Island of the Blue Dolphins
Based on the beloved book by Scott O'Dell, this family movie tells the adventures of a young Native American girl. After her father is killed by a malevolent white trapper, Karana joins her community as they leave their island home in the Pacific to live on the mainland. Upon her departure, Karana realizes that her brother has been left behind. She immediately swims back to be with him and the two remain on the abandoned island. Though Karana is able to domesticate a wolf, her brother is not so fortunate with the animals and is killed by a pack of wild dogs. She is left to survive against the odds.
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- Cast:
- Celia Milius , Larry Domasin , Carlos Romero , George Kennedy , Julie Payne , Martín Garralaga
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Reviews
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
A Masterpiece!
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
I saw this film once when I was in 6th grade (over 3 years ago) as part of a class project. We were reading the book so my teacher brought this in to watch. Even though it's been 3 years since I've seen it I'm ready to go back and review it. The story is of a young Native American Girl who was abandoned by her tribe (accidently) and left on her island. She befriend wolves and other wildlife as she makes her solitary life on the island for over 18 years until she was discovered. The film and book are both based on the real story of Juana Maria. The film's acting is decent and the story id great so I can recommend it. It's hard to find on DVD but it should still be available somewhere.
I liked the movie well enough, considering it came from 1964. I felt that they didn't depict the passage of time very accurately and I was surprised when all of a sudden, the movie was over. I know that books and movies are usually very different, but I think this movie could have been a far better representation of the book. Add some more details, don't change some of the details from the book. But hey, I'm not the director or in charge of the budget. That is the other thing to consider, budget. They didn't have big budgets back then and this was what they got for their budget. All in all, I enjoyed the movie well enough. I would enjoy seeing a remake with some better details, more representative of the book. Still an OK movie though.
I Remember watching this when I was very young in the Philippines. It would be shown for weeks at a time.I just learned the tragic true story recently. She was the last of her tribe. Every one of her tribe died when the ship she missed sank. Karana's fate was just as sad. Seven weeks after she was rescued she died from illness, contracted from the White men.
We rented this video because my 10 yr old son read the book and loved the story. The only redeeming part of the movie was watching 23 year old Celia Kaye (playing a 15 year old who doesn't age or wear out her clothes over the course of 5 years) in her fake-Indian leather outfit with the slit skirt. Hubba hubba. Wooden acting, stupid ending. The kids liked it. I liked Celia's skirt.