the near future, The Island finds those who survived a mass global contamination living in a contained and highly controlled world. Their actions are controlled, their lives are routine, and the only hope is to win lottery and be sent to a mysterious island, the so-called last surviving, uncontaminated paradise on the planet.

Naturally enough, things are quite what they initially seem, at least in the eyes of Ewan McGregror’s Johnny Two Alpha. Along with Scarlet Johansen’s Jordan Two Delta, they soon find out what happens when you don’t fully comply with the rules of this deeply controlled world, and the stage is thus set for some action-packed cinema.

Given the film’s disappointing box office returns though, you could be forgiven for thinking that all is not well with The Island, and truthfully, it’s a movie with problems. Its pacing feels a little off, and there are moments when the script does the film no favours at all.

Yet take The Island as a popcorn flick, and you’ll more than likely find yourself enjoying a good couple of hours of solid entertainment. Sure, ultimately they could have made more of the premise, and produced a tighter movie. But what’s on screen usually works well enough, and the two stars don’t do badly with the material at their disposal.--Simon Brew

Synopsis
In this action thriller from director Michael Bay (PEARL HARBOR, ARMAGEDDON), survivors of global contamination live in a sterile, self-contained world where their every move is monitored. The rules are easy: be pleasant, refrain from asking questions, and don't rock the boat. Everything they need is provided for them, from the white uniforms that magically appear in their closets, to their customized cafeteria-style meals. The survivors all eagerly await their big payoff: winning the lottery and being sent to The Island, the only remaining untainted land in the world. But Lincoln Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) yearns for more from his life and begins to wonder what really lies outside the thick walls. When his best friend, Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson), wins the lottery, he knows that he has to find out the truth about their world before she departs. What he finds is terrifying enough to send Lincoln and Jordan fleeing from the facility to the real world where they quickly discover that they are clones, and that both The Island and global contamination are a ruse. The clones sole purpose is to be harvested for replacement parts when their sponsors need them. With his business now in jeopardy, Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean), the founder of the cloning company, hires a crack team led by Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou) to track down his escaped product. Wild chase scenes through Los Angeles circa 2050 are punctuated by high-tech transportation as Lincoln and Jordan run for their lives and try to assimilate into a world that is completely foreign to them. The futuristic set design and visual effects are particularly impressive. McGregor and Johansson both expertly communicate the human element and desire for life that has developed in the two clones, while still finding humour and awe in their childlike naivety.

Customer Reviews

Missed Opportunity
The Island is actually a remake of a 70's film I remember watching when I was wee called The Clonus Horror. It's a film that always stuck in my mind as one that deserved a multi-million dollar remake, especially now as the idea of cloning humans is no longer within the domain of science fiction but has become a real theoretical possibility. I thought, what a thought-provoking film it could be, the moral dilemma of "growing" clones of the cream of our society only to freeze them until such times as their original counterparts needed a healthy organ transplant. How very Dostoyevsky, how very Nietzsche.

For instance what if the next Einstein or Newton were to develop a heart condition and would otherwise die? Would it be morally acceptable to have grown clones of them so as to provide the perfect organ transplants? What about a scientist who's just on the edge of developing a cure for cancer but who is struck down with cirrhosis of the liver and is given 6 months to live, the only thing that will save him (or her) being a new and healthy liver from his (or her) clone. Doesn't the death of one clone not outweigh the millions of lives that would be saved?

My God, what a film they could have made, deep, thought-provoking and relevant. Instead they make a stupid action film, arsing about with jet packs, comic interludes and other such nonsense. So what we had was a film that could have said so much, but in the end said absolutely nothing. Two hours of white noise.

sigh...
Brazil this aint.

Michael Bay makes films for morons. I realise that now. This is an advert masquerading as a film, probably written by two diseased cockroaches with half a brain between them. So, we're meant to feel sorry for McGregor's brainless clone who accepts any old crap that he's told... But surely that's Michael Bay's target audiance?

Pointless Hollywood BS, basically - If you like that kind of thing.

A film with a split personality.
The film starts with,and initially promisingly develops an intrigueing premise.
However,once the two leading characters escape,either the Director got bored,or there was a change of Directors,because a quiet,introspective film suddenly veers into a series of almighty smash,and wreck,chases which,for me,ruin a film which could have been so much more.