Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

mattsimdb This movie is great. It is done with a very detailed eye toward realism. I really like how everything in this story could have actually happened, but it still really gets your attention. Forget about the Disney version, this is far superior. Acting is great, dialog is great, scenery is amazing, and story is of course excellent. I liked how I could show this to my kids and expose them to a real adventure story, plus a story that shows family loyalty and genuine regard for ethics and values. Oh, and guess what, pirates are actually bad guys, imagine that. I felt like I had really stepped into the 1800's. What more could you ask for in an adventure.

tunanoonion This movie is awesome. Why have I only stumbled across it now? Was there no publicity back in 2002? So much better than the normal Hallmark product, which can be over sentimental and fanciful. It's an intelligent re-make of the Swiss Family Robinson's survival story, cleverly avoiding the clunky plot points of the 1960's John Mills film. Shot in Thailand (I think ) the film looks stunning. Beautiful sets, fabulous cast (including a young Jessie Spencer aka Robert Chase in House MD.) There's a reality about their evolution on the island and the magical encounter with a native fisherman. One of their sons Jacob is separated from them during the shipwreck and is adopted by Pirates. This cleverly provides the emotional drive the story needs to get to it's climax. Exciting, moving, rewarding, with excellent direction from Charles Beeson.....just great!

whpratt1 This is truly a great entertaining film from the very beginning of the picture to the very end. A man named Robinson is arrested and sentenced to prison, however, his wife wants to be with her husband and willing to take all her children on a sea voyage aboard a prisoner ship with other convicts. There is a large storm that develops out at sea and most of the crew vanish and cause the family to be split apart from each other. The story turns into a sort of Robinson Family story from the past, except there is more adventure with the children along and all starting to grow up and becoming detached from Mom and Pop. This is a great family picture with even pirates and men hungry for gold.

Cipher-J in which a family gets marooned on an island in paradise. The period is roughly 18th or 19th century, and dad gets convicted as a felon by the English court because, being a parson and a religious fanatic, he refuses to swear allegiance to the crown. As punishment, he is to be shipped off to a penal colony south of the equator, and his wife petitions the court to let her and the kids come along. A big storm wrecks the ship and the family ends up on an island, except for one of the sons, who ends up being raised by pirates. How the family survives, and eventually becomes reunited becomes the substance of the story, but there are problems. It's very slow moving. The lighting is unnecessarily poor in many critical scenes, as though striving for "realism," but mostly it's just rather annoying. Nor are the characters all that appealing. Attempts to introduce a few romantic moments mostly fall flat, and in the end, we are actually left to feel sorry for the bad guy!