4/5 Great Classic for Students to Watch.
  by D. Huff (Prestonsburg, KY USA)
My high school students will really enjoy this classic. We love to compare the book with the movie. These old movies are great for the classroom.

5/5 Treasure Island (Walt Disney, 1951)
  by Mary Evans (tennessee)
This is the best Treasure Island. Long John Silver is treacherously endearing. He has the best Pirate Talk and fits the part like it was made for him. There is action, and adventure.

2/5 Not nearly as good as the Charleton Heston version.
  by Elvis Zombie (Angola, Indiana USA)
In 1990 TNT produced an original movie starring Charleton Heston as Long John Silver. Young Jim was played by a very young Christain Bale. Why this movie has never been released on DVD is beyond me, because the Disney version is awful. It's corny, stupid and dated.
Honestly, the nostalgia people have for this film is the only reason it's ranked as high as it is. Do yourself a favor and hunt down TNT's Treasure Island on VHS. It's not the best format, but it is a far superior film.

3/5 Decent but Dated
  by E. David Swan (South Euclid, Ohio USA)
With Treasure Island you have to take the good with the bad. Being a Disney film from the 1950's the acting is served up with some thick slices of ham and most of the movie is clearly filmed on a sound stage. I would contrast this with the 2001 film Cast Away that was filled with stunning location shots on a remote island. The fact that it never feels like we actually leave the Disney sound stages does diminish the film for me but that is simply the way it was done back then. The centerpiece of the film is without a doubt Robert Newton as the one legged, parrot on his shoulder, Long John Silver. Newton has essentially become the template for the generic pirate and if you watch his acting now it feels hilariously clichéd. After John Silver cleverly disposed of Mr. Arrow a eulogy was held and following the prayer Silver server up an `arRRRrmen'. I couldn't help but burst out laughing but I wasn't laughing at the film but with the semi-unintentional humor. It's not Disney's fault that Netwon's portrayal made such an indelible impact on our collective psyche that his very speech pattern has become the model of a cartoon pirate. On national `Talk like a Pirate' people are essentially speaking like Robert Newton whether they know it or not.

The film itself didn't blow me away. I found it rather dated and hokey which was not unexpected when watching a Disney film that's nearly sixty years old. There was one fight between the pirates and the rest of the crew of the Hispaniola that gave me a chuckle when the filmmakers used the old chestnut of putting paint on a sword and running it down the bare chest of a pirate to give the less than convincing illusion that that man was slashed. Newton's scenery chewing acting is fun but other actors take it a bit over the top to the point of distracting. I have a feeling the young viewers will find the film a bit boring when compared to modern special effects laden films and I have to confess that even I found it a bit plodding at times. It's a fairly faithful adaptation although the ending was slightly altered. Long John Silver steals a rowboat and paddles off into the sunset which seemed kind of funny since I was always under that impression that Treasure Island was a long way away from mainland. Treasure Island is good for a viewing but for me once was nice and I don't feel the need to actually own it. I would defintely suggest getting the original Robert Lewis Stenveson classic book.

2/5 not for young kids
  by D. Allen
I bought this for my 6 year old son who loves pirates. We didn't even finish half of it because we couldn't keep up. The dialogue was way over his head (even mine part of the time). We will keep it and try again in a few years.