In 2003, Adam Armus and Kay Foster tried to develop an entirely new version of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND as a three hour Hallmark telefilm premiered on September 10, 2005. However, the Armus-Foster concept was entirely too dependent on the 1961 version, and other clichés of the 1990s, to provide a fresh framework.<br /><br />The screenwriters, noting the vast scope of the novel, and the fact that Nemo only appeared briefly in the end, decided to eliminate "the secret of the island" from the outset to provide continuous interaction between Nemo and the castaways. As well, Armus and Foster sought to bypass the more mundane episodes of survival and developing a life on the island, to add more action.<br /><br />Nemo and the castaways clash from the outside, eventually existing separately on the island, until the final crisis of the pirates and the eruption bring them together. As a result, there are two rival groups of inhabitants of the island, enacted and told in different form, On one level is Patrick Stewart as Nemo, with Roy Marsden as his assistant, with whom he has almost a brotherly relationship, both enacted with professionalism and conviction. As in the 1974 version, Nemo's major role, and his motivations and loyalties, are as Verne presented, although his nationality is changed to an Englishman who has adopted India, given the casting of Stewart.<br /><br />Ironically, while in 2002, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN finally cast an Indian as Nemo, but changed his motivation to a "pirate," here he returns to the James Mason-Herbert Lom European style of casting, but retaining his actual beliefs, if not his ethnicity. Given a choice, I prefer Stewart's configuration and enactment of the role to the others more recent.<br /><br />By contrast, the larger story of the castaways is enacted in an entirely perfunctory manner by lesser talents, in a narrative that offers little opportunity for more than minimal characterization. The balloon escape brings together a slightly different group of castaways than Verne imagined. For the first time, in a Hollywood version of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, Cyrus is correctly surnamed Smith, and Pencroff (not, as in the Cyrus Harding translations, Pencroft) becomes a Confederate Colonel desirous of the gold the pirates seek, as played by Kyle MacLachlan and Jason Durr, respectively. Spillet is here given the name Jane (Gabrielle Anwar), a nurse in the Confederate prison, instead of the war correspondent, and Harbart is replaced by her daughter, Helen, Danielle Calvert. She is saved from a giant bird (a la Les Enfants du Capitaine Grant) by Atherton (Chris Larkin) in place of Ayrton. Marooned on the island 8 years, he is here the brother of Bob Harvey (Vinnie Jones). Omar Gooding is Neb, rather in a more modern and assertive vein than the novel's characterization.<br /><br />The tale itself is like a serial, dependant on repetitious thrills to fill the running time. Filmed in Krabi, Thailand, over 61 days, in 2004, the tropical island is inhabited with more of the giant creatures that were the highlight of the 1961 version, so many that here they become the norm. Instead of sporadic threat, the giant bugs, rat, and bird appear in such a relentless pace that it destroys any novelty or surprise they might have. As a result, the suspense they provide is minimal under Russell Mulcahy's direction. The derivative nature of this device, despite the use of material from the Verne novel, classifies the 2005 version as more of a remake of the 1961 version rather than an original adaptation in its own right, a choice that diminishes the film's possibilities from the outset.<br /><br />The principal subplot, occupying even more of the film than Nemo, are the pirates. As told in an opening voice-over appearing during an aerial view of the island, Patrick Stewart tells how the island is uncharted but regularly visited, for men know that beyond the menacing creatures is a cursed treasure. One group of pirates provide the opening scene of the film, before cutting to the Confederate prison in Virginia. Later, Bob Harvey's pirates return to the island, providing a secondary source of danger. They, too, are menaced by the omnivorous creatures.<br /><br />Further clichés are presented as Nemo inhabits an island compound, to keep out the giant creatures, with an electrified fence, an idea unimaginatively redolent of JURASSIC PARK, and, to a lesser degree, H.G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau. Only in the Indian design and architecture of Nemo's home amidst the caves is there some originality. The Nautilus itself again is rather too closely modeled on the one found in the 1961 version.<br /><br />A new element is added with Nemo seeking to end war by building a weapon so powerful that it could destroy a city. He hopes that this would dissuade humanity from armed struggle, but Cyrus refuses to assist him, saying instead every nation will want one. The secret ingredient of his bomb, found only on the island, is what makes the animals so abnormally large. Like the 1961 version, Nemo warns the castaways of the volcanic eruption, who escape in a small boat, while he remains behind to gather his notes, but is trapped in the grotto as the Nautilus is crushed in the rocks and lava.