The Island (2005 film)

The Island
Promotional poster
Directed by	Michael Bay
Produced by	Kenny Bates Michael Bay
Written by	Caspian Tredwell-Owen Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci
Starring	Ewan McGregor Scarlett Johansson Sean Bean Brian Stepanek Djimon Hounsou Steve Buscemi Michael Clarke Duncan
Music by	Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography	Mauro Fiore
Editing by	Paul Rubell Christian Wagner
Distributed by	DreamWorks Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	July 20, 2005 (2005-07-20) United States July 22, 2005 (2005-07-22)
Running time	127 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$126 million
Gross revenue	$172,949,164

The Island is a 2005 science-fiction action film directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was released on July 11, 2005 in the US. It was nominated for 3 awards including the Teen Choice award.

It is described as a pastiche of "escape-from-dystopia" science fiction films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Fahrenheit 451, THX 1138, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and Logan's Run. Set in 2019, the movie's plot revolves around the struggle of Ewan McGregor's character to fit into the highly structured world he lives in, and the series of events that unfolds when he questions exactly how truthful that world really is.

The film, which cost $126 million to produce, earned only $46 million at the United States box office, but earned $127 million overseas, for a $172 million worldwide total.

Plot

Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) lives in an isolated compound which strictly regulates its inhabitants' lives. Residents hope to win a lottery to go to "the Island", the only place on Earth not contaminated by a deadly pathogen. Lincoln tells Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean) of his discontent with the plain white clothes everyone is given and the strict social controls. Concerned about strange dreams Lincoln experiences about a white speedboat and other unfamiliar items, Merrick inserts probes into Lincoln's body to monitor his cerebral activities.

While illicitly visiting a construction site Lincoln discovers a moth in a ventilation shaft, leading him to deduce that the outside is not contaminated. He escapes the compound via the construction site and witnesses two lottery winners being killed, one after giving birth and the other in the process of having his liver harvested. As Lincoln rescues Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), a friend who has just won the lottery, Merrick discovers that Lincoln knows the truth.

Lincoln and Jordan learn that both the deadly pathogen and the Island are myths, and that they are clones of wealthy sponsors who intend to use them for spare parts. Merrick's technology allows clones to be incubated into adulthood. He tells sponsors and the government that the clones do not gain consciousness, but when Merrick hires African mercenary Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou) to kill or capture the escapees, he confides that the organs of unconscious clones inevitably fail, making them useless; thus the compound.

The two clones escape to Los Angeles in hopes of finding their sponsors, surviving several attacks from Laurent's mercenaries. Jordan Two's sponsor, famous model Sarah Jordan, cannot help as she is in a coma following a car accident. Lincoln Six's sponsor, Tom Lincoln—the owner of the speedboat in Lincoln's dreams—agrees to help expose the truth about the organ harvesting, but secretly turns against his clone. Lincoln Six tricks Laurent into killing Tom and assumes Tom's identity. Lincoln and Jordan's feelings for each other change from friendship to a sexual relationship as they plan to liberate their fellow clones.

Posing as Tom, Lincoln Six returns to the compound in order to destroy the holographic projectors that hide the outside world from its residents. With help from Laurent—who has moral qualms with treating the clones as if they are not human—and Jordan, Merrick is killed and the clones are saved. The film ends with Lincoln and Jordan together on the deck of the speedboat.

Cast

Lawsuit

A copyright infringement lawsuit was brought against Dreamworks by the makers of Parts: The Clonus Horror, a 1976 film about clones escaping from a facility where they were being bred and harvested for their bodyparts. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.^[1][2][3] On August 25, 2006, the court presiding over this case ruled that it could proceed to trial.

According to a 2007 interview with Clonus screenwriter Bob Sullivan, DreamWorks and Clonus' Associates settled out of court for an undisclosed amount to be divided among the nine partners of Clonus Associates.^[4]

Controversy

The controversy surrounding the lawsuit opened the floodgates to more criticism and accusations. Michael Marshall Smith's 1996 novel, Spares, in which the hero liberates intelligent clones from a "spare farm", whose clients are told they are not conscious, was optioned by DreamWorks in the late 1990s but was never made. It remains unclear if the story inspired The Island, and so Marshall Smith did not consider it worthwhile^[5] to pursue legal action over the similarities. Paramount (once sister studio to DreamWorks after its parent Viacom purchased DreamWorks in late 2005, then spinning it off again in 2008) was in talks to option the novel after DreamWorks' rights expired, but declined after The Island was released. Marshall Smith considers it unlikely a Spares film will ever be made.^[6]

Tessa Dick, former wife of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, accused the filmmakers of plagiarizing his 1964 novel The Penultimate Truth, as well as several other works of fiction. She writes, "I'm watching this film, and I realize that everything in it is derivative of someone else's work. ... The basic premise is outright stolen from ... The Penultimate Truth. Everybody lives in an underground shelter because, they are told, the Earth is contaminated. This lie keeps them inside their underground shelter/prison. ... They do throw in some action scenes from Blade Runner, which rips off Ridley Scott more than it does Phil. [Blade Runner is based on Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]."^[7]

A second film version of Logan's Run was also in the works when The Island was released. It is possible due to the similarity of both plot and story, that the release and domestic box-office reception of The Island caused the production of Logan's Run to be abandoned in favor of the 2008 film Speed Racer. Though the similarities between the two films are striking, the author of Logan's Run has not so far commented on The Island's concept.

Product placement

Reviewers have also objected to the prominent use of product placement in the film, despite the fact that the characters themselves are products and the property of the Merrick Corporation, which the film clearly denounces. Cisco Systems, MSN Search, Calvin Klein, Xbox, Puma, Reebok, Miller Light, NBC, NFL, Budweiser, Michelob, Apple, Aquafina, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Mack, Coca-Cola, Speedo, TAG Heuer, Amtrak, Ben & Jerry's, and Nokia are some of the sponsors of the film.^[8] In an Entertainment Weekly cover story, Bay stated that the extensive product placement was the result of trying to offset production costs - "Bay called on friends at major corporations — outfits like Budweiser, General Motors, and Microsoft — and offered product placement in exchange for cash. 'We made about $850,000 on that,' he says. 'And we needed that money to get this movie made.'"^[9] Bay began his directorial career in commercials and music videos, which is why these relationships were already in place.

Behind the scenes

The computer in Merrick's office at the Institute, which features a large, tabletop touchscreen display capable of detecting several forms of input, was rumored to be a conceptual Microsoft Surface. The design was actually proposed by a technology adviser at MIT, who aimed for producing a believable vision of futuristic technology.^[10]

The city parts of the movie were filmed in Detroit, Michigan.

The boat featured at the end of the film is the 118 WallyPower, built by Monte Carlo-based Wally Yachts.

The car that Tom Lincoln owns is a 2002 concept car, the Cadillac Cien.

The Calvin Klein advertising Jordan sees in the street, in which she recognizes her sponsor Sarah Jordan, is the actual advertising for the Eternity Moment fragrance by Calvin Klein, in which Johansson starred in real life.

Reaction

Box office performance

Domestically, The Island was considered a box office bomb; it only made $46 million in the United States from a budget of $126 million. However, the film did significantly better worldwide, where it made a total of $172,949,164.

Critical reception

The Island received generally mixed reviews from critics. It has a 41 percent "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and a 50 out of 100 from Metacritic.

Notes

References

• Breznican, Anthony (March 18, 2005). "Car-wreck 'Island' keeps director smash-happy". USA Today, p. E1.
• Fierman, Daniel (July 22, 2005). "Attack of the Clones". Entertainment Weekly, issue #830. Retrieved from http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,,00.html on June 19, 2006.

External links

• Interview with the creators of Parts: the Clonus Horror about their lawsuit alleging copyright infringement
• Official website
• The Island at the Internet Movie Database
• The Island at Box Office Mojo
• The Island at Allmovie
• The Island at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Island at Metacritic