| Columbia Pictures | Release Date: March 16, 1990 | CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
|
Positive:
7
Mixed:
10
Negative:
3
|
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Critic Reviews
Hook's cast is admirably adept at getting across what little boys are made of. [22 Mar 1990]
This new film version of Lord of the Flies is far from a disgrace. It may not hit a home run, but it doesn't strike out, either. [16 Mar 1990, p.5]
Without straining to emphasize the underlying parable, director Harry Hook has brought off a corking adventure that grips the imagination from start to finish. [16 Mar 1990, p.E3]
Like the earlier film version, this one often exchanges the dark poetry of Golding's writing for action and connect-the-dots social anthropology, but it's crisp, taut and involving nonetheless. [16 Mar 1990, p.39]
The tale, while oversimplified, is told with visual style, particularly in the use of the boys' dream sequences, having to do with rescue and the comfort of adult authority. [16 Mar 1990, p.F]
Flies II improves as it progresses, especially in the surreal, fireswept climax. But overall, it seems like an afterthought. [16 Mar 1990, p.4D]
As directed by Harry Hook, the new Lord of the Flies offers much spectacle for the eye and almost nothing to keep the mind from wandering.
Only on that superficial level does this Lord of the Flies fly. [16 Mar 1990, p.G11]
Like its predecessor, this new screen version of the book may work well enough for those happy with a simple story, simply told. But for Golding fans, it can only feel like another opportunity missed. [16 Mar 1990, p.3]
Languidly paced and prettily crafted, it's certainly a scenic adaptation of Golding's novel. But while it's been brought up to date, there's certainly nothing new under this tropical sun. [16 Mar 1990, p.B7]
Hook is largely failed by his earnest, workmanlike cast of boys who seem painfully aware that Lord of the Flies is an Important Movie. [16 Mar 1990, p.12]
Hook's visual sense is not acute here; he doesn't show the spontaneous sense of time and place that made his first film, The Kitchen Toto (1988), so convincing. He seems more concerned with telling the story than showing it, and there are too many passages in which the boys are simply trading dialogue.
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A remarkably cold re-telling of a tale that, when we encountered it before, was shattering in its emotional impact. [16 Mar 1990, p.3F]
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