The Island

The Island (1980) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]
$7.12
This film has been said to be one of the worst ever made,well yes its low grade entertainment but for a rainy sunday afternoon and brain in natural what else do you need,on the plus side it is very well photographed and in a blue ray dvd player this dvd is the best I have seen,in fact I thought it was hd copy.Ok the film is rubbish David Warner as a pirate takes some beliveing and not Michael Cain's greatest hour.But any film buff needs a dud in there collaction and anyone else likes a no brainer,buy this aus copy for the transfer alone

The Island
$7.99
I will warn you ahead of time. This wasn't Graham's strongest book, not by a long shot. In fact, I would say that it is one of the weakest books she's put out so far. Even so, it's not bad for a fluff read.

The story begins with Beth & her family going to nearby Calliope Island for a weekend camping trip. From there she finds a skull, meets a hottie, loses a skull & gains a huge mystery. Unfortunately for the hottie, Beth is uber-suspicious of him from the start- something that puts a crimp in his secretive plans for the island.

(sigh) This book had a lot of potential but got bogged down by a shallow plot and characters. Rather than give Beth a good reason to be suspect of Keith (the hottie), Beth is irrationally suspicious of him. We're told that they're hot for each other, but it's just not believable. Then there's the background lusting of Ben & Amber, but that's practically non-existent & unbelievable.

If you want a brainless beach read then read this. If you want something with substance & written by Graham, look elsewhere. Whatever you do, I recommend checking this out from the library instead.

The Island
$12.98
When did sci-fi flicks become very slightly techie "Law & Order" episodes?

While I'm pretty sure I've been in high school detentions before that seemed harder to escape from than the facilities in this movie, I do think it's neat to be able to watch made-for-FX movies on DVD before they hit rotation because I can pause them and stuff since I don't go for the whole TIVO thing.

As for science, mostly this movie proves that you can probably get Ewan (and thus a number of "sure I'll do a movie with Ewan" actors) to act in your movie if you let him ride a hover-bike or some other really cool toy. Oh, wait, we already kinda knew that from Star Wars. Nevermind.

Island (P.S.)
$14.99
Recently I decided to read the last novels of some of my favorite Authors, which included 'Valis' by Philip K Dick, 'Pulp' by Charles Bukowski, 'Timequake' by Kurt Vonnegut, and lastly...yes very much so lastly, 'Island' by Aldous Huxley.

So one asks oneself, WHAT WENT WRONG!?

I think we can find the answer in Huxley's Essays 'The Doors of Perception' and 'Heaven & Hell', the answer being...that he completely lost his mind. I profess some people truely do expand their perceptions through the psychedelic experience (as in the case of Philip K. Dick), while others I've found become more dogmatic, idealistic, and delusioned. This to me appears what happened to Mr. Huxley. A truly sad down fall from one of the greatest Novels ever written, 'Brave New World', which I think is 3 times the novel that we are presented here with Island.

Huxley certainly was on an Island when he wrote this; an Island of Illusion.