A tale about a fatherless boy finding dramatically different father figures throughout a remarkable adventure, Treasure Island is an entertaining coming-of-age story, with themes of family, loyalty, friendship, trust, and honesty at its core. While Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure tale is popular film fare, it's never been done this well. Charlton Heston stars as Long John Silver and Christian Bale as plucky Jim Hawkins in this TNT production. Directed by Heston's son Fraser (who also directed the excellent family fare Alaska), the film remains faithful to the novel, and draws much of the spirit and excitement of the book. The action scenes are first-rate, and if the ship Hispaniola has never looked better or more authentic, no surprise: the ship is the original from 1962's Mutiny on the Bounty. The opening scenes are dark and rich, as they capture the period well, with careful attention to makeup (the teeth, the body grime!) and costuming. Oliver Reed and Christopher Lee are frighteningly effective as Capt.  Billy Bones and Blind Pew, and the film's first half-hour is theirs. The tone shifts and lightens when Heston appears as the legendary pirate. Look for Pete Postlethwaite, Julian Glover, and Richard Johnson in wonderful supporting roles. [+]

When New York theatrical producer Joseph Papp decided to bring Gilbert and Sullivan to Broadway, he added typically broad, bold strokes to make their singular operetta format meaningful to 1980s audiences. In The Pirates of Penzance, Papp had a story that offered a mixture of potential action and comedy that was less arcane than other G&S chestnuts, which Papp's production underlined by playing up its antic conflict between its hapless, titular pirates and the citizens of Penzance, the Cornish town targeted for plunder. Adding to the new production's mainstream allure was the theatrical debut for erstwhile country-rock siren Linda Ronstadt as the virginal Mabel, along with a plum role for another putative pop heartthrob, Rex Smith, as the "good" pirate, Frederic. Naturally, such amendments piqued complaints from self-appointed G&S purists, for whom the duo's original satirical edge and theatrical innovation were obscured (if not ossified) by their canon's patina of respectability. Happily, for the rest of us, Papp's cheeky revisions are generally on the money, and this 1983 film version preserves them with unusual fidelity. Instead of opening up his production with location shooting or intricate editing, director Wilford Leach savors the artifice of its stage sets and hokey, colorful costuming, celebrating the genre's proud theatrical legacy. The cast, meanwhile, tears into the farcical plot with elan, led by Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, a role perfect for his skill at lampooning masculine bravado (not to mention his underexposed, generally strong singing). Broadway veteran George Rose proves the very model of the modern Major-General Stanley, and Angela Lansbury, added to the film's cast for marquee value, again shows her mettle as the ditzy maid, Ruth. Ronstadt justifies Papp's gamble, having trained rigorously to meet Sullivan's acrobatic melodies-indeed, this project marked her commitment to grow beyond rock, confirmed with her subsequent exploration of classic pop with arranger-conductor Nelson Riddle. -Sam Sutherland.

An archaeologist travels to the Egyptian pyramids to search for treasure and finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery. A sudsy second cousin to exotic-locale thrillers like Charade, Franklin J. Schaffner's Sphinx offers a pleasant popcorn blend of old-school serial excitement and paperback-novel romance. Lesley-Anne Down (looking lovely as always) is top-billed as an archaeologist searching for the lost (and cursed, naturally) tomb of a king in Egypt. After witnessing the murder of a local expert (John Gielgud), Down becomes the target of assassins; Frank Langella is on hand as a handsome stranger who generates sparks with the good doctor as he attempts to help her locate the tomb. The Egyptian locations provide a picturesque backdrop for this film adaptation of the serviceable novel by Robin Cook; the cast (which includes John Rhys-Davies, who returned to the region that same year in Raiders of the Lost Ark) is also attractive and definitely game to navigate the story's pulpy machinery. -Paul Gaita.

Of all the Sherlock Holmes tales written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles (one of the four novels) remains the best-known. Adding a dash of the supernatural to the Great Detective's adventures, it is certainly one of the most dramatic-and an obvious target for screen interpretation. Prior to Jeremy Brett's indelibly making the role his own to modern TV audiences, Ian Richardson made for a suitably incisive and enthusiastic Holmes in this enjoyable 1983 adaptation. The much-filmed tale finds Holmes and Watson drawn in to the mysterious curse afflicting the well-heeled Baskerville dynasty. Is a monster stalking the heir to the Baskerville fortune, or is the culprit a far from demonic force? As Holmes, Richardson is blessed with the avian features that, like Basil Rathbone's or Peter Cushing's, effectively capture Sidney Paget's original likeness. Though Holmes's more antisocial facets are dispensed with, Richardson is engaging in such a well-explored role, recalling the razor-sharp wit and intelligence of Rathbone. Attracting a distinguished British cast (Brian Blessed, Denholm Elliot, Martin Shaw) and decent production values (though with a few Hammer Horror moments), this will not disappoint fans of Victorian literature's finest detective, nor those in search of a classic, chilling thriller. -Danny Graydon.

Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) is back in this sequel to Every Which Way but Loose, once again brawling to make ends meet and just trying to manage his life with a crazy mother (Ruth Gordon), a dimwitted best friend (Geoffrey Lewis) and, of course, Clyde the Orangutan. He's had enough of this life, but when a mobster (Harry Guardino) comes along to make him an offer he can't refuse, Philo must use his wits as well as his fists to get himself out of yet another jam. The humor is thin and sporadic (though Gordon is in fine form), and Eastwood has since gone on to better things; but a film that features a brawl with a monkey and a motorcycle gang can't be all bad. -Robert Lane.

This HBO docudrama depicts the notorious 1971 prison revolt at the Attica State Penitentiary in upstate New York. One can sense the mastery of veteran theatrical feature director John Frankenheimer in the movie's gripping suspense and gritty, hard-hitting realism. The semifictionalized narrative is told from the point of view of young Michael Smith (Kyle MacLachlan), a newly recruited prison guard. (The real Smith worked as a consultant on the film. ) When Smith arrives at Attica, the place is a revolt waiting to happen. When riots break out and the inmates take command of the prison, Smith and several other guards are held hostage. In this powder-keg climate, a relationship develops between Smith and the rebellion's wise, cool-headed leader, Jamaal (the superb Samuel L. Jackson), a political prisoner representing the African Liberation Movement. The insurrection at Attica became emblematic of protests taking place all over the United States at the time. "We've got a civil war going on in this country," says one prison guard, "This is where we hold the line. [+]

One wouldn't recognize Amazon Jail as being directed by the same man who made Bare Behind Bars, Oswaldo De Oliveira, as it has none of the campy charm inherent in the prequel. Edgar and Valena (Mauricio de Vallen and Elizabeth Hartman) run a slave trade peddling ladies who they've imprisoned in a corral. Deep in the Amazon, they are visited only by men who pay top dollar for these women, making it easy for this sleazy couple to lure females in by promising them jobs as tourist guides. Four prisoners gang up to destroy the entire enterprise, but that is where the similarities between Amazon Jail and Bare Behind Bars end. Bare Behind Bars flaunts sexy female prison guards, while the guards in Amazon Jail are obese, hairy, drunken, sweaty men. Prisoners in Bare Behind Bars wear no underwear and constantly strip for sex, while prisoners in Amazon Jail are dressed 90% of the time and are hardly ever aroused. Removing sex and nudity leaves little to get excited about. Impossible not to compare the two films, Amazon Jail measures up sadly against its predecessor, making it easy to choose when in the mood for a cheeky women-in-prison flick. -Trinie Dalton.

Winner of four Academy Awards including best picture, director, screenplay, and music, this 1963 adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic novel is a rousing, bawdy comedy about a young man's ribald adventures in 18th-century England. Albert Finney is splendidly hilarious in the title role of a charming womanizer who was discovered as an abandoned infant in the bed of Squire Allworthy, a wealthy landowner who named the child Tom Jones and raised him as his own. As a young man, Tom yearns for the comely daughter (Susannah York) of a neighboring squire, but his amorous adventures (including an extended food orgy that becomes the film's funniest scene) lead him to London and to a duel with a jealous husband. He's sentenced to hang, but fate intervenes. A hit around the world, the film was expertly written by noted playwright John Osborne, and director Tony Richardson uses a variety of old-style movie techniques to heighten the lusty, good-natured fun. Don't miss this one! -Jeff Shannon.

Ghosts of Mars may not be one of John Carpenter's finer efforts, but you can't knock the veteran director for staying true to his roots-it's clearly a Carpenter film, reveling in its B-movie blood lust, and fueled by the director's rock & roll rebellion as well as the sex appeal of star Natasha Henstridge. This rickety sci-fi/horror hybrid recalls Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, with various connections from throughout the director's career-for better and worse. It's the year 2176, and human colonists on Mars are controlled by a political "matronage," with women (for reasons unexplained) holding court in the capitol city of Chryse. Mars Police Force Lt. Ballard (Henstridge) has been sent to retrieve James "Desolation" Williams (Ice Cube), the planet's most notorious criminal, from a remote mining-colony prison. With her ill-fated crew, Ballard discovers that the colonists have nearly all been possessed by ancient Martian spirits bent on reclaiming the planet, turning them into an army of self-mutilating freaks suggesting an unholy union of Marilyn Manson and the sadomasochistic Cenobites from the Hellraiser films. None of this makes much sense, and the shaky alliance between cops and criminals is a predictable excuse for rampant battle scenes between surviving humans and the ghost-possessed maniacs. Exotic weaponry abounds (along with cheap special effects and some laughable dialogue), resulting in the gruesome dispatch of expendable costars Pam Grier, Joanna Cassidy, Robert Carradine, and Clea Duvall. Driven by Carpenter's synth-metal score, this violent free-for-all has a few brief highlights, but it's suspenseless and ultimately absurd. It's not much, but for loyal fans it's probably enough. [+]