''The Blue Lagoon'' is a 1980 American dramatic

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can be ...

romantic

survival film The survival film is a film genre in which one or more characters make an effort at physical survival. It often overlaps with other film genres. It is a subgenre of the adventure film, along with swashbuckler films, war films, and safari films. Su ...

directed by Randal Kleiser from a screenplay written by

Douglas Day Stewart Douglas Day Stewart is an American screenwriter and film director. He graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 1962. Filmography Writer *'' Room 222'' (episodes: "KWWH", "Stay Awhile, Mr. Dream Chaser", "The Quitter" and "You Don't Know Me, ...

based on the 1908 novel of the same name by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film '' Pretty Baby'' (1978). She continued to model into ...

and

Christopher Atkins Christopher Atkins Bomann (born February 21, 1961) is an American actor and businessman, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film '' The Blue Lagoon'' and playing Peter Richards in ''Dallas'' (1983–1984). Early life Christopher Atki ...

. The music score was composed by

Basil Poledouris Basil Konstantine Poledouris (; August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator of film and television scores, best known for his long-running collaborations with directors John Milius and Paul Verho ...

and the cinematography was by

Néstor Almendros Néstor Almendros Cuyás, (30 October 1930 – 4 March 1992) was a Spanish cinematographer. One of the most highly appraised contemporary cinematographers, "Almendros was an artist of deep integrity, who believed the most beautiful light wa ...

. The film tells the story of two young children marooned on a tropical island paradise in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. But, without either the guidance or the restrictions of society, emotional and physical changes arise as they reach

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a ...

, go

skinny dipping Nude swimming is the practice of swimming without clothing, whether in natural bodies of water or in swimming pools. A colloquial term for nude swimming is '' skinny-dipping''. In both British and American English, to swim means "to move thro ...

in the ocean and fall in love. ''The Blue Lagoon'' was theatrically released on June 20, 1980, by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. The film was panned by the critics, who disparaged its screenplay, execution, and Shields' performance; however, Almendros' cinematography received praise. In spite of the criticism, the film was a commercial success, grossing over $58 million on a $4.5 million budget and becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 1980 in North America. The film was nominated for the

Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film The Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film is an award presented to the best film in the fantasy genre by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is an American non-profit organ ...

, Almendros received a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Cinematography The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture. History In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) w ...

, and Atkins was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor The Golden Globe for New Star of the Year – Actor was an award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at their annual Golden Globe Awards. History The award was first introduced at the 6th Golden Globe Awards in 1948, where it was ...

. Shields won the inaugural

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. Male actors performing in drag are eligible, as it is intended as a humorous award. The following is a list of ...

for her work in the film.

Plot

In the late

Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edward ...

, two cousins, nine-year-old Richard and seven-year-old Emmeline Lestrange, and galley cook Paddy Button, are shipwrecked on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Paddy cares for the children and forbids them "by law" from going to the other side of the island, where he had found an altar with bloody remains from

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...

s. He also warns them against eating the deadly scarlet berries. He dies after a drunken binge and the children rebuild their home on a different part of the island. At puberty, they went to go

in the ocean. Emmeline is uncomfortable with her sexual attraction to Richard and declines to share her "funny" thoughts with him. She is frightened by her first menstrual period and refuses to allow Richard to inspect her for what he imagines is a wound. Eventually, Richard recognizes his own attraction to Emmeline. She ventures to the forbidden side of the island and sees the altar. Associating the blood with Christ's crucifixion, she concludes that the altar is God and tries to persuade Richard to go to the other side of the island to pray with her. Richard is shocked at the idea of breaking the law and they argue. When Richard tries to initiate sexual contact she rebuffs him; he hides and masturbates. When a ship appears for the first time in years, Emmeline does not light the signal fire and asserts to Richard's angry disbelief that the island is their home now. She says she knows about Richard's masturbation and threatens to tell her Uncle Arthur about it. They fight and Richard kicks Emmeline out of their shelter. Emmeline steps on a venomous stonefish. Weak from the poison, she pleads with Richard to "take erto God". Richard carries her across the island and places her on the altar. Emmeline recovers and they swim naked in the lagoon. Noticing their bodies' reactions, they discover sexual intercourse and become lovers. Neither recognize the fact when Emmeline becomes pregnant and they are stunned to feel the baby move inside her abdomen, assuming her stomach is causing the movements. Months later, Richard observes indigenous people performing a human sacrifice in front of the statue. He runs in fear to Emmeline, whom he finds in labor. They name their baby boy Paddy. A ship led by Richard's father, Arthur, approaches the island and sees the family playing on the shore. Content with their lives, Richard and Emmeline walk away instead of signaling for help. Arthur assumes the mud-covered couple are not Richard and Emmeline. Visiting their original homesite, Richard searches for bananas while Paddy, unnoticed, brings a branch of the scarlet berries into the boat with Emmeline. Paddy tosses an oar out of the boat as it drifts from the shore. Richard swims after them followed closely by a shark. Emmeline throws the other oar at the shark, striking it and giving Richard time to get into the boat. The boat drifts oarless out to sea. After drifting for days, Richard and Emmeline wake up to find Paddy eating the scarlet berries. Hopeless, Richard and Emmeline eat the berries as well, and lie down to await death. Some hours later, Arthur's ship finds them. Arthur asks, "Are they dead?" The officer assures him, "No, sir. They're asleep".

Cast

as Emmeline Lestrange ** Elva Josephson as Young Emmeline *

as Richard Lestrange ** Glenn Kohan as Young Richard * Bradley Pryce as Little Paddy Lestrange ** Chad Timmermans as Infant Paddy *

Leo McKern Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Cla ...

as Paddy Button *

William Daniels William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor, who is best known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig in the drama series '' St. Elsewhere'', for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT in the te ...

as Arthur Lestrange *

Alan Hopgood Alan John Hopgood AM (29 September 1934 – 19 March 2022), also known as Alan Hopwood, was an Australian actor, producer, and writer. He wrote the screenplay for the 1972 film '' Alvin Purple'' and made appearances in television shows such as ...

as Captain *

Gus Mercurio Augustino Eugenio Mercurio (10 August 19287 December 2010) better known as Gus Mercurio, was an American-born Australian character actor who appeared in radio, television, and film. Early life Mercurio, the eldest child of Vincent A. Mercurio ...

as Officer

Casting

was cast as Emmeline Lestrange based on her performance in ''

Pretty Baby Pretty Baby may refer to: * ''Pretty Baby'' (1950 film), a comedy film featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake * ''Pretty Baby'' (1978 film), a drama film featuring Brooke Shields ** ''Pretty Baby'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film ...

''.

Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the hono ...

auditioned for the role of Emmeline Lestrange, but she was turned down.

Kelly Preston Kelly Kamalelehua Smith (October 13, 1962 – July 12, 2020), known professionally as Kelly Preston, was an American actress. She appeared in more than 60 television and film productions, including '' Mischief'' (1985), '' Twins'' (1988), ...

also auditioned for the role.

Diane Lane Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Little Romance''. The two films that could have catapulted her to st ...

was offered the role but turned it down.

Willie Aames Willie Aames, also credited as Willie Ames, (born Albert William Upton, July 15, 1960) is an American actor, film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing Tommy Bradford, one of the children of ...

was considered for the role of Richard Lestrange.

Production

The film was a passion project of Randal Kleiser, who had long admired the original novel. He hired

, who had written '' The Boy in the Plastic Bubble'', to write the script and met up with Richard Franklin, the Australian director, who was looking for work in Hollywood. This gave him the idea to use an Australian crew, which Franklin helped supervise.Scott Murray, "The Blue Lagoon: Interview with Randal Kleiser", ''Cinema Papers'', June–July 1980 66-169, 212/ref> The film was shot at Nanuya Levu, a privately owned island in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

. The flora and fauna featured in the film includes an array of animals from multiple continents, including a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of iguana hitherto unknown to biologists.

Herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

John Gibbons traveled to the island where the iguana was filmed after watching the film and described the

Fiji crested iguana The Fiji crested iguana or Fijian crested iguana (''Brachylophus vitiensis'') is a critically endangered species of iguana native to some of the northwestern islands of the Fijiian archipelago, where it is found in dry forest on Yaduataba (west ...

(''Brachylophus vitiensis'') in 1981. Shields was 14 years of age when she appeared in the film. All of her nude scenes were performed by the film's 32-year-old stunt coordinator, Kathy Troutt. Shields did many of her topless scenes with her hair glued to her breasts. Atkins was 18 when the movie was filmed, and he performed his own nude scenes (which included brief frontal nudity). Underwater moving picture photography was performed by Ron Taylor and Valerie Taylor.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film holds an approval rating of 8% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "A piece of lovely dreck, ''The Blue Lagoon'' is a naughty fantasy that's also too chaste to be truly entertaining." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Among the more common criticisms were the ludicrously idyllic portrayal of how children would develop outside of civilized society, the unfulfilled buildup of the island's natives as a climactic threat and the way the film, while teasing a prurient appeal, conspicuously obscures all sexual activities.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film 1½ stars out of 4, claiming that it "could conceivably have been made interesting, if any serious attempt had been made to explore what might really happen if two 7-year-old kids were shipwrecked on an island. But this isn't a realistic movie. It's a wildly idealized romance, in which the kids live in a hut that looks like a Club Med honeymoon cottage, while restless natives commit human sacrifice on the other side of the island." He also deemed the ending a blatant cop-out. He and

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the '' Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his ...

selected the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of '' Sneak Previews''. ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' commented that the film "was hyped as being about 'natural love'; but apart from 'doing it in the open air', there is nothing natural about two kids (unfettered by the bonds of society from their early years) subscribing to marriage and traditional role-playing." Gary Arnold of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' similarly called the film "a picturesque rhapsody to Learning Skills, Playing House, Going Swimming, Enjoying the Scenery and Starting to Feel Sexy in tropical seclusion." He particularly ridiculed the lead characters' persistent inability to make obvious inferences. One of the few positive reviews came from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' which claimed it "a beautifully mounted production." In a retrospective review for

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

, critic Abbey Bender wrote, "When it comes to the depiction of burgeoning sexuality, ''The Blue Lagoon'' wants to have it both ways ... with puberty making itself known through rather obvious dialogue. Sexual discovery is here the natural outcome of the storybook situation. So yes, the soft-focus montages of teen flesh are gratuitous but the film presents it all as innocent—these kids don’t even know what sex is! They don’t even know how a baby is made! They learn it the hard way, obviously. By couching sexuality in primitive purity, ''The Blue Lagoon'' gets away with perversion that would likely be even more controversial today."

Box office

The film was the twelfth-biggest box office hit of 1980 in North America according to '' The Numbers'', grossing US$58,853,106 in the United States and Canada on a $4.5 million budget.

Accolades

The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

in these lists: * 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated

Versions and adaptations

''The Blue Lagoon'' was based on Henry De Vere Stacpoole's novel of the same name, which first appeared in 1908. The first film adaptation of the book was the British silent 1923 film of that name, which is now

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. There was another British adaptation in 1949. The sequel ''

Return to the Blue Lagoon ''Return to the Blue Lagoon'' is a 1991 American South Seas romantic adventure film directed and produced by William A. Graham and starring Milla Jovovich and Brian Krause. The film is a sequel to '' The Blue Lagoon'' (1980). The screenplay b ...

'' (1991) loosely picked up where ''The Blue Lagoon'' left off, except that Richard and Emmeline are found dead in the boat. Their son is rescued. On December 9, 2011, the cable TV network Lifetime greenlit the

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

'' Blue Lagoon: The Awakening''. The 1982 Indian film '' Ina'', directed by

I. V. Sasi Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (28 March 1947 – 24 October 2017), better known as I. V. Sasi, was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was awarded the J. C ...

, is inspired by ''The Blue Lagoon'' and ''The Emerald Forest''. The story is set in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

and explores teen lust, child marriage and the consequences. 1984 Indian film ''

Teri Baahon Mein ''Teri Baahon Mein'' (English: In Your Arms) is a 1984 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Umesh Mehra and produced by Pramod Pedder, starring Mohnish Bahl, Ayesha Dutt, Navin Nischol, Prem Chopra, Mac Mohan with Mithun Chakraborty and Par ...

'' and 1991 Hindi film ''

Jaan Ki Kasam ''Jaan Ki Kasam'' is a 1991 Indian Bollywood drama film directed by Sushil Malik and produced by Javed Riaz. It stars Suresh Oberoi, Raza Murad and Archana Puran Singh in pivotal roles. This film took inspiration from The Blue Lagoon. Plot The ...

'' are also inspired by it.

Home media

The Special Edition DVD, with both widescreen and fullscreen versions, was released on October 5, 1999. Its special features include the theatrical trailer, the original

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length fil ...

, a personal photo album by Brooke Shields, audio commentary by Randal Kleiser and Christopher Atkins, and another commentary by Randal Kleiser, Douglas Day Stewart and Brooke Shields. The film was re-released in 2005 as part of a two-pack with its sequel, ''Return to the Blue Lagoon''. A limited edition

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

of the film was released on December 11, 2012, by Twilight Time. Special features on the Blu-ray include an isolated score track, original trailer, three original teasers, a behind the scenes featurette called ''An Adventure in Filmmaking: The Making of The Blue Lagoon'', as well as audio commentary by Randal Kleiser, Douglas Day Stewart and Brooke Shields and a second commentary by Randal Kleiser and Christopher Atkins. The 1980 movie was made available for streaming through services such as

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pr ...

and

Vudu Vudu is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand rentals and digital purchases of fi ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Lagoon (1980 film), The 1980 films 1980 romantic drama films 1980s adventure drama films 1980s coming-of-age drama films 1980s teen drama films 1980s teen romance films American adventure drama films American coming-of-age films American remakes of British films American romantic drama films American survival films American teen drama films American teen romance films Columbia Pictures films Coming-of-age romance films Films about castaways Films about children Films about cousins Films about survivors of seafaring accidents or incidents Films about virginity Films based on British novels Films based on romance novels Films based on works by Henry De Vere Stacpoole Films directed by Randal Kleiser Films scored by Basil Poledouris Films set in Oceania Films set in the 19th century Films set in the 1880s Films set in 1889 Films set in the 1890s Films set in 1895 Films set in 1897 Films set in the Victorian era Films set on beaches Films set on islands Films set on uninhabited islands Films shot in Fiji Films with screenplays by Douglas Day Stewart Golden Raspberry Award winning films Incest in film Juvenile sexuality in films Teen adventure films Teenage pregnancy in film Films about puberty 1980s English-language films 1980s American films