After being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that its inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange-looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor... Read allAfter being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that its inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange-looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor.After being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that its inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange-looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 10 nominations
Miguel López
- Waggdi
- (as Miguel Lopez)
- Directors
- John Frankenheimer
- Richard Stanley(uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to rumor, after the studio fired original director Richard Stanley, he convinced the makeup crew to turn him into one of the background mutants, so he could keep tabs on the making of his dream project. He supposedly did not unmask himself until the wrap party.
- GoofsSurely after learning that a beast person had removed his implant, Montgomery would have informed Moreau, in which case security measures at the compound would have been tightened. At the very least, Moreau would have known not to rely solely on his remote for protection.
- Quotes
Edward Douglas: Are you a doctor?
Montgomery: Well, I'm more of a vet.
- Alternate versionsThe director's cut contains 4 extra minutes of footage including an expanded intro in the Java sea, a more gruesome end for 'The Father', and other small enhancements
- SoundtracksNight Bird
Written by Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez
Performed by Deep Forest
Courtesy of 550 Music/Epic
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
Featured review
Fascinating mess of a movie
David Thewlis, looking like he's wandered in from another film, is totally miscast in this much-troubled version of the HG Wells classic.
After being rescued by toothy vet Val Kilmer and taken to the eponymous location, our Mancunian UN hero comes across cat girl Fairuza Balk and the balloon-like doc (Marlon Brando), all pasty-faced and with an Ealing comedy accent.
Marlon hasn't just been doing beached whale impressions on this exotic isle. You see, mad old Moreau has been messing around with gene-splicing and has created a race of humanoid beasts - courtesy of effects whiz Stan Winston.
He controls them with electric shock implants and is so taken with his work, has little other defence when the beasts inevitably start running wild. In essence, it all goes a bit Jurassic Park.
There are a few good points in this mish mash. A stunning opening titles scene - very necessary considering the lack of any adventure for the first 10 minutes; Thewlis' extraordinary presence; and an okay finale. In fact, any scenes without Brando and Kilmer are quite fascinating. This is partly down to the Richard Stanley screenplay which boasts some flashes of brilliance amid much re-worked studio editing and re-jigging.
This is one of those films where the making of the movie is perhaps more intriguing than the final product. Stanley, the film's original director, was fired and banned from the set. He actually went back, dressed up as a dog man extra, and watched the rest of the production unfold. Had he been allowed to finish his directing chores and had final cut, the result would probably have been a thousand times better.
However, John Frankenheimer does a fair job under the circumstances.
After being rescued by toothy vet Val Kilmer and taken to the eponymous location, our Mancunian UN hero comes across cat girl Fairuza Balk and the balloon-like doc (Marlon Brando), all pasty-faced and with an Ealing comedy accent.
Marlon hasn't just been doing beached whale impressions on this exotic isle. You see, mad old Moreau has been messing around with gene-splicing and has created a race of humanoid beasts - courtesy of effects whiz Stan Winston.
He controls them with electric shock implants and is so taken with his work, has little other defence when the beasts inevitably start running wild. In essence, it all goes a bit Jurassic Park.
There are a few good points in this mish mash. A stunning opening titles scene - very necessary considering the lack of any adventure for the first 10 minutes; Thewlis' extraordinary presence; and an okay finale. In fact, any scenes without Brando and Kilmer are quite fascinating. This is partly down to the Richard Stanley screenplay which boasts some flashes of brilliance amid much re-worked studio editing and re-jigging.
This is one of those films where the making of the movie is perhaps more intriguing than the final product. Stanley, the film's original director, was fired and banned from the set. He actually went back, dressed up as a dog man extra, and watched the rest of the production unfold. Had he been allowed to finish his directing chores and had final cut, the result would probably have been a thousand times better.
However, John Frankenheimer does a fair job under the circumstances.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $27,663,982
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,101,987
- Aug 25, 1996
- Gross worldwide
- $49,627,779
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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