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List Price: $14.99 | | Label: Walt Disney Video
Salesrank: 16887
Released: August 26, 2008 |
| Our Price: $7.67 |
| Used Price: $5.90 |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Set sail for high-seas adventure in the classic Disney tradition as a boy named Hakon embarks on an extraordinary voyage! When his ship is sunk in a hurricane, Hakon ends up alone on a jungle island, only to discover his shipmates have been kidnapped by a gang of ruthless pirates. Now he must summon all his courage and instinct for survival to outwit the pirates and rescue his friends. The whole family will cheer this unforgettable high-spirited adventure!
Shipwrecked Reviews:
A Family Favorite 
2009-09-04 - This outstanding Disney release has become a family favorite. Several interesting plot twists and appealing characters keep young and not so young audience members coming back to view this movie again and again. Devotion to family, loyalty to friends and perseverence in crises involving both natural and manmade dangers are the underlying values so entertainingly conveyed in Shipwrecked. This gem is brilliantly polished with scenic contrasts and details of production. We wore out the VHS version and ordered the DVD--enough copies so that the grandchildren could have Shipwrecked in their parents' video collections at home.
Great Story!
2009-08-07 - Shipwrecked is a terrific story of a young Norwegian boy who goes to sea to help his struggling family and has a great adventure. Perfect for family viewing.
Shipwrecked Dvd 
2009-04-29 - Very cool family movie. Absolutely no offensive material, interesting plot and one evil bad guy!
movie
2009-02-16 - I receieved the movie close to one week after it was shipped and was very lucky that I recieved it at all the automatic address had it going somewhere else but all in all I love the movie and have since I was a little girl. I love pirate movies especially when they envolve kids, every child growing up wants to be a pirate.
A fabulous swashbuckler from Norway
2009-01-21 - Disney's Shipwrecked was released in 1990, the same year that I became intimately acquainted with the TNT production of Treasure Island (1990 TVmovie) starring Charlton Heston. My then-ten-year-old self became endlessly obsessed with all things pirates, sailing, and tall ships for years to come. Shipwrecked was a Norwegian production based on by Norwegian author O. V. Falck-Ytter's "Haakon Haakonsen. En norsk Robinson," a Norwegian children's novel from 1873 that was a tale of a "Norwegian Family Robinson." Directed by Nils Gaup and starring almost entirely Norwegian actors, it was filmed on location in Norway, Spain, the UK and Fiji.
The plot revolves around the titular Haakon Haakonsen (Stian Smestad), a young boy in 1850s Norway who is forced to go to sea as a cabin boy when his father is injured on a sea voyage. His father's friend Jens (Trond Peter Stamsø Munch) agrees to look out for him on board the Flora. Haakon goes through some inevitable growing pains as a boy onboard a ship for the first time; some of the seasoned sailors have fun playing pranks on him at first, but Haakon is watched over by Jens and the kindly captain. After a shore leave in Sydney, Haakon discovers a stowaway on board; Mary (Louisa Millwood-Haigh), an orphan trying to reach her uncle in Calcutta). But the voyage meets an abrupt end when a suspicious Royal Navy officer (Gabriel Byrne) takes control of the ship and the crew is shipwrecked in the tropics.
The movie moves along quite well until the ending, which is a tad disappointing in tone after the great setup (it borders on unintentionally comic; for a really great pirate chase, check out the end of Fraser Heston's 1990 made-for-TV Treasure Island for TNT; now there's a scurvy lot to give you nightmares!) Beautifully shot and with a memorable score by Patrick Doyle, Shipwrecked is a family-friendly tale of loyalty, discovery, and adventure on the high seas. It's short on special effects and low on violence or profanity; instead, it's built on solid characters and a well-crafted plot.
All of the Norwegian actors are strong, particularly the two leads, and Louisa turns in a spirited performance as a feisty orphan. Gabriel Byrne puts in a deliciously wicked turn as the villain; you can just sense the danger that lurks under the surface when he snarls out threats (if you enjoyed Byrne in Shipwrecked, check out his captivating performance of a loving father struggling with grief and alcoholism in Disney's magical Into the West). The Norwegian actors have slight accents, but nothing that should interfere with understanding the dialogue.
Shipwrecked made quite an impression on me, and I'm grateful that it's finally available on DVD as of fall 2008 (it was previously only available as a Club Disney selection). Those who enjoyed Swiss Family Robinson (Vault Disney Collection), Robinson Crusoe, and Treasure Island should find much to like in Shipwrecked. Sadly, the DVD doesn't come with *any* extras save subtitles, but it's a worthy addition to any family's DVD collection.
