The Islands

I am by no means a Tim Chey fan, as in many of his films I find too much evangelism - every other sentence is Jesus - often unnecessary. I know he's a former atheist, blah, blah, blah. However, with "The Islands" he came up with an extraordinary story that just had to be made known to the general public. This is a powerful woman's story about extraordinary courage. It is one of the best films of 2019. Go check it out. I'm done.

Just saw it at one of those pre-screenings. I haven't reviewed a film in 7 years as you can see from my profile. It's been that long since a truly worthy movie like 'The Islands' has come out. Stunning is an understatement. If you can remember 'The English Patient' - you had to stay the course patiently until the incredible tear-jerking ending. I promise you that if you stay with this film till the very end, it will bring you to tears. It doesn't matter if you're a Christian or not. I think the filmmakers really sold themselves short by pitching only to the faith-based community. There are plenty of secular people who will embrace this heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, emotional film. "il miglior film dei secoli"!!!!

I enjoyed the director's previous films including the basketball movie from Sony Pictures. Although no actor is really outstanding, all the actors are competent playing the characters they're given. The Hawaiian actors were incredible and so was Mira Sorvino who really played the Baptist missionary well. The slow pace in the beginning is just a wind-up to the incredible finale (actually two). RECOMMEND.

Just like the missionaries were forcing their religion on the natives, these reviewers are trying to force this movie on to us. I was duped into seeing this movie based on these reviews. This movie is crap. It is nothing more than a cheap cheesy made for TV movie that should be on some religious channel....not the big screen. I don't understand how this movie even ends up in a theater. Every aspect of this movie is bad from the horrible acting to the never ending dramatic music in the background to the story that does not flow smoothly. Not to mention these random sailors that show up every so often out of nowhere. At the very least, you would think there would be some great scenery.....but nope. I can not think of one positive aspect to this movie.....maybe when they were surfing. You learn nothing more than you read about in the movie summary. You could spend 3 minutes on the internet and learn more about this historical story. These reviews are comical especially when I see "great action" and "everyone cries". I get that religion is a huge part of the story. But just cause it is a religious movie does not mean it is good.

Technically you do not have to talk about this film, costumes, cuts, performances -everything perfect - with a special highlight for gorgeous Hawaii cinematography. This looks like a $30 million film and has a sweeping storyline. It deserves a Best Picture nod. The inaccuracies I noticed were just the fire dancers which came a few years later down the road and the Captain's outfit which was more mid-1800's than early 1800's. But my friend got angry at my harping on this and said I should be so lucky to pick up a camera and shoot a movie myself which I can't so I abdicate on this. It is easy to criticize the work of another without realizing I could never even come close to this. Also, it's not a documentary. It's a feature film. Overall, it was a very special film and I noticed many people outright weeping. I'm not religious at all, but I did reflect seriously on God after. I give this a solid 8 and it's definitely one of the best films of the year. Even better than 'The Irishman' believe it or not.

I saw his movie at a pre-screening and all I can say the film was excellent and far surpassed my expectations. There is lots of action and lots of emotion. So heartfelt, I cried 3 times. Everyone in the theater was both laughing and crying throughout the movie. The movie was well written and well acted. I feel in love with the people of Hawaii and the courage that brave Hawaiian chiefess did so long ago and the brave people from Boston who shared the love of Jesus Christ. 10 out of 10

Every Christian should see this film. I only give this film a 9 out of 10 because of the sometimes-quirky dialogue (people didn't say 'Okay' until ca. 1839). But quirk can be overlooked easily enough. This is not a documentary. Not many films are made which show Christian martyrs, and even less are made which focus on Christian martyrs and their power over their persecutors. THE ISLANDS shows Christian martyrdom in as powerful a way as any conceivable media medium. History buffs will like this film, those who hate Christians and want to see us persecuted will like this film, and Christians who love Jesus will like--nay, love--this film. For this latter crowd, it's a hard film to watch, especially at the end when things go pear-shaped like you would not believe. And, yes, I'll go ahead and say it: this film is light years ahead of Mel Gibson's 'Passion'.

I give 'The Islands' a solid 10. When someone asked me how the movie was I was going to say it was amazing, but that wouldn't have done the movie justice. The movie was an extremely moving, emotional experience. The second the movie was over at the premiere, I was dumbstruck, and I wasn't the only one. When the movie ended I thought there would be empty seats but when I turned around I saw that the audience was still in their seats. I looked at a couple of people, some were speechless and many were crying. It was that powerful The cast was absolutely flawless, Teuira Shanti-Napa gave a powerful performance as the Hawaiian queen, Michael Camp who played a Baptist missionary from Boston brought me to tears, and even though the other lead actress spoke only a few lines, her performance and beauty astonished me. The score was incredible. It had a Hawaiian/Polynesian feel to it, and was timeless and beautiful. Most aspects of the movie were perfect to me. Instead of a squeaky clean version of the life of these awesome Hawaiians it was a realistic and heartbreaking portrayal of the courage of this amazing woman leader. The native Hawaiian language, and wonderful cinematography made you really feel like you were in early 19th century of Hawai'i. The incredible apologetics of who is the Lord Jesus Christ truly had an emotional impact on me. While watching this movie I forgot about everything else in the world. In conclusion, not everyone will like this movie. Some will love it, and some will hate it. You may hear these two things echoing from some ignorant people: 'Colonization' or 'White man'. They conveniently miss the entire point of this movie which was the first Baptist missionaries had NO intention to make a dollar. So what is their point? If you study carefully their motives, it's a real hatred for Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said if they hated me, they will hate you. (John 15:18). Otherwise, the true narrative should be: 'A Hawaiian queen found Christ and it changed her life forever.' END OF STORY. No 'colonization' this, 'white man' that. It's actually reverse-discrimination against people of true faith and we must fight this and expose any hypocrisy. Bigotry is not a one way street. Those bigots against Christianity and Jesus Christ must be challenged at every turn. Finally, I happen to know the filmmakers of this movie received death threats on the set of this film. This is a federal hate crime punishable by 20 years in federal prison. Threats against anyone because of their faith has no place in our society and my prayer is the filmmaker will go after every single individual who helped instigate these threats and put them all in federal prison for a very long time.

Saw an advance screening: This is a powerful film, incredibly challenging and well-acted. Amazing location footage, historical details from 17th century Hawaii, and depiction of a clash of cultures between East and West. The anguish of religious faith on the part of the Baptist missionaries is part of what's going on here, but it's only the centerpiece of a very rich cinematic canvas. As a Christian converted from Buddhist myself, I find a resemblance of my concern within the context of this movie. Here was a Hawaiian chiefess torn between worshipping a volcano or the true and risen Savior: Christ the Lord. The movie also showcase how incredibly good the trio main characters are and so are the Hawaiian actors. They were so good that even though the movie was filled with Hawaiian dialogue for an hour and a half long, I never look away from the screen. Although the movie would make you look away from it because of its uncomfortable contents. All in all, this is the best movie I have seen this year

All aspects of this film, "The Islands" are excellent. The technical values, shooting and film quality, costume and makeup, screenplay and directing, cast and crew are outstanding. For a film with relatively few lines for its length, the quality of acting is even more important. The leads are all exceptional. No movie on Hawaiian history before has shown the depth and detail as has this film. Whoever is behind this should be commended for this epic film. I give it an 8 out of 10 and believe me that's a good score. 10 is reserved for 'Godfather 2'. I give it an 8 also because it's very heavily religious which is not really my cup of tea. But you can tell the film people are extremely talented; just a tad too religious. If you see anyone complaining about this film, they're just jealous haters who've never picked up a camera in their lives. That's the strange thing about professional movie critics - they've never made a film - just criticize which anyone can do.