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Four years after Disney's "Treasure Island," the rascally pirate returned. Long John Silver knows that more treasure waits back on the island. (Silver found a second map, which can only be decoded with a lost medallion.) Jim Hawkins has the medallion, but can Long John shanghai a ship? There's an ill wind a-blowing, and a rival pirate named Mendoza lurks menacingly in the background.
It's another old-fashioned adventure, savoring every moment of its swashbuckling theme. The movie opens with the song "Sixteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest," and then cuts to a "skull and crossbones" flag. Robert Newton repeats his famous performance as the one-legged pirate with the black hat and a round face. (Mourning a dead colleague, Silver growls out "Yarrrrrrrr-men.") At the tavern, there's even a parrot who squawks "Dead men tell no tales."
Silver reunites with Jim Hawkins, though there's an intriguing tension between the two. Silver schemes for the medallion, but eventually Jim joins his crew as an equal partner. Silver promises to return to England to face trial for his crimes, but his real plan is simply capturing the ship. Jim switches allegiances, though insisting the ship's upright captain promise not to hurt the pirate. Silver delivers a great line when the moral captain announces that instead he'll maroon the pirate and his crew with no hope of rescue. "Sometimes them what quotes the bible has less bible in their hearts than those what don't."
They spot rival pirates carousing on an island, and soon find a scheme that takes them to Treasure Island. The music turns spooky as they're haunted by a man they thought was dead. The most frightening scene of "Treasure Island" involved Jim Hawkins killing a man with a pistol. "Long John Silver" reveals that man isn't dead - and he's bent on revenge.
There's one plot point after another, as their fortunes change again and again. At one point Silver is fleeing both the governor's men and a marriage-minded woman who owns the local tavern. ("Come back, or I'll tear you limb from limb!") There's a rousing final rescue, and a happy ending. But the movie ends with Silver on the run again - this time, from the marriage-minded tavern owner.
"Shiver me timbers!" he shouts. "A landlubber I'll never be!"
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