This kind of ordinary documentary has a great subject matter, the attempt to make another film version of The Island of Dr. Moreau by a first time director named Richard Stanley who seems to have a screw or two loose.
A film where about everything went wrong from the selection of a location which was an hour from civilization to the cast while involved Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer two shall we say difficult actors. Naturally with these two characters and a relatively novice director things fell apart almost immediately. The production came to a grinding halt while the director Richard Stanley was fired and a replacement was sought.
The replacement turned out to be John Frankenheimer a guy who had not been involved in a good project since 1973's The Iceman Cometh. Frankenheimer bullied his cast and crew to get through the production but meet his match in Brando who was clearly in it for the paycheck and probably realized the film was essentially a hopeless mess.
The documentary has interviews with Richard Stanley, members of the cast and crew with the exception of Brando and Frankenheimer who have passed away. Val Kilmer refused to be interviewed. The documentary is essential viewing and demonstrates how difficult it is to make a film and in particular a decent film when the odds of it being any good are stacked against it from the outset.
96 minutes.
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