Pretty Good

Beautiful, moving film.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Nate and Hayes or Savage Island...which did you watch it as? Movies like this were awesome...huge from the Golden Age of the Silver Screen into the '90s when they started to peter out until, well, until they vanished leaving us with nothing but Super Hero films to fill the void......I have nothing against Super Hero films, but I love adventure films too.I can see where folks would not like it, especially the people that take themselves too seriously. It is stuck in a genera that is at once extremely pulp and kind of serialized. Even if it's not a sequel, you know the story.The Goonies, Romancing the Stone, Jake Speed, Firewalker, Vibes, Big Trouble in Little China, Young Sherlock Holmes...and of course the crown, the king, the Indiana Jones movies.They are all close enough to one another to really fit into the same mold. The characters change, the concepts stay the same and....we love it.Enter the Roguish hero and the damsel in distress in an exotic location to find X marking the MacGuffin, but first they have to work their way through obstacles both natural and man made in the form of a nasty antagonist and a couple of henchmen. Throw in a semi-bumbling sidekick and you have what I like to call "High Adventure." "Nate and Hayes" follows that outline and if you are the kind of individual that is still young enough at heart to love adventure films...you will inevitably like this movie.If you are the kind of man or woman that takes everything extremely seriously and refuses to play at all, not matter what it is. If you are the type that would use the word "compete" instead of "play" or "game" than you are going to hate this movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nate and Hayes as a "tween"---it had all the things a young fella would look for...action, adventure, and wry, often purposefully bad humor.Certainly ranks up there with the Indiana Jones flicks as far as scripting and subject matter, just lacked the funding to be as over the top. Still, the film does not stretch beyond its means in this regard, as Temple of Doom tended to (ie the inflatable lifeboat "parachute" sequence).As many folks here have mentioned, this is Saturday afternoon fare at its finest. Not to be taken seriously, does not take itself seriously, yet remains a class act.

I was lucky enough to go to the European premiere of this film in London ( although strangely enough i seem to remember that it ended up on a double bill with TOP SECRET in some cinemas). Made before Tommy Lee Jones became a big star it was quite obviously the inspiration for Pirates of the Caribbean. It was released in the UK under the title SAVAGE ISLANDS but in some places it was called NATE & HAYES. However, shame on Paramount for not exploiting it better. I know they had a lot riding on the not dissimilar Indiana Jones films but this is a cracking adventure and deserves better treatment (and why oh why has it not been seen on UK television for about 15 years?).Good news though. The film is finally getting a DVD release (on region 1 only) on June 20th 2006 so keep an eye out for it.

It would have have been nice if the title over here and in the UK "Savage Islands" would have been the title in the US, instead of the crappy, very regular title "Nate And Hayes." WOW! That title is so exciting! Not. Whoever thought up of the US should be ashamed of themselves, as this movie that plentiful action throughout, but because of the title, hit rock-bottom at the box office. Shame! Anyhow, as long as it has plenty of cult admirers, this shall remain on the greatest underrated Action/Adventure films! Tommy Lee Jones, Mike O'Keefe and Jenny Seagrove excel in this underrated masterpiece and it would have been nice if it could get a re-released digitally-remastered print in all the cinemas. Then maybe, just maybe people would find out just what they were missing on. Yeah, that would be nice, very nice. Also, word of mouth is very important, thus if the public could praise the movie and spread it to their friends, "Savage Islands" could get a second chance! The chance it deserved 22 years ago! For the meantime, check out this movie- It kicks arse!