Terminal Island

1973 "Men and Women... Black and White. Taken From Death Row - Condemned to Devil's Island, U.S.A., Where Living is Worse Than Dying!"
5.3| 1h28m| R| en| More Info
Released: 22 June 1973 Released
Producted By: Dimension Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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In the wake of a Supreme Court decision to outlaw the death penalty, California passes an initiative that designates San Bruno island as a dumping spot for first-degree murder convicts, free to do what they like except leave. The main camp of convicts is controlled by the tyrannical Bobby, who rules with an iron hand, and the women are used as sex slaves. A.J. and a group of more free-minded murderers have escaped and gone into hiding. When A.J. and his men liberate the women from Bobby's custody, tensions mount to an all-out confrontation for control of the island.

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Director

Stephanie Rothman

Production Companies

Dimension Pictures

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Terminal Island Audience Reviews

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
O2D It was really weird to see Tom Selleck and the black guy from Magnum P.I. in a movie together considering I have never seen either one of them in anything else. Do they always work together or was this the only time? I'll probably never know. Anyway, I wasn't expecting much from this movie and I was pleasantly surprised.Strangely, they start the movie with a news team and make it look like they will be a big part of the story but their part is done before the opening credits roll. I assume it's an original plot, although it's very similar to how Australia became a country. The fight scenes we're a bit weak, you could easily see that nobody was really getting hit, but the story was good enough to make up for it. It was a little predictable too but most movies are. I thought it was weird that there was so much nudity and so little swearing, they usually go hand in hand.It was also a bit weird that the woman who was the main character for most of the movie isn't even in the final few minutes but maybe it was just an editing mistake. This is a good movie, watch it.
Scott LeBrun The early 1970s B picture "Terminal Island" has an effective premise with which to work. In the "future", the Supreme Court has declared the death penalty unconstitutional. In its place, criminals are now dumped on an island 40 miles off the American coast. Here they're (mostly) left to fend for themselves. The latest arrival is a young woman, Carmen (Ena Hartman), who's just in time to witness an uprising. Some of the convicts are tired of the tyranny of their "leaders" Bobby (Sean Kenney, "The Corpse Grinders") and Monk (Roger E. Mosley, "The Mack"). So a small group splits off from the main group, and plots revolution.Co-written by James Barnett, producer Charles S. Swartz, and director Stephanie Rothman ("The Velvet Vampire"), "Terminal Island" is pretty good for this kind of exploitation fare. It fulfils its requirements - violence, sex, nudity - adequately, and is simply beautifully shot (by Daniel Lacambre, "Humanoids from the Deep") on some pretty locations. While it naturally has its trashy moments, it never really wallows in unpleasantness, and it does have a sense of humour, to boot. (Watch how the horny character, Dylan (Clyde Ventura, "'Gator Bait") is dealt with.) The story is a little thin, but is also provocative on occasion. (Dr. Milford, played by a young Tom Selleck, was convicted of the mercy killing of a patient.)The cast is full of then-stars, stars-to-be, and familiar character faces. Also appearing are Don Marshall ("The Thing with Two Heads"), Phyllis Davis ("Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"), Marta Kristen ('Lost in Space'), Barbara Leigh ("Junior Bonner"), Geoffrey Deuel ("Chisum"), James Whitworth (Papa Jupe in Wes Cravens' "The Hills Have Eyes"), Richard Stahl ("Nine to Five"), Sandy Ward ("Cujo"), and Albert Cole ("The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant"). The film gained newfound attention when Selleck and Mosley found later fame on 'Magnum P.I.'. Kenney and Mosley are particularly fun as the antagonists of the piece.Full of solid squib action and some satisfying explosions, "Terminal Island" is worthy of discovery by devotees of the B pictures of decades past.Seven out of 10.
Woodyanders Token distaff feminist 70's drive-in movie writer/director Stephanie ("Group Marriage," "The Student Nurses") Rothman's intriguing and intelligent social allegory on how the strong cruelly oppress and viciously lord it over the weak, here cunningly done under the guise of being your standard down'n'dirty grindhouse exploitation prison item. Two rival factions, one peaceful and egalitarian, the other brutish and dictatorial, battle it out for supremacy on a remote island penitentiary where society's most heinous and irredeemable criminals are permanently banished to rot out the rest of their lives (the basic premise definitely shares striking similarities to "Escape from New York"). The first-rate cast of familiar TV show and B-flick faces greatly enlivens this fun'n'funky favorite: "Lost in Space" cutie Marta Kristen in fine, feisty form (she also looks mighty tasty in a skimpy halter top and cut-off denim hot pants), statuesque eyeful Phyllis ("Sweet Sugar," "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls") Davis, Roger E. ("The Mack," "Hit Man") Mosley, Clyde ("'Gatorbait," "Bury Me An Angel") Ventura, the beauteous Barbara ("Seven," "Junior Bonner") Leigh, Albert ("The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant," "The Female Bunch") Cole, the ever-scummy James ("Planet of Dinosaurs," "The Candy Snatchers") Whitworth, and even a pre-"Magnum P.I." Tom Selleck as a nice guy doctor. Moreover, this film not only delivers the expected sex, nudity and violence (Davis' smoking hot skinny-dipping scene in particular is a luscious wonder to behold), but also plenty of meaty and provocative food for thought to chew on and digest as well. Hard to find, but definitely worth checking out if you're lucky enough to stumble across a rare copy of it.
rlcsljo Selleck (playing a doctor before his stint on "Friends") and Mosley appear in this one seven years before the Magnum, P.I. TV series. (It is amazing how a person can play one character and be so right for so many different roles).California has abolished the death penalty (before it was reinstated) and the golden state empties death row onto "Terminal Island". Here, the inmates run the show and the only "guard" is a Navy frigate that prevents escape. Basically, this is a standard prison movie without the bars, but since there are no rules, the inmates can do whatever they want from what they can improvise on the Island.A social order has arisen where a dorky murderer along with his black enforcer(Mosley) force everyone to work while he has his way with the women (other males get their turn, as well).A "revolutionary" band of renegades (lead by Don Marshall(II) from "Star Trek" and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century") roam the island and basically steal what they can from the "establishment". They treat their people only slightly better.A war erupts when some guards delivering a new prisoner are overwhelmed and their machine guns are stolen. All manner of improvised weapons are also used as well.This movie is a very good allegory for the VietNam war and how determined ingenious under dogs can defeat a militarily superior power.Also, as expected in seventies exploitation flicks, a lot of chicks go topless and nude--unfortunately not Selleck or Mosley.