'80s Roulette: NATE AND HAYES

Wait, screenplay by who?!

I have (almost) every single movie released in theaters in the ‘80s in the United States on a hard drive and once a week, I’m going to hit shuffle and review whatever film comes up first.

Welcome to ‘80s Roulette!

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NOVEMBER 18, 1983

Nate and Hayes
Tommy Lee Jones, Michael O’Keefe, Max Phipps, Jenny Seagrove, Grant Tilly, Peter Rowley, William Johnson, Kate Harcourt, Reg Ruka, Roy Billing, Bruce Allpress, David Letch, Prince Tui Teka, Pudji Waseso, Peter Vere-Jones, Tom Vanderlaan, Mark Hadlow, Phillip Gordon, Norman Fairley, Warwick Simmons, Paul Farrell, Frank Taurua, Norman Keesing, Robert Bruce, Timothy Lee, Peter Bell, Peter Diamond, John Rush, Grant Price, Karl Bradley
cinematography by Tony Imi
music by Trevor Jones
screenplay by John Hughes and David Odell
screen story by David Odell
story by Lloyd Phillips
produced by Lloyd Phillips and Robert Whitehouse
directed by Ferdinand Fairfax
Rated PG
1 hr 39 mins

When a young missionary’s fiancee is kidnapped by pirates, he’s forced to team up with another scoundrel to find and rescue her.

I’m sure we all remember that pirate movie that John Hughes wrote. You know… the one starring Tommy Lee Jones?

Oh, you don’t? Well, then, congratulations! You’re one of the many people who completely avoided Nate and Hayes when it was released in 1983 or in the decades since. While the film is largely lost to obscurity at this point, it is notable for being funded and produced almost entirely in New Zealand, laying down some early infrastructure for what became an independent NZ production boom in the ‘80s. Known as Savage Islands in most of the world, it was released as Nate and Hayes in the United States, where it died a quick and decisive death at the box-office before completely disappearing on home video. There are plenty of films from the ‘80s that have been reclaimed for one reason or another, but Nate and Hayes remains largely unseen despite some big name cast members and that John Hughes screenplay credit.