A FLYSWATTING REVEW.

If you're a fan of the 1963 film, Lord of the Flies, don't read this as it's nothing but critical.  Having never seen the film until last night at age 78, I thought it was ridiculous. While the photography was good and the amateur actors very good, the film was full of holes. First of all the title who was the lord of the flies? And aren't there any ugly boys in England? And, a note to other reviewers, they weren't shipwrecked, they were plane-wrecked. The film opens with the airliner floating upside down in the sea, which makes me wonder how Ralph and Piggy are first seen in the middle of the island. Anyway all these schoolboys have nothing to complain about as they are stranded on a gorgeous tropical island that seems to have no mosquitos, no dangerous wildlife, no deadly plants, no rainstorms, and no other human beings other than a dead pilot whom they stupidly think is a beast that must be appeased. Despite that they build a fire to attract any passing planes. (I would have spelled a huge "HELP" on the beach with palm fronds.) Considering that so many of the boys are fair-skinned towheads, it's miraculous that none of them gets sunburnt, nor do any of those blond and brunette heads of hair seem to grow an inch. Since boys will be boys, they soon form two competing teams which they called tribes, one civil, one savage,which leads to the death of a small saintly Simon whom nobody recognized wasn't a huge beast so they killed him, and soon thereafter dropped a huge boulder on peaceful Piggy with only a ordinary stick as a fulcrum. (Surprisingly Piggy was the only islander who wore glasses and had a weight problem.) While the mean team engages in youthful violence none of these young men shows the slightest hint of puberty, nor does anyone but the gentle twins engage in full  nudity. (Most of the boys seem to wear their shorts until they are mere rags.)  The film ends when Ralph, the hero (if there is one) flees from the barbaric meanies only to collapse at the feet of a British naval officer who has arrived at the island for a reason not explained. I am stunned that this totally unbelievable film is so highly respected.