MPAA Rating: for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality and language

Reviewed by: Michael Karounos
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating:

Better Than Average

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Moviemaking Quality:

Primary Audience:

Teens, Adults

Genre:

Science-Fiction, Action/Adventure, Thriller

Length:

2 hr. 7 min.

Year of Release:

2005

Relevant Issues

Cloning: Right or Wrong?

Is the unborn human less than human? Answer

Definitive scientific and philosophical answers to questions about whether the human fetus might NOT be fully human at some stage of development - Read

Is it true that “no one knows when life begins”? Answer

Does human life begin at birth? Answer

Is there a difference between being human and being a person? Is an unborn child a person? Answer

Is life-at-conception simply a “religious belief”?Answer

Visit our pro-life questions-and-answers section

Producer’s Synopsis: “Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid-21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the “The Island,” reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie. He and all of the other inhabitants of the facility are actually human clones whose only purpose is to provide “spare parts” for their original human counterparts. Realizing it is only a matter of time before he is “harvested,” Lincoln makes a daring escape with a fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson). Pursued by the forces of the institute that once housed them, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a race for their lives to literally meet their makers.”

“You have been chosen.” / “They don’t want you to know what you are.”

Beginning with The Matrix, recent science fiction movies as diverse as the Planet of the Apes, Equilibrium, and The Jacket all construct fascist societies in which there is a victim population that must be brought to awareness in order to be freed. The Island adheres to a similar mold, but it also departs from the pattern in that, unlike the latter three films, the oppressive ideology is a secular and not a Christian one.

Indeed, contrary to the criticisms of the movie by reviewers who condemn Bay for being so glib about violence, The Island spends the first hour constructing a complicated world in which clones are raised in a combination Club Med/prison facility. What they don’t know is that they exist because some wealthy person—a model, an athlete, an X-sport daredevil—has paid five million dollars for an “insurance policy” that will provide them with the clone’s limbs or organs in the event of disease, accident, or old age.

In the movie’s term, the clones live to be “harvested.” This is the term used in the current stem cell debate in which the crux of the issue is whether it is morally correct to grow and then use the parts of a living being who lacks consciousness in order to improve the life of one that has consciousness. The Princeton philosopher Peter Singer has famously argued for the infanticide of severely disabled babies and euthanasia for incapacitated adults, suggesting that the “personhood” of a human being may not be determinable for 90 days after birth (see ChristianAnswers articles mentioning Singer: Is the unborn human less than human?; Is it better for deformed or handicapped children never to be born?). Similarly, there are organizations arguing for the “personhood” of animals.

At the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, serious thought is already being given as to how personhood may someday be granted to computers. Christians should be alarmed that the ruling knowledge class in our culture is defining consciousness in ways that excludes several categories of people while simultaneously including categories of animals and machines.

These are deadly serious issues and as such frame the first hour of The Island as a serious film that stands apart from the second, explosion-filled hour. This review won’t concern itself with the explosions, crashes, and various acts of mayhem, because they exist merely to justify a rating, to ensure a demographic, to promote the Bay brand. No preacher can preach to an empty auditorium, and Michael Bay, a graduate of Wesleyan University, is surely preaching. The question is, what is his message, and is it compatible with a Christian worldview?

A prominent media critic at Newsweek dislikes Bay’s movies and writes: “The Island seems like a PSA by religious conservatives about the slippery slope of saving people from Parkinson’s disease.” Several critics, reflecting their cultural bias, have responded negatively to the seeming anti-abortion, anti-stem cell harvesting message of the movie. Clearly, the images support such an interpretation and constitute the film’s clearest exposition of ideas: aborting life and harvesting life for selfish purposes is bad. For those resistant to accepting this interpretation of the film’s rhetoric, Michael Bay himself makes clear the intent of the film in an interview with Dark Horizons:

Lots of sci-fi movies are much ado about nothing. What I liked about [The Island] is that it’s a universal thing: we all want to live longer. But how selfish would you be to achieve that? You could get a liver, a heart, kidneys, essential things. But I wanted to show people going for things that were just so crass, like fresh skin for a face-lift. For some woman who doesn’t want to go through the pain of childbirth and have stretch marks, why not have your clone birth for you? How disgusting is that? (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/island2.php)

Implicitly, Bay indicates that his science fiction movie is much ado about something. Really, it is about two things: the sanctity of human life on the one hand, and the inhuman, impersonal selfishness of certain types of human persons — models, athletes, and politicians. Furthermore, Bay cleverly indicts — by conspicuously leaving them out — the category of persons that most quickly comes to mind when discussing facelifts, liposuction, Botox, transplants, and collagen injections for puffy lips: the denizens of Hollywood.

The Island simultaneously supports traditional liberal and conservative values while critiquing the kind of post human society that wants to expand the choices of what is human even while tyrannically determining what humans are permitted to do. This is why Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) at one point rebels and asks why they must eat certain foods and not others, why must they dress in white, why can’t they make decisions for themselves? The reason is because they live in a totalitarian state in which all these decisions are made for them by a ruling knowledge class that knows best what is good for society and hence for them as individuals.

The movie’s conflict is between a classic liberalism that is compatible with religious belief and a secular postmodernism that is not. Thus, Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean), the scientist in charge of the entire project, pronounces, “In two years I will be able to cure childhood leukemia. How many people can say that?” “Just you and God,” responds Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou), the French mercenary.

Dr. Merrick promises the clones: “Nature has left you a garden of Eden to repopulate!” By doing so, he figures Nature as the film’s god. In those two quotations, Bay illustrates the film’s antithetical values between science and faith, between a secular worldview and a religious one. As Bean says of his character in an interview, “He’s also got a Godlike factor in him, playing God.”

The most striking exposition of religion in the film is accomplished through a visual contrast of captures. One of the methods in which the guards restrain violent “products” is to shoot miniature harpoons into them and then reel them down the hall. The premise of such a weapon is so ludicrous that it defies credibility: how do you drag the huge Michael Clarke Duncan across the floor, against his will, by means of hooks in his flesh? Clearly, the laws of physics would require the hooks to tear out. That this expedient is used on three separate occasions in the movie is both annoying and purposeful. As I remarked hopefully to my wife, “It has to mean something.”

Indeed, not until another unbelievable sequence in the second hour can we understand the meaning of the fishhooks and reeling guns. When McGregor and Johansson fall from a skyscraper, they improbably plunge through the destructive wreckage and land safely onto a large net. The black construction worker (blacks are the only acceptable Christians in liberal myths) pulls them out and smilingly says to McGregor, “Jesus must love you.” When he pulls out the lovely and busty Johansson he intones facetiously, “I know that Jesus loves you.” The moment plays for a laugh that distracts attention from a key metaphor. What are the two ways to catch fish? With a hook or a net.

Secular science uses the hideous violence of a hook in the flesh of another human to fulfill what McCord (Steve Buscemi) proclaims is “the new American dream” — to “live forever.” The promise of eternal life through Christianity is secured with the “net” of belief that “Jesus loves you” and doesn’t require victimizing another human being.

Those contrasting elements are the clearest exposition of the film’s worldview and argue strongly for a perspective on life that—if not actually Christian—is sympathetic to a Christian position.

But Bay is nothing if not ambitious in this movie and throws a dollop of social commentary on race into the thematic blender. In the beginning of the film I wondered whether “Lincoln” would be the liberator of the slave race. There is a liberation of slaves here, but the film, from a racial perspective, most clearly resembles I, Robot. In both films there is a type of “Magic Negro” character who liberates a “white” race that is enslaved by their cultural conditioning.

In The Island, all the clones wear white shirts, white pants, and white shoes and live in a “white” environment: controlled, programmed, sexless. The ruthless mercenary, Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou), undergoes an ideological conversion when he sees the brand on Jordan Two Delta’s (Johansson’s) wrist. He displays a brand on his own palm and in doing so references one of the signature images in Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes where humans, representing American slavery, were branded with a twisted cross to show the tyranny of Christianity. Bay undoes that liberal myth here because it is a secular tyranny that brands the clones, that uses them for parts, that says they are without souls (as humans were said to be without souls in Planet).

Laurent’s mercenary heart is converted and he helps Jordan Two Delta by killing one of the guards. Based on that minor action, Bay idealizes the character and shows Jordan and Lincoln staring in close-up at Laurent as he heroically strides into the sunset in slow motion. It is an attempt at an epic moment, but it is so weakly supported by the action that one again suspects Bay of satirizing the moment and the mechanism instead of employing it.

The film concludes with one last metaphor, a reference to the film’s first scene in which Lincoln dreamed of himself and Delta floating on the sea in a beautiful yacht called Renovatio. Dr. Merrick helpfully informs us that this is Latin for “rebirth.” Lincoln and Delta and all the clones who escape the containment center and who were born only as “tissue” and “product” are reborn as persons. There is a lovely consonance of imagery as they escape in waves of white figures across the red earth. The desert is like a sea and each of the little figures floats across it like sail boats, finally free. Or, to use another metaphor from the movie, they are like the moth that Lincoln set free earlier: so many papillons fleeing with their arms outstretched from the prison island of the containment center.

The clones are transformed from so many products on a shelf into real people. The film implies that rebirth is not physical, nor merely intellectual, but consists of the one that is humanity’s alone of all the species on earth: a spiritual one.

Ultimately, the meaning of The Island is that it is an isolated state of mind, one that exists artificially in an inhuman landscape of ideas and that denies personhood to human beings in the service of power, privilege, and wealth. I believe that Bay is arguing that such people, like those found among the beautiful celebrities of our time, think that life is expedient to their needs and are blind to the monstrous consequences of their selfish desire to live longer, more beautifully, more perfectly. It is they who live on an island.

Excepting the silly action sequences, which don’t make much sense, The Island is a cleverly-executed film that attempts to answer an increasingly important question: what is a human life? Its answer is consonant with classic liberal and Christian thought and is the reason why Christians should see the film.

(Objectionable content: One “F” word, one “s” word, one “a” word, and a love scene with Johansson partly shown in a bra.)

DVD cover

See list of Relevant Issues — questions-and-answers.

Year of Release — 2005 / USA release: July 22, 2005 (nationwide)

Positive - I work at a movie theater, and when I first heard about The Island I thought it would be entertaining but run of the mill. Yet, as I watched it I realized that it is full of the pro-life message. It boldly communicates that all life is sacred and strongly alludes to the evils of abortion throughout the film. The language used in the artifical womb-like environment all points to it. Plus, it strongly protests humans playing God. At one point a character says “in a few years I will be able to say, I can cure childhood cancer! Who else can say that?” To which, the sarcastic response is “Only you and God I suppose, but that is what you wanted all along.” All in all, I really enjoyed this film. It does, however, have many violent and frightening scenes and one of sexuality. NOT RECOMENDED FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD.
My Ratings: Offensive/4½
—Sarah, age 21

Positive - The writing, storyline, chemistry, action, drama and message are what make this movie a true success for any film goer. The Island is a movie that has a blatant in your face conservative message about the immorality and dangers of allowing cloning into today’s society. How many say that they may have good intentions but messing what God’s handy work is just not up to us. Michael Bay who directs this movie is a pretty outspoken conservative, mostly because he brings us movies that are usually accompanied by Jerry Bruckheimer of “The Rock, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, and Con Air.”

While making this film, Michael Bay went to many senators and got their advice on what approach he should take and most notably he got the biggest support against cloning from our Republican Senators at Capital Hill.

This movie centers around two humans who find out that they are in fact clones as are everyone in their area. They as are everyone else in this special world are told that the outside world is contaminated and that there is a special Island that is safe to go. Each person must be healthy in order to go and each person must await their turn in the Lottery to be able to leave. However little do they know that the island means that their other half has cloned themselves for spare part in the outside world. The Island is really DEATH. After Ewan McGregor finds out the secret about the contamination, things start to unravel and the escape takes place. The Island is a non stop drama and action mixed into one Twilight Zone of a movie.

Unlike most movies leaving one or two stones turned over, out of forgetful neglect, the Island does not forget anything and leaves no stone unturned. We are kept in the loop from the beginning and are given everything we need to complete our evening of fun. There are no gaps, no “what abouts” or anything what so ever. This movie is downright excellent and is a perfect length.

Ewan McGregor rebounds from Star Wars with a victorious victory with The Island and has earned my respect and an actor because of it. Scarlet Johansson has always been a great actor and lives up to her name with her character as well. / 3.5 of 4 Stars / Mild Language including 1 F word, Brief Sexual Encounter but Fades Away and Violence
My Ratings: Better than Average/4½
—John Kehrli, age 31

Positive - I went into this movie planning on being disappointed (I only saw it because I won a ticket to a sneak peak). What happened instead…I was treated to a nearly 2-hour, action-packed, emotionally charged assault. Although a bit graphic in its violence at times, this film is easily one of the cleanest big budget movies I’ve seen in quite a while. Great acting, great story, and a great warning about what this world could possibly become!

Morally, I saw very little to object to. The main characters grew up in an environment that prohibited their exposure to sex (they don’t have any idea what it is, or have a desire to find out). Language, there were a few scattered d*** and a**, and only one use of the F-word. By today’s standards, that’s amazing.

Overall, I was very impressed with the action sequences, the special effects, the acting, and the morally sound yet frightening plot line.
My Ratings: Average/4
—Nathan Rossin, age 24

Positive - This one deserves an A. Michael Bay’s The Island is a definite edge-of-your-seat action movie, and the excitement doesn’t stop during the entire two hours of this production.

It raises several moral questions about the legalities and ethics of cloning, and in a surprising opposite of typical Hollywood, takes the correct moral stand on this issue. A major idea within the film is that life is valuable, and the point is well-made. By the end, I imagine even an individual who supports human cloning might think twice about his/her beliefs.

The action sequences are thrilling; the special effects are incredible. Interlaced with these details is a bit of well-placed comedy that provides a brief moment of relief for the audience, who throughout the rest of the film does not ever get a chance to relax. This is the best movie I’ve seen all year, and gives the viewer an almost interactive encounter.

The excessive action violence and images from the laboratories (as well a one use of the f-word) may be disturbing to younger viewers, but my 16-year-old brother and I had an absolutely wonderful time. I will add this DVD to my collection when it is released. The Island is a must-see for the summer!
My Ratings: Good/4
—Debbie H, age 23

Positive - …Pretty good fun, it’s no Minority Report or Blade Runner but it’s definitely worth the 8 bucks. The acting by the cast is pretty good. Bay creates a very cool visual world. The score fits the film well. Bay is up to his usual Shaky Cam tricks, but it doesn’t occur as often. …Profainity is fairly mild, I heard 1 F word, a couple S words and a few mild profainities. There’s a non-explict sex scene that lasts maybe 30 seconds and a few sexual references. The violence is intense but mostly non-graphic. There’s a few references about God that may offend some but other than that it’s perfectly okay for people 12 and over. Sex/Nudity: Moderate, Violence: Heavy, Profainity: Mild
My Ratings: Better than Average/4
—Jonathan Bennett

Positive - …I really enjoyed this film. It was thought-provoking, and it lines up to a theme all Christians believe, the sanctity of all human life. I like to be entertained and true to their goal, the entertainment industry provides a very entertaining film. There is not much content to object to and the quality is great. Great acting, design, and action.(If you liked the costumes for Minority Report, then you will like these. Deborah L. Scott does a great job again.) Overall it was time and money well spent. If you are not sure that you want to spend the time or the money, I would like to recomend watching the music video by D.C. Talk, Consume Me. Its the same basic idea without all the profanity, action, or sex in less than ten minutes.
My Ratings: Better than Average/4½
—Alejandra Orozco, age 22

Neutral - The movie is very thought provoking. I can see something like that happening today amongst the billionaire wealthy. But probably not to that magnatude as shown in the movie. I can picture those experiments happening right now in some third world country bought out by billionaires covered under diplomatic immunity and national soverignty. Right now as we speak, organs are removed (stolen) from throw away street children in South America. But, bottom line is now no matter how many organs you purchase we cannot live forever in this present world because we are under the Genesis curse and the bible verse that makes reference that our days are numbered to around 120 years. DNA is so complex that God only knows the code to undo the genetic self destruct mechanism that so observable at every funeral and every new wrinkle on our once young lovely faces. High price we paid for Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. Wrecked our genetics… Even all the people raised from the dead and healed by Jesus Christ later died again.

So its not the plan of the heavenly father for us to cheat death in the present world on our own efforts. The movie does have an evolutionary comment when the narrator says we were around for billions of years evolving. Aside from the science-fiction stunts it was a very thought provoking movie and an eye opener from a philosphical point of view.
My Ratings: Better than Average/5
—William Easterling, age 39

Negative - Hmmm…how to begin? I am not a Michael Bay fan. In fact, I try to avoid both him and Jerry Bruckheimer like the plague. I KNOW if I buy a ticket to one of their movies it will be shallow, ultra-violent, contrived, sometimes sappy, and it will usually involve bad camera work. Bay is no stranger to society’s growing “short attention span” problem. He started his career in music videos and commercials. He then moved (quite successfully) into multi-million dollar action movies like Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys 2, and now…The Island (actually, that’s all of his movies). I’m sure you can tell that I don’t like the man, but I’m forced to give the first half of The Island a good review. It’s engaging, interesting science-fiction. Great acting and great special effects also help.

The second half of the movie is typical Bay: loud, over-the-top, violent action. Almost non-stop. And it’s made all the more unsatisfying by his trademark shaky camerawork (where you can’t really see what’s happening in the fight/chase). I thought there were only so many chases/crashes/explosions/fights a movie could believably handle…but Bay has blown that idea out of the water for me. I felt pummeled by all of the action sequences by the end of the movie.

But here’s my BIG gripe: Bay, a former commercial director, uses The Island for mass product placement. This enrages me! Aquafina, Puma, Microsoft, Speedo, Cadillac…you are literally assulted by images of product logos. That alone makes me not want to recommend this movie. When entire shots are intended JUST to display a product, we’re no longer watching a movie, but a commercial. It’s bad enough we have to see them before the movie…I can’t stand them IN the movies. After all that, I’d have to say that The Island is, by far, Bay’s best work yet (which isn’t saying much). If you like science-fiction that makes you think, you’ll enjoy the first half. If you like video game-style non-stop action, you’ll like the second half. If you enjoy the commercials on TV more than the shows, you’ll love the shameless product placement. Enjoy The Island! It was painstakingly created to meet all your summer blockbuster entertainment requirements!
My Ratings: Average/4
—Todd, age 31

Neutral - This film seems to be a poor attempt to wrap Coma, The Matrix, Brave New World, Blade Runner and every other story of this type up into one film. Many probing questions are asked but the writers don’t go nearly far enough in questioning the extent of abuse that could and would happen were someone actually able “grow” clones like this. This film certainly delivers pure entertainment if that’s all you want, but falls disappointingly short of exploring in that way too much is attempted and focus is totally lost. We can only hope future films of this type will focus on one or at most two questions and not be such an obvious attmept at a box office blast for bucks. But then again can we trust Hollyweird with the answers?
My Ratings: Average/3
—Bob C, age 41

Positive - Have actually seen the movie twice in the past two days. The first time I did not really know what to expect. Thought that the effects were great, loved the futuristic cars, etc. But it was at the end that I was really riveted. When Lincoln breaks 'the machine' and light comes through, all of the people start running towards that light. I immediately started to weep and think of the scripture that the Lord had given my husband and myself for our ministry, “to give light to those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:79).

I was also touched by the desire of Lincoln and Jorden to return to save their friends even though it most likely meant their deaths. Well, I went home and told my husband he had to go see it with me. So we went and again I was just struck by that scene of the light coming in and people rushing to it. But what also struck me was when they did the synoptic scan on Lincoln. They said he had memories that he had no reason to have. That just made me think of how the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom that is not of our own and that we have everything we need inside of us because of who Christ is in us…not from the outside world. The outside brings death and destruction, but when we tap into Jesus in us, we have that life (the Island) and life more abundantly…not the death that we know awaits those who reject Jesus. I recommend this movie, because anyone who has the Spirit of God in them will receive what the Spirit wants to say to them through it.
My Ratings: Better than Average/4½
—Gail, age 43

Positive - First I must say that this was one of the best movies I have viewed all summer. The movie’s plot was so well conceived and morally correct that I can’t help but love it. It contained a strong pro-life message that centered around the value of every human life, basically slapping most liberal-minded people in the face. Some of the listed reviews state that the first 45 minutes consisted of decent stories, but that the rest of the movie was a non-stop, mindless, violent movie. Though I respect their opinions, the action was great, and the story well balanced. The movie did contain some language, all of which was spoken by morally wrong, or questionable, people. All in all, go see this movie, you won’t be dissapointed.
My Ratings: Better than Average/5
—Andrew, age 21

Positive - 3 cheers for Michael Bay, Sean Bean, Ewan MacGregor and gang for making this morally excellent and emotionally- and intellectually-powerful movie!! (And it’s out of Hollywood, even: miracles do happen!!)

This is a movie that every 20-something and highschooler and high school youth group in America should watch and discuss, because it brings to life (pun intended) and makes personal the often-impersonal questions from the current debates about stem-cell research, cloning, abortion, and genetic engineering: what is the definition of “human”? What is the value of a single human life? Who gets to decide these answers?

“The Island” shouts out the answer in technicolor: CHOOSE LIFE; Life is beautiful! Life is precious! People are precious! Only God has the right to play God! And Jesus loves you!!

There are far too many great things about “The Island” to list here. It’s practically all that my wife and I talked about for several days. When we walked out of the theater we were overwhelmed; we felt like Jordan 2 Delta and Lincoln 6 Echo stepping out into the world. “The Island” deserves to be nominated for several Academy Awards.

As for those reviewers who have criticized the action scenes, what can I say? I guess they just don’t like awesome action scenes. But the action scenes made the movie like real life, which isn’t always peaceful and predictable; especially when someone is trying to kill you. Tthe action scenes also demonstrated the wrenching emotional and mental trauma of Lincoln and Jordan and the others, and they showed the malice and the evil threat of the Enemy, and his terrible fear of the truth becoming known. (Plus, I’ve GOT to have one of those motorcycles!)
My Ratings: Better than Average/5
—John, age 43

Negative - Maybe someone will be wise enough to edit this movie for Christian audiences everywhere to be able to share it with our neighbors and start a wholesome discussion in regards to the important topic of Life and death, cloning, abortion and embryonic stem cell research!

…I took my wife out to our first movie in 3 years. …I was horrified by the grotesque violence in the movie and felt ashamed that I had exposed my wife to a date by going to this show… Having said that, I do not want to take away from the very positive areas of the movie. I would probably watch it myself on dvd without the 30 minutes of highly objectionable advertising and without having my wife’s sensitive and gentle heart exposed to this movie.

The theme of the movie: “Playing God with life and death does not belong to Merck’s doctors or any other RU486 proabortion drug dealers.” What a wonderful and clear message. No wonder Newsweek’s pro-death critics spoke out so strongly against the movie, eventhough the movie had a slight reference to our “dumb president” who would clone himself. Shows you how “unbiased” critics are :-)! I hope honest critics would agree that we should not trust so easily drugmakers' money driven decisions on our behalf, specially in the areas of cloning and stem cell “research”!

I also appreciated the intensity of the movie’s action scenes and know Hollywood made sure ONLY the highest quality of special effects were placed in the movie: “The Island”! Reminded me so much of the movie: “Speed”! It was also great to see “Nelix” from Star Trek play a vital role in the show as well!

The movie’s quality is 5 star. The sexually explicit part had nothing to do with the movie and should have been edited out completely. Many of us believe SEX is HOLY and BEAUTIFUL in the context of God sanctified Marriage and wish Hollywood would not so offensively try to move us into this kind of debasing vulgar thought processes through unrelated explicit demeaning of this beautiful gift of God for the Married!

The movie seem to want to place various viewpoints of God by having one of the actors mock God’s response to our prayers while in another scene disarmed Believers, by having one of the actors telling the escaping clones JESUS LOVES YOU! After all, how can Christians object to a movie which had these 3 beautiful words in it, right? How dumb does Hollywood think believers are!? If you are going to refer to God and Jesus, why not have the faithful followers of our Messiah Jesus review the movie and help edit it for a more profitable entertainment morally and financially next time!
My Ratings: Offensive/5
—Davar Alai, age 42

Positive - My wife and I are always looking for good movies to see which lately it seems these movies are few and far between. However, after seeing this I was filled with a renewed sense of hope for Hollywood and the moral values it usually seems to lack. I don’t know how but I really feel that God’s hand was somewhere in all of this.

As far as the product placement complaint, if movies can be made this well with a pro-life view (Hanz Zimmer-music, Bay - Director, Ewan - Actor, Scarlett - actress, ILM - Special Effects), then I say do whatever it takes to fund the project so long as it doesn’t take away from the story and movie. I have always thought the lack of using any products which has long been the norm in Hollywood is more of a distraction. How many times have we seen “Cola” on the side of a can in a movie. Cmon, call it what it is a coke or a pepsi. Anyhow back to my main point.

Any movie that portrays ALL human life as precious is a good start for Hollywood. Some who have seen it might argue but if you truly think about it. Every intentional death in the movie was caused by the antagonists of the film. Especially encouraging was the value given to the unconscious and humans not yet born so to speak. Even those living in the “other world” were looked on as children and innocent. I couldn’t help but think of abortion. The most obvious scene was the termination of the clones with abortion like procedures. If anyone knows anything of how an abortion is performed this most likely brought tears to your eyes. Perhaps I am the only one here but I urge anyone who didn’t see this to take another look at the movie. It seemed painfully obvious to me what was being portrayed. The movie did have some graphic violence which would make it most definitely unsuitable for younger viewers but the values and lessons taught reinforce the sanctity of our God given lives. Prayerfully many will see this film and consider the importance of life.
My Ratings: Better than Average/4½
—William Livingston, age 32

Positive - I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS FILM… I was very curious to see the next Jerry Bruckheimer film, as I do enjoy (contrary to most critics and friends) the action and style of his filmmaking. I also enjoy the moral ideas that are promoted in many of his films quietly (Con Air-Hero, honor,family / Armmageddon-Father, sacrificial love etc.) . Most of his films are loud action films with lines that can offend many Christians but also ones that show clear biblical truths. It is really up to one’s interpretation. I was also curious to the plot of 'The Island'. It seemed very interesting, but yet I thought could this be a pro-life film? I clearly went into this film expecting some liberal ideas and an ending promoting stem cell research and such and hoping for at least a little hint of a moral biblical value and I can pleasantly say I was shocked, really shocked. Interesting note, Scarlett Johansen after making this film in an interview said that she supports stem cell research. I found that strange since the movie condemns that exact way of thinking, and she is starring in it.

I do not need to explain the plot of clones being made to think they are being chosen to go to paradise but in realty are being lied to so they can be harvested for spare body parts to their rich 'sponsors' or 'real people'. I was treated to a fantastic film whose message was that life is sacred and not to be destroyed. The McGregor and Johanssen characters in my eyes throughout the film represented the innocent children who are being murdered each and everyday because the world either does not realize or chooses to ignore the fact that they are living people…The Island takes you from the realization of the truth about the Island to the escape of Jordan 2 Deta (Johannsen) and Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor).

There are some lines that will ofend such as Steve Buscemi stating God is the one who ignores you when you ask for something. We can clearly take that line as from someone who does not know the deep love of Christ and of course this is not a movie about Christians made by Christians. But as always there are some good lines as well such as when the Dr. states 'who can say in the next 2 years that they have cured leukemia, I guess only you and God' is replied by the bounty hunter(played by Jimon Hounsou) who eventually realizes he is not chasing 'products with no souls' but people who are just like him. The line when a worker picks up McGregor who has just fallen off a skyscraper into a net proclaims 'that Jesus loves you' and after seeing Scarlett climb up after him 'He must really love you' I found humorous and not at all offensive. Truthfully both were saved from falling and Jesus’s heart is to save all who are falling.

The action sequences are exhilarating and will keep you on the edge of your seat. Remember this is science fiction and a Jerry Bruckheimer film so it is not a quiet movie. For those who watch this film, please pay attention to the idea that the clones are created not as babies but at the age that their sponsor is currently at. There is not a point in the film that they are shown as lifeless creations. I have to point out that the sponsors who paid for these clones are told that they have no life in them and that they are always unconscious. This, of course, is a lie. The doctor played by Sean Bean reveals later in the film that he could not create life without simply that, LIFE. The clones could not have been created without allowing them to have a soul with real feelings and a mind — a person. When they tried to create the clones in a unconscious 'lifeless state' they could not. The truth that life was being destroyed is the same deception that abortion says is not happening. I would hope as the reviewer stated above that every Christian should see this movie because of the message it presents. I will buy the DVD, and I hope many will as well so that Hollywood would create more films promoting the sanctity of life. There is a sex scene and heavy violence so I don’t recommend this to children. As a Christian who loves movies I walked out of the theatre with a friend of mine shocked that I had just seen such a pro-life movie. The overall feeling I had was one of joy and a renewed sense as to why I am a pro-life Christian. I am recommending this film to all who love movies but want a good message and an ending that is indeed 'happy'. Even with some scenes objectionable this film condemns stem cell research and promotes a pro-life message all the while giving an exciting jaw dropping 2 hours. I have put down 'extremely offensive' because this film is truthful in presenting the horrors of what the world believes is okay.…
My Ratings: Extremely Offensive / 5
—Marcelo S., age 31

Positive - This movie ROCKS! I mean this movie was exciting but it threw out its questions, and its answers well at the same time
My Ratings: Better than Average/3½
—Andre Gerner, age 14

Positive - Very good movie! Great special efects that definitely deserve the oscar nomination they got and good action. I found the movie very entertaining and I liked the twist at the end. I have seen this movie 7 times and I would still see it again. (And that’s not an exaggeration, I actually count. Yes I do have a lot of time on my hands.)
My Ratings: Average / 3
—David, age 14

Positive - It was a good film over all. There was a little bit of sensuality in it, but if you rent the movie you can just skip through that. It was an exciting movie, full of energy. The cinimatography was superb, and I absolutely loved the cast! It was an inspiration to me on how to make a movie! I absolutly loved it A+
My Ratings: Average / 4
—D. Robbie, age 14

Positive - This one was really good. There was one scene where my dad had to skip, but I knew exactly what he did. I saw all of the rest of it. They had a lot of sex hints in this, but I was glad I saw it. It’s actually a LOT like the Christian life. They do cuss a lot, but it was really, really, really good. Ewan McGregor does really well in this one. It has a lot of humor, sure to keep you laughing.
My Ratings: Average / 5
—Kitty, age 13

Positive - …I thought this movie was great. Visually, it was stunning, and I thought the plot was deep and impressive. I’m the first one to admit that Michael Bay has directed a few stinkers, but this sure isn’t one of them. …there weren’t very many content issues. A bit of language, and one minor love scene.
My Ratings: Better than Average / 4½
—Jared, age 15

Positive - …it was good except for the some parts of the movie, but if you get it on dvd or video then you could just fast forward through it and enjoy the rest of the movie.
My Ratings: Better than Average / 4
—Rachel, age 15