A High Wind in Jamaica

Customer Reviews:

A High Wind In Jamaica.......2007-09-02

If you are a fan of high sea adventure this is the one for you it has a bit of comedy in this may this be your next buy in the high seas

Not quite savage enough.......2006-10-17

A major influence on John Milius' The Wind and the Lion (Milius would even cast its leading child actress, Deborah Baxter, in his film), Alexander Mackendrick's film of A High Wind in Jamaica is a little too safe for too much of its running time to really capture the heart of childish darkness of the novel. It starts well with the white family praying to God and their black servants sacrificing a chicken in a voodoo ceremony as they both shelter from a fierce storm in the basement of their plantation building, setting up the conflict not just between different cultures but also the generations with the innocent and indifferent fascination children have with the things their elders find most repellent. Yet when they find themselves accidental hostages of Anthony Quinn and James Coburn's pirates, their childish games driving the superstitious crew ever closer to mutiny and the story closer to tragedy, it's somewhat undermined by the fact that these pirates are a surprisingly passive and well behaved lot. Yet when it finally does move into darker waters, it's surprisingly powerful and effective, and there's a real sense of loss to the ending. If the film occasionally threatens to go all Disney on you and isn't up to the standard of Mackendrick's best work, it does share his understanding of how children really behave with films like Mandy, and it also features a surprisingly beautiful full orchestral score by Larry Adler.

Fox's DVD is a good one, boasting a fine widescreen 2.35:1 and panned-and-scanned fullscreen transfers, trailer and trailers for The Black Swan, Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World and Pirates of Tortuga.

Nice little surprise!.......2006-08-15

This was a very pleasant surprise for me. I expected a somewhat cheap and mediocre movie based partially on the fact that I had never heard of the movie before. However, there are two good stars to anchor the film, and the young supporting cast (particularly Deborah Baxter) steals the show.

The basic gist is that a group of kids accidentally end up on a pirate ship where Anthony Quinn is the captain and James Coburn is his right hand man. While they are pirates, they are somewhat lovable, and their reaction to the kids makes them quite endearing. The kids are quite innocent and funny, and of course they create havoc aboard the ship.

Emily (played by Baxter) is wonderful as a cute little girl who kind of takes charge among the kids. She flashes back and forth between being a typical little kid who does silly stuff and being quite grown up. Ultimately, she and Quinn form the primary characters in the movie, and both characters win their way into your heart.

The ending is somewhat surprising (at least it was for me), but it is a very solid ending to top off this very good little film. Not sure why this film remains hidden from view. Very underrated

DVD High Wind in Jamaica.......2006-03-13

Had to send this back as not compatible with my DVD player.

Wish they still made movies of this caliber.......2005-08-09

I first watched this movie when I was a young girl. I have watched this movie at least 20 times and I am now purchasing the DVD for my grandkids.
This movie does not have the Hollywood glam that can ruin a movie. I cry each time I watch this movie and I am still moved by the story line. Anthony Quinn and James Coburn are at their bests. People who do not like this movie are usually too young to remember when movies were made without special effects and the scripts had to carry the movie, this script does that very well.

DVD:

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