The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

Based on the H.G. Welles novel, the movie is one of Hollywood's greatest turkeys. Unpopular when released, despised by the critics, and marred by cast turnover, script re-writes, and in-fighting between the stars.

Why Brando Took the Role

Money. Brando and the New Line Executives struck a deal to the surprise of original Director Richard Stanley. With Brando on board, everyone wanted in, including Roman Polanski. But Brando stuck by the original director and after Bruce Willis and Rob Morrow dropped out, Val Kilmer and David Thewlis joined the production and filming began.

Brando's Performance
Once again, your DVD cover is lying to you. Brando is not the co-lead. Brando has a supporting role, showing up at the 30 minute mark and leaving 35 minutes later. During this stretch, basically Act II, he's on-screen for about 15 minutes.

Widely regarded as one of his worst performance - some of the blame resides with his bizarre outfits. Outdoors, Brando wears white pancake makeup, a white moo-moo and sunglasses. Indoors, its no makeup, and a patterned moo-moo big enough to cover his 300 lbs. At one point, he has an ice bucket on his head. Throughout, he affects an English accent similar to that used in the Dry White Season or Mutiny on the Bounty and seems bored. The "razzie" nomination is well deserved. Rating *

The Movie
With a 4.6 IMDB rating, Dr. Moreau isn't that bad, but that's all the praise I can give it. David Thewlis, the true lead, gives an adequate performance, as does Val Kilmer. The problem is the slack direction and bad script. The movie is dull - but also confusing. The filmmakers never make clear who is doing what - and why. They also forgot that weird doesn't mean interesting. The last 35 minutes consists of nothing more than violence & explosions. Rating *1/2