The Island (2005)

When you add up all the best things about The Island, you might just conclude that there's hope yet for Hollywood's most critically reviled hit-maker, Michael Bay. Recruited by Steven Spielberg to direct this lavish and often breathtaking sci-fi action thriller, Bay rises to the occasion with an ambitious production that is, by his standards (and compared to Bay's earlier hits like The Rock and Armageddon), surprisingly intelligent as it explores the repercussions of cloning in a sealed-off society where humans are cultivated for spare parts, surrogate parenthood, and full-body replacements for wealthy clientele. But when two of the clones (Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johanssen) begin to question their fate and the motives of their keepers, they escape into the real world and The Island becomes just another Michael Bay action extravaganza, albeit an impressively exciting one. With elaborate chase scenes and a high-tech feast of CGI to dazzle the eye, The Island recycles much of the plot from 1979's Clonus while borrowing elements from Logan's Run, Gattaca and Minority Report, and while it's not as smartly conceived as those earlier films, there's no denying that, in many ways, it's Bay's best film to date. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Compelling premise...makes you think but also an exciting flick to enjoy!

Wow! I was absolutely blown away by this movie and had to watch it again in order to really understand everything that went on in it. It is definitely a classic Michael Bay directed film with all the action - and not too over the top as in the Transformers (even though that was good too!). McGregor and Johansson played their naive roles excellently and over the course of the film developed the necessary common sense to survive (but enough of that...don't want to give too much away). I consider this a classic film that will be discussed in film schools into the future, primarily as a thought in regards to "life insurance policies." A worthy film for all to watch at least twice in order to fully understand it all. August 18, 2008

The best 'underrated' movie of the summer

I thought this was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time!! Totally action packed.
My only question is...
Does anyone know if there was a book written?
Comments welcome! July 28, 2008

Yuck...

Horrible. Good premise, bad movie. It had so much potential, but lost itself in the washed-up "old school wannabe" sci-fi theme. Watching this movie is painful. Any fan of sci-fi will wind up telling themselves that they've seen this before, and much better done. A disappointment. May 10, 2008

Fantastic Action

Freaking excellent. One of the better movies I've ever seen. I would recommend it to anyone. March 28, 2008

The Island is a good movie to a certain audience.

The Island, like most Hollywood films is geared towards a specific audience. If your a film buff who is heavily into period pieces and the bueaty of shot composition than this film may not be for you. However, if your a person like me who enjoys seeing massive destruction performed to it's grandest scale or a person who is into utopian worlds and the dangerous prospects they present as unfolded in such great literary works as Brave New World and 1984, or if you think that Scarlett Johansson is simply too cute for words, than this movie is perfect for you and not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Lincoln Echo Six played by Ewan Mcgregor discovers that he along with the other inhabantants of the undergrond society are all clones who are being kept alive because thier human counterparts will eventually need to harvest thier body parts. The big brother esque figure and his bosses have devised something known as the lottery for a trip to the "Island" which unknown to the clones is really a mask for thier empending death. Lincoln becomes particularly alarmed when his friend Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johanssen)wins the lottery and escapes with her into modern day Los Angeles.

Adding to the intrigue of this movie is the fact that the clones have been programmed not to feel love or sexual emotions beyond friendship, so throughout the movie, there's this cloud of profound chemistry over our two main characters who are being chased by the police and a higly trained and motovated team dedicated to destoying Lincoln and Jordan. Can they escape...only time will tell. March 21, 2008

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