Still Watching the Skies: Episode 143 “The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)”

By Robert Reineke

This month, Nat, Cody, and Robert journey to a world of the white god in the jungle who’s engaged in cruel experiments that push the conception of humanity with 1996’s THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU.

We also journey to the edge of sanity that was a doomed voyage for Richard Stanley’s tenure as a director of major studio films. And a film that Marlon Brando absolutely is remembered for.

The Island of Dr. Moreau was written by H.G. Wells in 1896. More of a novella than a novel it’s proven to be very popular and influential and has been adapted many times. Most famously as The Island of Lost Souls but another attempt proved irresistible to Richard Stanley in a project which turned out to be the most infamous of adaptation attempts.

There’s another whole movie about what went wrong with the making of The Island of Dr. Moreau. Whatever Richard Stanley’s original vision was, you can only see it in dribs and drabs. Although, he undoubtedly still had an impact on the final film based on original storyboards, the script, and his approvals of Stan Winston’s beast men designs.

Somehow New Line had gambled a major budget on a director that had never directed a big budget movie before being able to go far away from any studio support, into jungle conditions, and with Marlon Brando and the temperamental Val Kilmer attached and come back with a polished, commercial picture. That, predictably, did not work out and when Richard Stanley was fired it was up to a not terribly interested John Frankenheimer to bring the ship in.

And yes, it all looks like a troubled production. That said, we all agree that the final product, as messy as it is, did not result in a boring, uninteresting film. Big swings were taken. Yes, Marlon Brando makes some odd choices. Deranged even. But they’re memorably deranged choices in service of an interpretation of Dr. Moreau as a mad, white, god-king of the jungle with similarities to Colonel Kurtz in a way. Marlon Brando may be prickly and eccentric, but he’s also clearly committed and turns in perhaps his last truly memorable performance.

I think we all wish that we could say that for everyone. Sometimes the menagerie of faces create a memorable atmosphere. Other times, it’s just a grotesquerie of latex that distances rather than draws one in.

Still, even if the film struggles to create a coherent statement, there are some memorable shots, odd but memorable choices, plenty of atmosphere, and there are choices you’ll never guess were coming. We have much to say about the movie, warts and all and try to put it in its larger context. But what can you say about a movie that introduced the idea that would become Mini-Me?

No need for go made on a jungle island to enjoy the podcast; give us a play below or download the episode. Also, feel free to let us know what you think by commenting on our page at Facebook or you can Email Us at skiespocast@gmail.com as we appreciate feedback.

Time tracks:
0:00:00 – THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996) Discussion
1:18:45- Next Movie and Outro

Next month, we revisit the world of Philip K. Dick and explore the concepts of free will courtesty of Stephen Spielberg’s Minority Report. We hope you’ll join us.

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Robert Reineke

Robert Reineke was born in the dark era before cable television, but somehow survived based on a steady diet of Universal Monsters, Hammer Horror, 1950s science fiction, and Godzilla on his local UHF station. As a college student, he discovered the works of David Lynch and Akira Kurosawa which opened up different vistas for him. When he’s not doing useful things like heading up environmental investigations and cleanups or designing sewers, you can find him watching movies, writing about them, and talking about them. He’s a booster of the Milwaukee Film Festival. Somehow he puts up with young whippersnappers Nat Almiral and Cody Lang on the Still Watching the Skies podcast.