Frequent problems on set, a production company that filed for bankruptcy before the film even opened, and a public that wasn’t quite ready yet for a pirate movie all caused Cutthroat Island to garner a but of a reputation as a horrible movie.

So I decided to check it out. I hadn’t seen it since it came to home video, but I don’t think I hated it then. I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t amazing. And now?

And of course, some of the viewing public had a problem with the gender reversal with Geena Davis being the ass-kicking hero, Morgan Adams, and Matthew Modine as the dude in distress, William Shaw. Also their performances aren’t outstanding, though Davis looks wonderful.

Frank Langella, on the other hand, seems to having a bang-up time as the film’s villain, Dawg Brown.

There are a number of standout sequences, some beautiful location work, and a fairly basic swashbuckling narrative featuring betrayals, treasure maps, tall ships and sword fights. It honestly, should have worked.

Both Davis and Harlin wanted off the film, and you can definitely see that in Davis’ performance, there’s no spark to it, and that causes the film to fumble a bit.

Morgan is in possession of a treasure map, well part of one anyway, after her father is betrayed by Dawg. It’s in Latin, happily, Morgan has learned of a doctor, about to be sold as a slave, Shaw, who can translate it.

So let the swashbuckling begin. While Davis may not be all in, and Modine is iffy throughout, I absolutely delighted in Stan Shaw’s performance as Mr. Glasspoole. He is by far my favourite character in the film.

The ships are gorgeous, the film’s poster is classic (I miss posters like this), the swordfighting is okay, and the locations are beautiful. Sure this one didn’t fire, but a few years later, Disney hits on the formula that will.

It’s unfortunate that this one didn’t work. A sexy pirate captain who isn’t afraid to kick-ass (and apparently do most of their own stunts), and a fairly enjoyable, if familiar, pirate tale, while also being a little self-aware.

Could have been great. Could have been so big, but performances, and the issues with Carolco didn’t do this film any favors. If Davis had gone full bore with this one, who knows we could be watching the further adventures of Morgan and her crew and maybe competing with Captain Jack Sparrow.

There’s a pretty solid score by John Debney, and I really wanted to love this one, instead, it’s more of a just like it, and imagining the could have beens. But that poster!