Lord of the Flies (1990)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: Harry Hook

Starring: Balthazar Getty, Chris Furrh, Danuel Pipoly

Running time: 90 minutes

This 1990 film is the second cinematic version of William Golding’s book of the same name. I remember vaguely this movie being showed to us in English class, in high school, and I was curious to see it again at this stage of my life. Before watching the remake, I saw the 1963 black-and-white original.

In the remake, a group of young military school cadets crash on a deserted island while flying back home. They have to learn to live without adult supervision, and rival factions forming amongst the group is bound to mean their demise if they are not rescued.

While the black-and-white original was really efficient at building an atmosphere of tension between the boys on the island, in the 1990 remake, the story just seems to be plodding along. A big issue to me is the actors. The kids in the 1963 film didn’t come off as actors reciting lines. They all seemed so natural. In the remake, the young ones are all mostly wooden in their acting and very amateurish in their performance. They come off as a bunch of high school kids rehearsing a play.

There are a few interesting elements in this one, like seeing that pig head on a stick with the flies in color, but, for the most part, I recommend watching the original and skipping the remake.

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