Treasure Island (1934)

The original, you either like it or you don't. I liked it. It's great for young people to watch as there's no sex, romance, violence, bad language, cigarette smoking, or scary scenes of intense drama. You can understand the dialog (partly based on great dramatic acting of the stars of the day, and the (compared to now) primitive technology that required speaking loudly and clearly for the recording devices. It's barely 7 years after the first "talking picture" and it's amazing to see how quickly the quality progressed and the acting progressed (still a little stilted compared to modern films but not bad.) It's a good opportunity to discuss films and film history with kids as well. Got this to watch with my 6 year old grandson, after reading the book to him, and he was very exciting to watch it.

This is the best and most faithful version of the movie from the book. Loved it!

Great story and the absolute best version of this wonderful adventure story. Great actors as well.

This has to be one of my all-time favorite films. I've been watching an old VHS version for the past 20 years that I taped off TV, but it finally wore out.This is an excellent transfer of this fine film. Very sharp, wonderful tonality, and with very little dust or dirt.... very nice indeed. The audio is crisp and clear as well. I will say that in some of the darker scenes the grain does show a bit, but that's such a minor thing... truly, I'm amazed at how good this old film looks.Maybe it's because I feel like a kid again when I watch this film, but it has everything I could would want for a Saturday afternoon film.... adventure, one legged pirates, and buried treasure on a far-away island....... wow!I do understand and sympathize with some of the folks here who felt this wasn't true to the book, but I've always felt a good movie should be able to stand on it's own, and this one does that just fine. The pacing is fairly quick for an older film, with no dead or slow spots, and the many fine actors do a great job of developing and portraying their characters.As far as Jackie Cooper's acting goes...... well, for me that is one of the highlights of the film, so it just goes to show that sometimes it's merely a matter of taste.If you are a fan of well done older films, then I can highly recommend this as one of the best. Good clean fun for the whole family!

I know there have been so many adaptations of Stevenson's classic novel and read that this one holds up as one of the closest to the novel. While the film is trimmed down a little in terms of specific scenes and some of the more violent aspects of the novel, it was still a very good rendition of this classic. I think that Jackie Cooper makes a fabulous Jim Hawkins and he is perfect for this role. I loved the scenery, the complete ambience and atmosphere as well. If there was one thing that bugged me, it was the ending which completely is altered from the novel and dripping with sentimentality. Overall, though, good film.

The exceptionally talented cast as makes this movie just as good as the original book. It brings the excellent book/history to life.

I remembered watching this version numerous times as a kid. Sunday afternoon's long before we all had cable certain stations would run old movies for the family. AND considering color tv was also not available at this time [yes, there was a time back in the 50s when no one had cable or color tv]so, black & white was black & white. Jackie Cooper & Wallace Berry are a perfect match as Jim Hawkins & Long John Silver. This version runs pretty much with Stevenson's novel, including the pirate song "Fifteen men on a dead man's chest." Also appearing in the film is acting legend John Barrymore as pirate Billy Bones;[this would be Drew Barrymore's grandfather]Nigel Bruce as Squire Trelawny [better know for his role as Dr Watson opposite Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes]You have to first realize the era in which this film was mad; that means no special effects, no color. I would also suggest you read the novel first to really appreciate the film. Now film-makers use what they call "artistic license" which means they follow loosly the original story-line, tweaking where necessary. No so with a film made in the 30s. This is an enjoyable family film where you do not have to worry about questionable language or too much exaggerated violence. Just remember this film was made back in the 1930s, and keep that in mind when viewing, and you won't be disappointed.

This is more of a museum piece than a movie worth watching. You combine Coogan's bad acting with Wallace Beery stumbling and mumbling and it is awful. The scenes are blurry. Yet, they were very popular in their day. You can pull it apart and study movie history just don't expect to get engrossed in the story.