The Island (2005 film)

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The Island

The Island poster
Directed by Michael Bay
Produced by Kenny Bates
Michael Bay
Written by Caspian Tredwell-Owen
Alex Kurtzman
Roberto Orci
Starring Ewan McGregor
Scarlett Johansson
Sean Bean
Djimon Hounsou
Steve Buscemi
Music by Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography Mauro Fiore
Editing by Paul Rubell
Christian Wagner
Distributed by DreamWorks
(USA)
Warner Bros. (International)
Release date(s) July 22, 2005
Running time 127 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $126 million
Gross revenue $162,949,164

The Island is a 2005 science fiction film directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It is described as a pastiche of "escape-from-dystopia" science fiction films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Fahrenheit 451, THX 1138, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and Logan's Run. Set in 2019, the movie's plot revolves around the struggle of Ewan McGregor's character to fit into the highly structured world he lives in, and the action-packed series of events that unfolds when he questions exactly how truthful that world really is. The film, which cost $126 million to produce, earned only $36 million at the United States box office, but went on to gross $127 million overseas, for a $163 million worldwide total.

Contents

[edit] Plot Summary

It is 2019, and for the last three years, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) has lived in a colony of uncontaminated humans, each awaiting their chance to go to the last habitable place on Earth, known as "the Island." One day, Lincoln Six learns that his best friend, Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), will soon be leaving for "the Island." Through an illicit visit to a construction area, Lincoln Six surreptitiously discovers that two former colonists, who were recently thought gone to the Island, are instead being subjected to brutal, ultimately fatal medical procedures and organ harvesting. He returns to the colony to rescue Jordan Two from a similar fate, but not before company chief Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean) discovers that Lincoln Six now knows the truth.

Through their escape, Lincoln Six and Jordan Two discover that the outside world is completely habitable and uncontaminated, and that each of them is a clone of a wealthy "sponsor" who paid five million dollars to be cloned as "insurance" to prolong the sponsor's life. Though they appear human, clones are in fact incubated to adulthood in as little as a year and thought of only as a product. While cloning itself is legal, allowing the clones to attain consciousness is not, and is contrary to what clients are told. However, without consciousness, Merrick confides, the product is not viable - the clones die and no use can be made of them. Thus, for financial and legal motivations, Merrick hires a paramilitary force, commanded by Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou), to use any means necessary to take out the two escaped clones.

The two clones escape to Los Angeles in hope of finding their sponsors. Jordan learns she is the clone of a famous model who has recently suffered a debilitating accident and is in a coma in New York City. They find Lincoln Six's sponsor at his L.A. home. He is Tom Lincoln, who is in imminent risk of liver failure. While sponsor and clone become acquainted, Lincoln Six recruits his sponsor to appear together on T.V. in order to expose the corporation and reveal the truth. On the way to the T.V. studio, however, Tom Lincoln attempts to preserve his "insurance" by turning against his clone. Lincoln Six turns the tables on his sponsor, tricks Laurent into killing Tom, and assumes Tom's identity.

Though Merrick is much relieved to hear Lincoln Six is dead, he has discovered that two entire product lines share the same "flaw" and subsequently orders a "recall" — the destruction of scores of clones. Meanwhile, having assumed the identity of his sponsor, Lincoln Six finds a way to turn the tables on Merrick's corporation, and with help from Jordan and an unexpected alliance with Laurent, kills Merrick and rescues the colonists. The film ends with Lincoln and Jordan together riding the Renovatio, which translates from latin to mean the verb "Rebirth" or "Restoration".

[edit] Cast

Actor/Actress Role Notes
Ewan McGregor Lincoln Six Echo Protagonist; clone of Tom Lincoln
Tom Lincoln Car/motorcycle/boat experimental designer from Scotland, currently living in L.A. Initially sponsored his clone so he could have a new liver; he suffers from cirrhosis secondary to viral hepatitis.
Scarlett Johansson Jordan Two Delta Protagonist; clone of Sarah Jordan
Sarah Jordan Actress and model from New York; initially sponsored her clone to keep her in fresh looking skin, but currently dying as a result of a car accident
Djimon Hounsou Albert Laurent Bounty hunter hired by Merrick to bring back Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta
Sean Bean Dr. Merrick Antagonist, owner of Merrick Biotech and creator of the various clones
Steve Buscemi James McCord Employee of Merrick Biotech; helps Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta after they escape
Michael Clarke Duncan Starkweather Two Delta Cloned after a football player for at least his liver, and judging from The Island's official website, probably his heart as well (Jamil Starkweather is noted to have multiple early warning signs of impending cardiac problems)
Jamil Starkweather New York Giants football player; aka "The Juggernaut"[1]
Ethan Phillips Jones Three Echo Clone; works with Lincoln Six Echo
Brian Stepanek Gandu Three Echo Clone; works with Lincoln Six Echo
Noa Tishby Community Announcer Makes community announcements including the lottery
Siobhan Flynn Lima One Alpha Cloned to carry a baby to term
Kim Coates Charles Whitman Director of Public Relations for Merrick Biotech
Tom Everett President of the United States; clone
J.P. Manoux Foxtrot; new guy picked on by Gandu 3 Echo

[edit] Detailed Plot

In 2019, when most of the outside world has been contaminated, a number of people are rescued from the toxic environment. These people live together in a colony, rigorously structured in terms of clothes, meals, work, leisure, and personal distance. Their only hope is to win a lottery which will let them return to the last uncontaminated area on Earth, known as "the Island."

Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) awakens from nightmares of being on a boat and then taken under water and captured. He is called into the colony's physician, Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean), and talks about the dreams he has been having, as well as his concerns of details of the community's existence, such as who cleans his clothes and what is the purpose of his work. Concerned about Lincoln, Merrick gives Lincoln a "test" in the form of tiny robots that enter through the eye and which will take a "synaptic scan," exiting painfully the next day through urination. Next, Lincoln goes to his job of feeding nutrients through tube lines; when a pregnant colonist breaks water, Lincoln fakes a computer failure in order to visit his friend James "Mac" McCord (Steve Buscemi), who is a supervisor in a construction zone of an "authorized personnel only" area of the colony. During this visit, Lincoln sees and captures a flying insect, thought to be extinct from contamination. Lincoln shares his find with his friend Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) and voices skepticism that maybe the outside world is no longer so contaminated.

Later that evening, Jordan is excited to find out that she has won the lottery to go to "the Island." That night, Lincoln is again woken by his intensive dreams; he gets up and returns to the construction zone, where he releases his insect, and follows it up a shaft and into a medical facility. Disguising himself as a nurse, he is shocked to see two so-called lottery winners. The pregnant colonist, Lima One Alpha (Siobhan Flynn), gives birth to a baby and is subsequently murdered with an injection. The camera briefly follows the baby to another room (unseen by Lincoln), where it is given to a woman who looks very much like Lima One Alpha. The camera then cuts to another operating room, in which doctors are performing a surgery on Starkweather Two Delta (Michael Clarke Duncan) in order to remove one or more of his organs. However, he awakens from general anesthesia and, realizing what is happening, desperately bolts out of the operating room. Lincoln takes cover and witnesses security harpooning Starkweather and dragging him back to the operating room.

Realizing that there is no Island and that Jordan would suffer the same fate, Lincoln races back to the colony to retrieve her and escape from the colony with her. Merrick, reviewing the security tapes from Starkweather's struggle, recognizes the presence of a colonist, and his security team is able to identify and start hunting for Lincoln. But he and Jordan flee through the construction area and stumble into a room filled with human forms contained in embryonic sacks and being inundated with audio-visual messages of wanting to go to "the Island," which are similar to Lincoln's earlier nightmares. The two manage to escape to the outside world, which turns out not to be contaminated, and they find themselves in the desert. Using a matchbox given to him by McCord, Lincoln locates his friend at a biker bar. McCord explains that the colonists were cloned from their sponsors and are owned by their sponsors, whose purpose was to provide, for instance, replacement organs, should their sponsors need them. McCord, even though he could get into a lot of serious trouble, agrees to help Lincoln and Jordan find their sponsors.

While McCord helps the two clones get to the home of Lincoln's sponsor in Los Angeles, a troubled Dr. Merrick gives a sales pitch to a group of twenty or so well-dressed people. He explains that the "agnate" allows a clone to grow to adult size within the span of a year, but all such clones are "of course" kept in a vegetative state in accordance with the "Eugenics laws of 2015." Away from the sales prospects, Merrick meets with Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou), a mercenary, and hires him to capture the escapees. Assured of Laurent's confidentiality, Merrick admits to him that without consciousness and human experience, the clones ended up dying and their organs failing, so contrary to what his clients are told, the clones are allowed to attain full consciousness and receive learning up to that of a fifteen-year-old: "Why sow the seed when you can create the fruit?" Merrick explains how they control the clones using an imprinted desire to go to "the Island."

Laurent assembles his task force and finds Lincoln and Jordan at a train station. McCord spots the mercenaries and yells "run"; he is then shot and killed. The clones evade the team and board a train bound for L.A. Once in L.A., Jordan recognizes herself in a cosmetics advertisement. They then find an "information directory" and, using the credit card McCord gave them, make a video call to Jordan's sponsor's home, where a very young boy answers "is that you Mommy?" and explains that his mother is in the hospital. (From Merrick, we find out she is in a life threatening situation as a result of a serious accident, which is why Jordan was selected in the lottery.) Due to their use of McCord's credit card, police capture the clones on suspicion of McCord's murder. The police identify Lincoln as "Tom Lincoln", allowing Lincoln to find out precisely where his sponsor lives. However, they are now in the back of a police car.

Hoping to capture the clones, Laurent's strike team separates the clones from the police, but through Lincoln Six Echo's cleverness, the two clones escape after a long, action-filled car chase. They find their way into the home of Tom Lincoln, also played by Ewan McGregor, who initially attacks the intruders until he realizes who they are, after which he becomes attracted to Jordan's beauty. Tom has attained his wealth through designing and driving fast motorcycles, cars, and boats. In a display case, Lincoln sees a model of the boat — the Renovatio (from Latin, "rebirth") — from his dreams. Tom reveals that he has slept with many women and invested in Lincoln's existence when he learned an STD will cause his liver to fail. Having been misled, as all sponsors were, to believe his clone was kept in a persistent vegetative state, he agrees to help the two plead their case before the media. While getting ready to leave to go to a television studio, however, he secretly calls Merrick's company, demanding to know why his "insurance" is sitting on his living room sofa. As they are about to go, Jordan sees a tell in Tom's face and warns Lincoln, who insists Jordan stay behind.

En route they encounter Laurent's team, who is now on orders from Merrick to "use any means necessary." Tom turns against Lincoln, putting a gun to his head, but Lincoln successfully holds him off as they drive into a parking garage and get out. When Laurent is unable to distinguish the real Tom from his clone, Lincoln snaps his clone identification wristband onto Tom's wrist just as Tom holds the gun to Lincoln's head, tricking Laurent into killing Tom. Lincoln Six Echo assumes Tom's identity and tells Laurent that Jordan was on her way to visit her own sponsor in New York. However, Jordan is actually still at Tom's house and when Lincoln Six Echo returns, they discover and enjoy sex. Meanwhile, Laurent informs Merrick, who is greatly relieved at the (erroneous) news of Lincoln Six Echo's death.

Later, Gandu Three Echo, one of Lincoln's co-workers, talks with Merrick, voicing doubts about the lottery and a desire to research into the Island. Merrick, agitated about this development, quickly kills Gandu, realizing that several lines of clones are somehow growing new memories from their sponsors' lives, which combined with innate curiosity pose a threat to the entire project. He orders a "recall" of the "product lines" — including many colonists. Using the ruse of a mass lottery, Merrick orchestrates the destruction of dozens of clones, including one of Lincoln's co-workers.

As Tom Lincoln's clone was presumably destroyed, Merrick's corporation contacts him to grow him a new clone, free of charge. Lincoln uses this ruse to orchestrate the destruction of Merrick's facility: Lincoln agrees to the corporation's offer while Jordan allows herself to be captured by using McCord's credit card. Now that each of them are in the facility and each armed with one of Tom's handguns, they subdue corporate personnel; Jordan sets out to rescue the lottery-winning colonists; Lincoln sets out for the maintenance area.

Jordan's efforts are apparently foiled, however, when she runs into Laurent. Laurent has just wrapped up his business with Merrick, in which he challenges the morality of Merrick's business of killing clones and reveals that as a child he himself was branded in the palm to signify he was "less than human." Merrick angrily insists to Laurent that he is giving his clients the gift of life, but Laurent is unconvinced. Seeing a similar branding mark on the clones' wrists, rather than turning Jordan in, he aids her and successfully rescues the lottery-winners just as they are about to be killed in an incinerator.

Meanwhile, Merrick has been informed that the body of Tom has the identification wristband on the wrong hand and realizes the Lincoln Six Echo is still alive. He is alerted to a "disturbance": it is Lincoln attempting to sabotage the holographic projectors, which fool the clones into thinking they are in a colony and not in an underground laboratory. Merrick arrives, but Lincoln has already succeeded in the sabotage, which causes the infrastructure around them to begin to collapse. When Lincoln tries to run, Merrick harpoons him and proceeds to try to kill him, but Lincoln uses the harpoon wire to effectively choke and kill Merrick. Lincoln, Jordan, Laurent, and the clones all emerge from the structure into the desert. In the final cut-away scene, Jordan and Lincoln can be seen cruising through blue waters together aboard the Renovatio.

[edit] Controversy

Due to some points of similarity, some have accused the filmmakers of remaking the 1979 film, Parts: The Clonus Horror, without crediting that concept.[2] DreamWorks settled out of court for $1 million, the same amount the screenwriters were paid for the script.

Michael Marshall Smith's 1996 novel, Spares, in which the hero liberates intelligent clones from a "spare farm", whose clients are told they are not conscious, was optioned by DreamWorks in the late 1990s but was never made. It remains unclear if the story inspired The Island, and so Marshall Smith did not consider it worthwhile[3] to pursue legal action over the similarities. Paramount (once sister studio to DreamWorks after its parent Viacom purchased DreamWorks in late 2005, then spinning it off again in 2008) was in talks to option the novel after DreamWorks' rights expired, but declined after The Island was released. Marshall Smith considers it unlikely a Spares film will ever be made.[4]

In addition, Tessa Dick, former wife of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, accused the filmmakers of plagiarizing his 1964 novel The Penultimate Truth, as well as several other works of fiction. She writes, "I'm watching this film, and I realize that everything in it is derivative of someone else's work. ... The basic premise is outright stolen from ... The Penultimate Truth. Everybody lives in an underground shelter because, they are told, the Earth is contaminated. This lie keeps them inside their underground shelter/prison. ... They do throw in some action scenes from Blade Runner, which rips off Ridley Scott more than it does Phil. [Blade Runner is based on Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?] And there are bits and pieces of Brave New World."[5]

A second film version of Logan's Run was also in the works when The Island was released. It is possible due to the similarity of both plot and story, that the release and domestic box-office reception of The Island caused the production of Logan's Run to be abandoned in favor of the 2008 film Speed Racer. Though the similarities between the two films are striking, the author of Logan's Run has not so far commented on The Island's concept.

Reviewers have also objected to the prominent product placement within the film. Cisco Systems, MSN Search, Calvin Klein, Xbox, Puma, Reebok, Miller Light, NBC, NFL, Budweiser, Michelob, Apple, Aquafina, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Mack, Coca-Cola, Speedo, TAG Heuer, Amtrak, Ben & Jerry's, and Nokia are some of the sponsors of the film.[6] In an Entertainment Weekly cover story, Bay stated that the extensive product placement was the result of trying to offset production costs - "Bay called on friends at major corporations — outfits like Budweiser, General Motors, and Microsoft — and offered overt product placement in exchange for cash. 'We made about $850,000 on that,' he says. 'And we needed that money to get this movie made.'"[7]

[edit] Lawsuit

The Island mirrors Parts: The Clonus Horror in a number of ways. The makers of Clonus filed suit, claiming copyright infringement.[8] On August 25, 2006, the court presiding over this case ruled that it could proceed to trial.

According to a 2007 interview with Clonus screenwriter Bob Sullivan, DreamWorks and Clonus' associates reached a seven-figure settlement on November 20, 2006, the specific terms of which are sealed.[9]

[edit] Plot similarities with Parts: The Clonus Horror

The following are plot points which accurately describe both movies.

  • There is a secret community of clones who are being created so that their organs can eventually be harvested in order to extend the lives of people, living outside of the community, wealthy enough to afford the process.
  • When it is time for a clone (or more precisely, his or her organs), the clone is led to believe that he or she has been "randomly" chosen to go to what has been advertised as a utopia. The utopia, which of course does not really exist, is "America" in Clonus, and "The Island" in The Island.
  • The community of clones is closely monitored by video surveillance and uniformed guards, who closely observe the actions of the clones.
  • The main character is an inquisitive clone living in the community who finds clues about the outside world.
  • The main character eventually escapes the community.
  • A woman, which the community staff try to keep the main character from getting too close to, becomes the love interest for the protagonist, urging the protagonist to return to the facility after escaping.
  • The project director sends assassins after the character.
  • The main character gets betrayed by a genetic parent/sponsor he seeks and contacts in the outside world.
  • The President (candidate for President in Clonus) is known to have a clone.
  • The cloning program is exposed at the end of the film.

[edit] Behind the scenes

Johansson reportedly wanted to go topless instead of wearing a bra in a scene where she wakes up. Director Michael Bay decided against it to keep a PG-13 rating.[10]

The computer in Merrick's office at the Institute, which features a large, tabletop touchscreen display capable of detecting several forms of input, was rumored to be a conceptual Microsoft Surface. The design was actually proposed by a technology adviser at MIT, who aimed for producing a believable vision of futuristic technology.[11]

The city parts of the movie were filmed in Detroit, Michigan.[12]

The boat featured at the end of the film is the 118 WallyPower, built by Monte Carlo-based Wally Yachts.

The car that Tom Lincoln owns is a 2002 concept car, the Cadillac Cien.

The Calvin Klein advertising Jordan sees in the street, in which she recognizes her sponsor Sarah Jordan, is the actual advertising for the Eternity Moment fragrance by Calvin Klein, in which Johansson starred in real life.

[edit] Reaction

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Box office performance

Domestically, The Island was considered a box office bomb; it only made $36 million in the United States from a budget of $126 million. However, the film did significantly better worldwide, where it made a total of $162,949,164.

[edit] Critical reception

The Island received generally mixed reviews from critics. It has a 40 percent, "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and it has received a 50 out of 100 from Metacritic.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Giant NFL poster shown at 1:12:45
  2. ^ The Seattle Times: Movies: "Clonus" director says he's seen this clone story before
  3. ^ Michael Marshall Smith in interview with MSN, 2007
  4. ^ Michael Marshall Smith Forum
  5. ^ Another PKD Rip-Off: My Thoughts on "The Island" Tessa Dick, It's a Philip K. Dick World, December 10, 2008
  6. ^ The Island Product Placement - Num Sum
  7. ^ Attack of the Clones
  8. ^ “Copyright Lawsuit Claims The Island Cloned Parts: The Clonus Horror,” UPI News Service, August 10, 2005 (available online); “Clonus” Producers File Suit.
  9. ^ 2007 interview with Clonus screenwriter Bob Sullivan.
  10. ^ Usmagazine.com | Scarlett Johansson: Sexiest One-Eyed Woman Alive
  11. ^ The Surface Conceptual Prototype on The Island
  12. ^ http://www.michaelbay.com/press/articles/020.html

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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