Lord of the Flies

Drew Carrey gets destroyed at the end.

'Where the Wild Things Are' meets the real world. Manages to capture how childhood magic turns eerily sinister, when no longer shielded from a reality it isn't equipped to comprehend - Piggy's final attempt at reasoning hitting the nail on the head. A malaria struck pilot descenting into helpless madness in front of the children is also deliciously cruel. Sadly Golding's source novel isn't squeezed dry of allegorical content, as Hook doesn't care beyond showcasing just how fucking evil kids are.

Passable but limp and uninspired adaptation doesn’t have a moment of genuine dramatic progression in it – the film treads a grim, predictable path, (even if you’re unfamiliar with the story), while never making the motivations of its characters clear or particularly interesting – flagrantly a polemic, but the on-the-nose dialogue and top heavy symbolism makes it tough going. Helped by a fine kiddie cast (Pipoly captures Piggy’s obnoxious tendencies and pitiable end sort of brilliantly).

Not that much worse than the old version. Technically ok, but the acting is bad and the dialogue is not too great either.

Not bad adaption of the famous book.

If this is the one with the ear piercing American accents, then I'm being generous. Book deserves better than this - not much better, but certainly better.

This film changes the setting a little bit from the book. Referencing Alf doesn't make the film better. There's just something that makes this film suck and I don't know specifically what it is. On the plus side, the music is pretty alright.

The book deserves a way better adaptation than this one. Everything here (acting, direction, costumes, musics, dialogues) screams "I'm a low budget movie, I tried my best but I still suck"

The best rendition of the book. Creepy and not for children.

10 points for Piggy resembling a young Drew Carey.

A crazy documentary of what would definitely happen in real life.

I was a middle-school teacher, now I'm a banker. I can honestly say that adults are much much worse. Maybe that was the magical symbolism or something but who cares.

the book was better.

Peter Brook handles the drama much better, obviously, but this movie's mise en scene is so well done, unlike the other version which can barely frame its subjects properly.

Good one. By the book. Morbid and obscene.

This is relatively sinister and unsettling in tone I guess, though if you know the story (the rough plot anyway) then you'll know what to expect. There is violence, though it takes a while for it to kick in and when it does, it does have a shocking feel to it. The pace is a little slow but its a shortish film and I cant really complain - I mean, such things, the breakdown of a supposed hashed together mini society or tribe doesn't happen in a short space of time.

Ksiazki nie dalem rady przeczytac (tylko kilka stron), ale... za to film obejrzany. Wrazenia? Zdecydowanie ciekawy, nie dziwie sie, ze ksiazka zostala zakazana na Florydzie i w Nowym Yorku, bo porusza chocby symbol grupowego myslenia. Polecam!

Dark and reasonably true to the spirit of the book.

hey check it out its balthazar getty

Manipulative and self-indulgent to the bones, stay away.

Nice atmosphere on this Jamaican island, but the direction is third-rate, the profanity unnecessary, and the script makes many changes--both little and big--to the story, and almost all of them are ill-advised.

This translation to American took too many liberties, the '63 version is a bit better.

Liked it in high school. I cried when Piggy died.

Completely misses the point of the book and is a bad exercise in violence.

Kill the pig, I suppose.

Really boring. A lot of intense stuff happens but none of it feels urgent - nor does the film itself feel necessary. The acting is passable but the dialogue doesn't really help - nor does the violence. It's shot without a sense of horror or despair. It's a paint-by-numbers adaptation - all the big scenes are there but none of them jump to life in the way they should. What's the fucking point?

Surprisingly good modern-day version of this story

Despite the gore, it was okay.

Pretty crappy version of an awful book.

It's a bad adaptation that includes "what" the plot is about, but misses "how" the philosophical elements elevate it. In addition to being an adventure story, the book grapples with post-War British problems. Keeping that sense (even with making the kids American) would've involved more than simple comments on Rambo & the Russians. As a film it looks okay, but the script is full of bad characterization, silly transitions, and weiner kid moments. Although Getty is a fantastic actor. Avoid.

I doubt there will ever be a good Lord of the Flies movie adaptation, but this wasn't terrible. By which I mean... it could have been a lot worse.

They did their best.

The acting isn't strong and the direction doesn't help capture the psychological side of the characters' actions. The movie is okay, but not good.

62.500

This book really deserves a better adaptation

I must be suffering from amnesia! Ok, it was a long time ago when I study LotF for school, but I dont recall the kids being American and the script mentioning any anti-russian propaganda, and I did think that it was an allegorical novel with a little more than "descending into savagery" as its theme. This film was totally unnecessary, but in this day and age where people seem to laud action above thought, not surprising. If I wanted to see kids re-enact the naked prey/apocalypto I wouldn't have.

A pedo's dream come true.

Great update.

Almost as bad as the book... I s'pose the only reason this gets a little more acclaim is because of Piggy's murder makes me laugh so very hard.

The original is still superior, but this isn't too bad

Great film but in my opinion not as good as the book or the original film.

Based on a book I have never read, but have heard much about. Although it proposes that the boys have "regressed" to a primitive state, I really see little difference between the "society" that the boys create and our modern "civilization". The strength in this film lies in the boys' performances; very strong, and without which the material would fall flat.

Doesn't entirely work.

I've never read the book, and I never knew there was a movie that came out about 30 years prior to this one. That said, I saw this movie when I was 12 or so, and it was one of the coolest things ever to me.

See, the fog monster is "the beast", Locke is Simon and the Others are the asshole kids who decide to kill everyone. Hurley gets squished by a rock.

For being a film released in 1990 it has the quality of a film from the 70s in production, look, and sound quality. This is one of those cases you should stick with the book unless you are teaching a class and must show this film.

58.250

Neither of the movies do the book any justice, really. On their own, they're just okay.

We had to watch this in my Religion class in high school. Piggie always reminded me of Drew Carey.

Unintentionally funny