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Lord Of The Flies [1990]
from MGM Entertainment
starring Balthazar Getty, Chris Furrh, Danuel Pipoly, James Badge Dale, Andrew Taft
directed by Harry Hook

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

Harry Hook's adaptation is not as faithful to the William Golding novel as you'd wish (they excised the "Lord of the Flies" dialogue with Simon!) and because of it, the movie is less allegorical and less resonant. A group of young men from a military academy are stranded on an island. The group quickly becomes fractious with a passive section led by Ralph, trying to get rescued, and a hunter faction, led by Jack, trying to procure meat and "have fun." Peter Brook's 1963 filming seemed to get closer to the Darwinist sense of this cultural disintegration. Here, the hunter faction seems more like Peter Pan's Lost Boys than the bloodthirsty murderers they are. The performances, particularly young Getty, don't quite carry the weight of the situation. It's still, however, sobering to slowly watch the school uniforms traded for war paint, and the little boys turn into little savages. --Keith Simanton

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 2.0 / 5.0

• Utter Rubbish
  The other reviews say it all.Buy the orignal Peter Brook film which is faithful to the book. In fact seeing it acted out in the original film is even more chilling.
  This is a shallow travesty which you should not waste your money on.

• Buy Peter Brook's film instead
  Golding's story is entirely misrepresented. The makers of this film think it's about 'civilised' youngsters reverting to 'savagery' when left to their own devices, when really it's about the 'civilised' education and conditioning we receive which de facto brings about such behaviour in any circumstance, not just a desert island. Golding would not have made any distinction between military uniforms, ruffs and cassocks or body paint.
  The film by itself has no tension, no horror, no development, no... more info

• Lords it over many other films
  I really enjoyed the book, but I can't recall many fine details of the plot which some people argue the film doesn't abide by. However, when I first watched this film the book was still fresh in my mind. I don't think this version of the film is as bad as other people make out. I thought the child actors were some of the best I've ever seen, and they made this film as brutal and shocking as the book was. The killing scenes are particularly gripping; I remember being quite alarmed in parts, and I'm not... more info

• Another viewer
  I too am an English (Brit. Lit.) teacher. I agree with those who are disappointed by this adaptation of Golding's Lord of the Flies. The only reason I will be showing this version to my students is for the purposes of a Venn diagram (compare/contrast). The differences/inaccuracies are so innumerable, it will be blatantly obviously which students only viewed the film rather than reading the assigned literature.

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