Main Cast: Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin, Patrick Malahide
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 123 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Geena Davis stars in this adventure saga as the most swashbuckling female pirate to ever lay waste to the seven seas. Morgan Adams (Davis) is the daughter of a pirate who has followed in her father's footsteps. When he dies, he passes along his ship, a crew of bandits, and one third of a treasure map (which happens to be tattooed on his skull). Morgan is eager to search out the rest of the map and retrieve the riches, but the fragment she holds is in Latin. Morgan then buys a well-educated slave, William Shaw (Matthew Modine), who can read the ancient language and already has a taste for the criminal life. However, Morgan and William are not long into their search when they discover that someone else is following the same trail for the rest of the treasure map: Dawg Brown (Frank Langella), Morgan's uncle and as black-hearted a scurvy dog as ever boarded a ship. As Morgan and Dawg battle each other over the fragments of the map, a British journalist (Maury Chaykin) covers their feud for the penny press. William Shaw was originally to have been played by Michael Douglas, who dropped out in the early stages of this troubled production. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Stan Shaw - Glasspoole; Christopher Adamson - Dawg's Pirate; Ken Bones - Toussant; Roger Booth - Auctioneer; Carl Chase - Bishop; Paul Dillon - Snelgrave; Peter Geeves - Fiddler Pirate; Rex Linn - Mr. Blair; Christopher Kennedy Masterson - Bowen; George Murcell - Mordachai Fingers; Mary Peach - Lady; Jimmie F. Skaggs - Scully; Tam White - Fleming; Harris Yulin - Black Harry; Dickey Beer - Executioner; Rupert Vansittart - Captain Perkins; Chris Johnston - Helmsman; Thomas Lockyer - Lieutenant
Credit
Roger Cain - Art Director, Keith Pain - Art Director, Jane Bartelme - Associate Producer, Mindy Marin - Casting, John Baldecchi - Co-producer, Lynwood Spinks - Co-producer, Enrico Sabbatini - Costume Designer, Kuki Lopez Rodero - First Assistant Director, Renny Harlin - Director, Frank J. Urioste - Editor, Ralph Winters - Editor, Norman Garwood - Executive Producer, Mario Kassar - Executive Producer, John Debney - Composer (Music Score), Kathryn Bihr - Makeup, Paul Engelen - Makeup, Julia Wilson - Makeup, Norman Garwood - Production Designer, Peter Levy - Cinematographer, Renny Harlin - Producer, Laurence Mark - Producer, Joel B. Michaels - Producer, James Gorman - Producer, Maggie Gray - Set Designer, Jeffrey A. Okun - Special Effects, Ivan Sharrock - Sound/Sound Designer, Vic Armstrong - Stunts, Dickey Beer - Stunts, Jordi Casares - Stunts, Ray Gideon - Screenwriter, Bruce A. Evans - Screenwriter, Marc Norman - Screenwriter, Michael Frost Beckner - Screenwriter, Robert King - Screenwriter, James Gorman - Screenwriter
Female pirate Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) and her learned slave, William Shaw (Matthew Modine), are on a quest to recover the three portions of a treasure map. The treasure is hidden on the mysterious Cutthroat Island. Unfortunately, the final portion is held by her villainous uncle, Douglas ('Dawg') Brown (Frank Langella). Her crew is skeptical of her leadership abilities, so she must complete her quest before they mutiny against her. This is made more difficult by the efforts of the Royal Navy from Jamaica under the command of the self-serving Governor Ainslee (Patrick Malahide) to end her piratical career. On her ship, Morning Star, Morgan starts the voyage to Cutthroat Island.
Production
Michael Douglas was offered $15 million to play the lead role. When he withdrew, the same offer was made to Keanu Reeves (who was busy playing Hamlet in Canada) and Tom Cruise. When Daniel Day-Lewis turned the role down, the script was rewritten to make Davis' part bigger and the producers set their casting sights lower. Jeff Bridges, Michael Keaton, Charlie Sheen, Liam Neeson and Tim Robbins all turned down $7 million to take the part before Renny Harlin and Carolco Pictures finally agreed on Matthew Modine to star opposite Davis for around $4 million. During one of the major fights of the film, the character played by Matthew Modine is struck in the head with a barrel, an accident that was left in the film. Modine stated he "had stitches for weeks after that endeavor."
The role of Dawg Brown was originally offered to Oliver Reed.
According to an interview with Empire Magazine, Davis and Harlin were both huge fans of V8 juice. When filming wrapped, the crew discovered a truck full of unopened cartons of V8 juice. Modine saw this as indicative of the wasteful excesses of the production.[citation needed]
Cutthroat Island had a total cost of $115 million and the total U.S. gross was approximately $10 million[2]. It was a contributing factor to the demise of the movie's production company, Carolco Pictures, and of Davis as a bankable star.
Ironically, the film's swashbuckling music by John Debney has been critically acclaimed, positively compared to the works of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Overall, it has also been hailed as one of the best scores in motion picture history.[3][4][5][6]
United Kingdom release
The British release of the film was originally rated 15 (no patron under the age of 15). Distributors decided to target a family audience and so over a minute of film was cut to get a PG certificate.[7]
MPAA Rating
Cutthroat Island was rated PG-13 by MPAA for some strong pirate action/violence and brief sensuality.
