ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 2, 1991                   TAG: 9103020402
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THIS VERSION OF `SHIPWRECKED' RUNS AGROUND

"Shipwrecked" is a large-scale Disney adventure that has much promise but is never as satisfying as it should be.

Its action sequences, locations and subject matter are enough to set us dreaming about pirate treasure, graceful sailing ships and tropical paradises.

But its cast, bare-bones script and heavy-handed direction leave plenty to be desired. Still, I learned first hand that it has enough excitement to entertain youngsters in the 3- to 8-year-old range. It may not be "White Fang," Disney's other new live-action adventure, but it gets the job done.

Apparently an English-Norwegian production, "Shipwrecked" stars Stian Smestad as Hakon, a 19th Century Norwegian youth who goes to sea to earn enough money to bail out the family farm. Smestad is a bland screen presence and an unconvincing actor, which is a shame. There's never a true sense that this lad comes of age, painfully acquiring resourcefulness and insight into his fellow man in exchange for a loss of innocence during the course of his adventure.

The ship Hakon is assigned is infiltrated by pirates disguised as English sailors. Their leader is Merrick and he's played with a superficial nastiness by Gabriel Byrne, a good actor who is not used to his best advantage here.

The best performance in the movie comes from Louisa Haigh as a stowaway who demonstrates a lot more grit than Hakon.

The first part of the movie deals with life aboard ship and director Nils Gaup gives an invigorating sense of the hugeness of the ocean and the smallness of man's presence upon it.

After the vessel is torn apart in a storm, the scene shifts to a tropical island and there are some nice shots here as well. But the movie also has the hokey quality of old-time, kid market B-grades. Hakon's adventures with an ape and even the look of the treasure chest filled with costume jewelry are downright hokey. But younger audience members with less critical eyes didn't seem to mind.

`Shipwrecked,' A Disney release at Tanglewood Mall Cinema. Rated PG for violence; 95 minutes. 


 by CNB