Treasure Island in Outer Space (1987)
Treasure Island In Outer Space is a curious Italian television production from 1987 starring Anthony Quinn and Ernest Borgnine. It also features numerous international actors better known for their work in cult and exploitation films, such as Bobby Rhodes, David Warbeck and John Morghan. Directed by Antonio Margheriti (AKA Anthony Dawson), famous for such films as Killer Fish (a cash in on Piranha) and The Last Hunter (a Vietnam exploitation epic), Treasure Island In Outer Space is a faithful adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel. The screenplay by Renato Castellani and Lucio De Caro draws heavily from the source text, maintaining character names and original dialogue. However in updating the material to a futuristic setting, the script is littered with the worst kind of eighties sci-fi clichés. We are subjected to sonic trains, anti-gravity rays and the usual buzzword driven faux science.
As in most of Antonio Margheriti’s films, there are a lot of traditional visual effects. The miniatures are efficiently realised, given the budgetary restrictions, by the late Emilio Ruiz del Rio (Pan’s Labyrinth, Dune, Conan The Barbarian). There are also some solid matte paintings, in-camera visual effects and simple composite shots. However, not all the visual effects are up to the standards of the time. The most obvious explanations for this are possibly the budget running out of the strictures of the shooting schedule. The quality of the set designs are also variable. Some are again somewhat obvious, leaning into standard tropes of the decade. Hence we see random arrays of flashing lights and banks of switches and dials that serve no particular purpose. Others, such as the bone graveyard at the film’s climax, are quite striking visually and have clearly been given some thought.
The lead performances from both Quinn and Borgnine are acceptable, delivering measured interpretations of their characters. Both avoid the standard cliched tropes associated with the depiction of pirates on film. Quinn attempts a more paternalistic approach to the character of Long John Silver. Itaco Nardulli is a somewhat generic Jim Hawkins. Like most Italian productions, the actors speak their lines in their native language while filming and are dubbed accordingly in post production. The main cast have subsequently re-recorded their own dialogue but some of the Italian cast have been dubbed in a somewhat incongruous fashion. Treasure Island In Outer Space features a traditional musical score by composer Gianfranco Plenizio, avoiding the usual synthesizer based approach to the science fiction genre, which was common at the time.
What makes Treasure Island In Outer Space a somewhat frustrating experience to watch is the ways that some aspects of the production have been given attention and others have been handled poorly. The cinematography by Sandro Messina is quite creative by television standards, with some scenes being shot from low angles or behind objects. Sadly the action scenes and fight choreography is somewhat theatrical and lacks any sense of momentum or kinetic energy. At seven episodes, each with a running time of 50 minutes, the English language version of Treasure Island In Outer Space is a somewhat lengthy adaptation. Perhaps a little too long. These deficiencies highlight the fact that this show is very much a product of its time and as such should be judged accordingly. There are better adaptations of Treasure Island and there are worse. For those who are curious, Treasure Island in Outer Space can be found on YouTube.
NB. Treasure Island in Outer Space was shown in 5 episodes, each running 75 minutes on Italian television in 1987. There are no major differences between this and the English language version which ran for 7 episodes of 50 minutes. However, there was also a theatrical version of the show, which was common practice at the time. This has a running time of 150 minutes and was released under the title Space Island.
