Dinesh Kamath totally impressed by the film ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1990)

Dinesh Kamath totally impressed by the film ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1990)

Lord of the Flies is a 1990 American survival film adapted from the classic novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding. It is the second film adaptation of the book, after Lord of the Flies (1963). I had this book as a Rapid Reader when I was in my final year in school.

The movie has a very interesting plot. An aircraft carrying 24 young military school cadets returning home crash lands into the sea near a remote, uninhabited, jungle island in the Pacific Ocean. Among the survivors is the pilot, Captain Benson (Michael Greene), the only other survivor, who is seriously injured and delirious. During the night, Simon (James Badge Dale), the most independent cadet, finds a river and notifies the other boys, to which they all drink out of it and explore the island afterwards. Meanwhile, on the beach, an overweight cadet, whose real name is never revealed, nicknamed “Piggy” (Danuel Pipoly), finds a conch seashell and takes it to the grouped cadets, who adopt it to signal the right to speak and be heard by the group. The senior cadet, and one of the elder boys, Cadet Colonel Ralph (Balthazar Getty), organizes a meeting to discuss surviving their predicament. Ralph and Jack (Chris Furrh) emerge dominant, with Ralph's seniority in rank making him the one in charge. They start a fire using Piggy's glasses to try and alert any passing craft. Tensions begin to grow between Ralph and Jack.

One night, as they sleep, the delusional Capt. Benson escapes from them into the jungle, eventually making his way to a cave deep inland. Jack brings all of his hunters to hunt in the jungle, leaving no one watching the fire. The fire goes out, preventing a passing plane from noticing them. Ralph blames Jack and Jack, tired of listening to Ralph and Piggy, leaves and forms his own camp, taking many of the boys with him. One of the younger boys, Larry, finds Capt. Benson in the cave, mistakes him for a monster and stabs him, and then tells the other boys. Jack goes to the cave's entrance, and mistakes Capt. Benson's dying groans for the sounds of a monster. Meanwhile, expecting to be rescued, Ralph's civilized leadership establishes a permanent signal-fire to alert passing ships of their presence on the island. Not expecting to be rescued, Jack's savage leadership adapts to circumstance; he establishes his camp as spear-bearing hunters who provide meat to both camps. They kill a wild pig and leave its head as an offering to "the monster" that they believe is in the cave. Eventually, identical twins Sam and Eric (Andrew Taft and Edward Taft), two of Ralph's friends, leave him to join Jack's tribe, leaving Ralph with only Piggy and Simon left.

During the night, Jack and his savages steal a knife from Ralph so they can make more spears, but accidentally trample on Piggy's glasses in the process, breaking one lens.

One night, Simon finds the pig's head on the stick. He then uses his glow stick and explores the cave and discovers the corpse of Capt. Benson. Simon realizes Capt. Benson was what the boys thought was the monster, and runs to the beach in an attempt to alert the boys of his discovery. In the ensuing hysteria, Simon's waving of the light frightens the other boys, who mistake him for the monster and stab him to death with their spears. The following morning, Ralph blames himself and Piggy for not stopping the hunters from killing Simon. Meanwhile, Jack tells his gang that the "monster" can come in any different form.

After Piggy's glasses are stolen by Jack one night so they could make fire, Piggy and Ralph travel to Jack's camp, attempting to call a meeting using the conch. Piggy insists that everyone be sensible and work together, but Jack's savages refuse to listen. As they jeer him, Roger (Gary Rule), the cruel torturer in Jack's tribe, pushes a boulder off a cliff and smashes Piggy's head, killing him. A distraught Ralph swears that Jack will not get away with the murders, but Jack declares that Ralph is now on his own. Jack and his savages throw stones at Ralph to drive him away. Ralph returns in the night, and is warned by Sam and Eric that the hunters will chase after him.

The following morning, Jack and his hunters begin setting the jungle on fire to force Ralph out of hiding so they can kill him. Just barely dodging the spreading fire and Jack's hunters, Ralph makes a desperate run to the sea, where he encounters a U.S. Marine Corps officer (Bob Peck) who has just landed on the island with other Marines to rescue the boys, and as he looks on with shame of how feral and savage the boys have become as Ralph cries. He later arrives with more military recruits to rescue the 22 boys, much to Jack's horror.

The film has Balthazar Getty as Ralph, Chris Furrh as Jack, Danuel Pipoly as Piggy, James Badge Dale as Simon (credited as Badgett Dale), Gary Rule as Roger, Andrew Taft as Sam, Edward Taft as Eric, Michael Greene as Captain Benson and Bob Peck as U.S. Marine Corps Officer.

Do watch the film.