This is probably the closest adaptation from the novel, slightly marred by a tendency to linger over scenes inspired by iconic illustrations of NC Wyeth and others. The pacing when establishing characters is like a too-slow striptease, especially Billy Bones (Oliver Reed), Blind Pew (Christopher Lee), and John Silver (Charleton Heston). Heston's delivery, like Christian Bale's (as Jack Hawkins) is understated, which removes a little of the fun and all of the mercurial affection established by Robert Newton and Bobby Driscoll in th e1950 version. Both Bale and Heston are just a bit too cold to perform the Tango of a sonless rogue and a fatherless boy, so their path to grudging admiration plays out more like a chess game. I'd rather have Reed and Heston exchange roles, but what's done is done. Lee's vocalizations, usually so plummy, are disappointingly squeaky, a surprising choice for such a sinister role, but his physical acting superb. Julian Glover as Dr Livesey, Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawny and Clive Wood as Captain Smollet all capture their characters, though again, Glover's expressiveness is a tad subtle. The Chieftains...well, certainly there are many points in the film where the strident fiddling is extremely appropriate, but but what's missing is a few melancholy bars and some strains of sober suspense. Surely the Chieftains had a plaintive flute or something that could have done the trick. A bit of thumping drums delightfully prefigures "the Battle" music from Master & Commander, but the gunnery work in the assault on the blockhouse is unconvincing visually, especially the recoil effects and explosions. This is a film that could benefit from a little CGI tinkering, since the special pyrotechnics budget was apparently so frugal. The locations are really quite good, and the Hispaniola looks good on the outside, sometimes appearing to be actually sailing. The interior scenes are a bit too stable and a bit roomier than they should be.

Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 tale of adventure, piracy, treasure and treachery has been filmed four times by 2020. While the original of 1950 surely serves as a benchmark, this 1990 TV movie stands out among all those made. The 1950 Disney film was very good with a good cast that was mostly unknown outside of England. But this 1990 film has a much wider known cast of actors from around the UK, and American actor Charlton Heston as Long John Silver.

A young Christian Bale, at the start of his huge career, plays Jim Hawkins. And a well-recognized supporting cast performs superbly. Among them are Oliver Reed as Capt. Billy Bones, Christopher Lee as Blind Pew, Richard Johnson as Squire Trelawney, Julian Glover as Dr. Livesey and Pete Postlethwaite as George Merry. .

The filming in Jamaica, at Cornwall and elsewhere around England provides a sense of reality to the story, as though it were taking place then and there. And these 30 years later, here and now. I have now watched this film three times, and the original Disney film four times - with Robert Newton as Silver and Bobby Driscoll as Hawkins.

In the 40-year leap between those two films, I don't think the producers lost any sense of reality. The costumes, makeup, presentation of characters and all aspects of the story seemed authentic for the period. The 1972 adaptation seemed to modernize the story some. That British film that starred Orson Welles and Kim Burfield seemed to be made in the early to mid-20th century by the clothing, hair styles and other aspects. The costuming seemed too clean, neat and Hollywoodish. Nor was the acting nearly as good as the original.

The 2012 TV movie appears to try to appease the modern culture in the characters. The costumes in it look as though they were just made from new material, and the setting has the obvious CGI aura about it. The modern acting in these roles loses the sense of dark mystery, suspense, fright and thrill of adventure that Stevenson wrote. The 1950 and 1990 films worked to capture that.

Modern audiences and those in the future who want to educate children about the classics, should read the books. After that - and for those who don't or won't read classical literature, a good grasp of the story, with its culture of the time and place can be had by watching the 1950 film or this 1990 film.

Along with George C. Scott's performance as Scrooge in A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Charlton Heston's performance as Long John Silver will go down as one of the highlights of 20th century television. In an utterly amazing turn, Heston metamorphosizes chameleon-like into one of literature's most enduring villains. This is the kind of performance that needs to be seen to be believed- and believe it you will! Had Heston chosen, he could very well have become one of The Silver Screen's leading villains. (THE THREE MUSKETEERS and THE FOUR MUSKETEERS are also offered in evidence.) Superb writing and direction by Fraser Heston in aid of must also be noted. Must-see telemovie.