Now, some 25 years later, I found myself purchasing this movie on DVD anyway, for two reasons: To enjoy sweet memories of youth when TV humor was simply good fun and didn't even pretend to be anything more, and because it only cost $5.99. I also remember my profound disappointment when I finally saw the show: it wasn't particularly funny. At the end of it, they're shipwrecked again on the same island, which in one way doesn't make sense because didn't the island get washed away in the storm? But hey, it's like the series, silly to the end.Īs a youngster and lifelong fan of Gilligan's Island, I still recall my excitement when I first learned that Rescue From Gilligan's Island was going to be shown on television. The movie lacks in a few places, but it's overall a great movie, and is very much like the series, silly but classic. Although Tina Louise is absent, Judith Baldwin's performance is a fair one, convincing enough, although she does look younger than everyone else. It's a great story-line, much better of any TV reunion movie. Also, the Professor has become a celebrity, instead of the scientist he wanted. Gilligan and the Skipper have to prove that it wasn't the Skipper's fault for the shipwreck, Ginger will not do a nude scene, Mary Anne doesn't love her fiance of 15 years, and the Howells' are being taken for their money. Each person returns to pick up his/her life, but things aren't going very well. Thus, the castaways build a boat by joining all three huts together (why they didn't think of that before, we'll never know), and then are rescued later on. The Professor is able to fix the barometer to only find out that a storm is coming, which will wash away the island. The radio has been dead for years, and the barometer doesn't work either, until Gilligan finds a disc on the Lagoon from a Soviet satellite. The castaways had been on the island for 15 years, and any hope of being rescued has long since past, which accounts for the fact that the castaways look much older. Unlike these and other reunions of 60s sitcoms, Rescue from Gilligan's Island makes sense. Unlike the Andy Griffith reunion where Barney is still deputy, which doesn't make any sense because he had been a Raleigh detective by the end of the original series, or the Dick Van Dyke Reunion where mush of the script doesn't make a bit of sense, especially the part of Rob playing on his computer. But what can you expect for a $5 DVD? At least secondhand copies can be had for less.Įven though Tina Louise is missing from the movie, and the cast looks older, they still pulled off a very convincing movie. I'd call it amateurish, but I've seen amateur-produced DVDs that were much better. The company involved in the DVD mastering got prominent on-screen credit. It was ragged and looked like somebody used an old inkjet printer to sloppily print the label. In fact, roughly three minutes of running time are missing here, clocking in at only 92 minutes. Where did they get the source material, off a videocassette recorded from a local broadcast? There were numerous flaws in the tape, including a fuzzy, washed out picture, bad dropouts, tracking problems and many jumpy edits where a second or two seemed to be missing. The DVD transfer is easily the worst I've ever seen. At least her leaden delivery and wooden expressions made me appreciate how underrated Tina really was. Choosing between Mary Ann and this Ginger would be no contest. Judith Baldwin was nowhere near as alluring as Tina Louise. Russell Johnson looked his age, and Bob Denver added the most years. could have stepped fresh from the series, as could Dawn Wells, Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer. Most of the cast was back, looking none the worse for wear. Perhaps the worst part of the movie was seeing everyone back in "civilization" after years of seeing them only on the "island." The message of the movie is true: there's no place like home, which in this case was the island. The new lagoon looked a lot smaller and darker, not at all inviting. I missed the original lagoon set, though. As soon as I saw the network promo where the Skipper said, "After 15 years, we're finally rescued," I was looking forward to watching this on TV. All the old staples were back, from the fast-motion slapstick to the groaners masquerading as punchlines. Depending on how much you liked or hated the series, that can be good or bad. Rescue from Gilligan's Island looks like nothing so much as an extended episode from the original series. But come the next day, you wanted another one anyway. Each episode was the TV equivalent of a Hostess Twinkie - light, fluffy, undeniably artificial, sweet and sappy enough to make you sick. By the late '70s, I'd spent many an afternoon watching Gilligan's Island in syndication after school.
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