Hawaii
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Movie Reviews of Hawaii
Movie Review: Long enough for me
Summary: 3 Stars
My first thought about the film was "good but way too long!" So I found it interesting to read all of the reviews here complaining about the missing half-hour! Perhaps if I'd seen what was cut I may have liked it better---who knows?
Anyway, as for this version, I found it awfully slow and one-dimensional. We see the poor minister, wonderfully played by Max von Sydow, doing his narrow-minded, judgemental thing over and over and over, to the point where I really didn't want to watch it anymore and turned it off. The next day, when I had some time to kill I returned to it and found that it did become more interesting. Then, right before the end, the minister has change of heart and turns out to be a loving guy, after all. A case of "too little, too late" for me. If more had been shown of the man's inner conflicts as the film went along, it would have been much more believable and interesting. However at the time it was made, people still believed in black and white, good and bad so this was how the story was presented.
I think that the film did make some effort in showing the positive effects of Christianity instead of showing only the dark, condemnatory side. The missionaries did keep the happy natives from killing the deformed babies. I can't really complain that they made an effort to stop incest, either.
Von Sydow did a wonderful job given the character he had to play and his ending scenes were really marvelous. Julie Andrews was adequate as his wife although she certainly didn't burn up the screen with either her personality or her beauty. It was hard for me to imagine the handsome, squashbuckling whaling captain played magnificently by Richard Harris, pining away for this pale flower.
The supporting characters were all very good, especially the woman who played the native queen.
As epics go, this is one that didn't age well in my opinion. However it is colorful and gives some interesting history of the islands.
Movie Review: Too much gone
Summary: 3 Stars
I eagerly awaited the release of Hawaii on DVD - it's one of my all time favorite movies. Like several other reviewers I was dismayed to find out it was about 30 minutes shorter then the VHS version. I was hoping that they had just cut out the long music before the credits and the intermission, but I discovered that they cut out a number of scenes. Most of the deleted scenes are important for the movies flow and for character development.
I'm not sure if the DVD is the original theatrical release (which I never saw) or just edited to fit on one DVD. It's sad, but the VHS version is much better then the DVD version. If you've never seen Hawaii by all means get the DVD (it's still a great movie), but if you've ever seen the VHS version you will probably be disappointed.
Movie Review: Too much footage lost on the DVD
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been a fan of this movie for years. I owned the 2 tape VHS version and was so happy when it was finally released on disc. For those who have never seen the film, this version will certainly suffice and Julie Andrews is irresistable. However - I was very disappointed to see how much of the original was cut. Interesting and important scenes are left out - Jerusha on her wedding day bidding her sister farewell - scenes aboard ship and when Abner was ill from the shark bite. Scenes that may not have been ultimately necessary to the plot, but leave spaces in the general storyline when left out. Had I known that so much was missing, I would never have gotten rid of my VHS tapes. I would say if you have the means to play them, buy the tapes instead.Movie Review: Thanks for the warning...
Summary: 3 Stars
I was just about to add this to my shopping cart when I read, to my horror, that 30 minutes were cut in a spectacular display of bad judgement on the part of MGM. The "pre-Hawaii" scenes were, to me, the most compelling scenes in the film: Jerusha saying goodbye to her little sister (movingly recalled years later when Abner says goodbye to thier daughter); Jerusha standing up to her husband during the voyage to Hawaii; the tragic death of one of the wives during childbirth and Abner's subsequent "You WILL LIVE, Jerusha" speech (which happens to be my favorite moment). I guess for now I'll stick with my double-VHS copy until MGM comes to thier senses.Movie Review: Mind's Harsh Rule
Summary: 3 Stars
Excellence seems to be carefully avoided in this film. It gets close, some aspects are very good, but the scale demands more. Rev. Abner Hale (Max von Sydow) should have greater compassion as a Christian missionary, the panoramic photography ought to be full of inspiration, the cultural and religious issues could be better in focus. It develops neither the characters, nor the ethics intensely enough to justify the universal social conclusions it appears to imply.