{"id":31584,"date":"2013-05-21T16:32:39","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T23:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31584"},"modified":"2021-02-05T12:59:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T19:59:11","slug":"terminal-island-1973","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31584","title":{"rendered":"Terminal Island (1973)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Everybody on this island&#8217;s a killer.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Poster-212x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"212\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-31585\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Poster-212x300.jpg 212w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Poster-90x128.jpg 90w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Poster-725x1024.jpg 725w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Poster.jpg 1134w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nOn an island where convicted murderers are sent to live and die, a new female arrival (Ena Hartman) quickly learns that its inhabitants are divided between those who support a ruthless psychopath (Sean Kenney), and those attempting to live a more democratic existence.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prisoners<\/li>\n<li>Stephanie Rothman Films<\/li>\n<li>Survival<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nI had reasonably high hopes for this &#8220;futuristic low-budget action adventure&#8221; flick, given both the slyly subversive nature of director Stephanie Rothman&#8217;s other female-centric exploitation films (i.e., <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31364\"><em>Group Marriage<\/em><\/a>) and the cleverness of the film&#8217;s opening &#8220;man on the street&#8221; news sequence (which neatly synopsizes its futuristic premise). Unfortunately, the story quickly devolves into a tedious survival flick in which impossibly beautiful female prisoners (all clad in skin-tight jeans, and sporting impeccably managed hair) either bed or battle a host of diversely macho men. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-68948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-1536x852.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-487x270.png 487w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Still.png 1809w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The one exception to this latter category is Tom Selleck&#8217;s gentle &#8220;Dr. Milford&#8221;, notoriously sent to the island for conducting a mercy killing; it&#8217;s too bad his semi-interesting character is quickly forgotten in favor of endless scenes of bloody violence. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"349\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-68949\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck-1024x559.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck-768x419.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck-1536x838.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck-495x270.png 495w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Selleck.png 1827w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Analogies to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lord_of_the_flies\"><em>Lord of the Flies<\/em><\/a> are inevitable, but despite Peary&#8217;s claim that it remains &#8220;interesting&#8230; because of [its] feminist-humanist themes&#8221; (and the fact that &#8220;the women and men renegades&#8230; shar[e] in the action, the danger, the plotting of war strategy&#8221;), its disappointing screenplay &#8212; which &#8220;deals with a civil war for supremacy of the island&#8221; &#8212; comes nowhere close to effectively exploring this inherently provocative premise. Peary&#8217;s a big fan of this one, but I&#8217;m not. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The clever, scene-setting opening sequence<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"349\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-68947\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2-1024x559.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2-768x419.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2-1536x839.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2-495x270.png 495w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Terminal-Island-Opening2.png 1819w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; only fans of Rothman&#8217;s work &#8212; or <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Women_in_prison\">WIP (women-in-prison)<\/a> flicks &#8212; need bother seeking this one out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0070782\/?ref_=sr_1\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2018\/12\/31\/terminal-island-1973\/\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagoreader.com\/chicago\/terminal-island\/Film?oid=1069487\">Chicago Reader Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Everybody on this island&#8217;s a killer.&#8221; Synopsis: On an island where convicted murderers are sent to live and die, a new female arrival (Ena Hartman) quickly learns that its inhabitants are divided between those who support a ruthless psychopath (Sean Kenney), and those attempting to live a more democratic existence. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Prisoners Stephanie Rothman Films Survival Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: I had reasonably high hopes for this &#8220;futuristic low-budget action adventure&#8221; flick, given both the slyly&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31584\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31584"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68950,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31584\/revisions\/68950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}