The Blue Lagoon (1980)

The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romantic adventure drama film directed by Randal Kleiser, starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins.

The film is a remake of the 1949 film of the same name based on Henry De Vere Stacpoole's 1908 novel "The Blue Lagoon."

Plot
The film is about two children, Emmaline (Elva Josephson) and Richard (Glenn Kohan) who find themselves stranded on an uncharted island along with a galley cook named Paddy (Leon McKern) after surviving a shipwreck.

After Paddy drowns in the middle of the night after drinking too much, Richard and Emmaline are left to fend for themselves.

As they reach their teenage years, Richard (Christopher Atkins) and Emmaline (Brooke Shields) have made the island their home. As their hormones develop, they start to develop romantic feelings for each other which ultimately leads to Emmaline unknowingly becoming pregnant.

Cast

 * Brooke Shields as Emmeline Lestrange
 * Christopher Atkins as Richard Lestrange
 * Leo McKern as Paddy Button
 * William Daniels as Arthur Lestrange
 * Elva Josephson as Young Emmeline
 * Glenn Kohan as Young Richard
 * Alan Hopgood as Captain
 * Gus Mercurio as Officer
 * Bradley Pryce as Little Paddy
 * Chad Timmermans as Infant Paddy

Production
The movie was a passion project of Randal Kleiser, who was a fan of the original novel.

Kleiser hired Douglas Day Stewart (who had written "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

The film was shot in Jamaica and Nanuya Levu, a privately owned island in Fiji. The blue lagoon scenes were shot in Comino Island, Malta and Champagne Bay, Vanuatu.

In the DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of "The Blue Lagoon", it was stated that many of Brooke Shields' nude scenes were in fact done by older body doubles.

The film's stunt coordinator, Kathy Troutt, was one of the body doubles, as well as the dolphin trainer. It was also stated that Brooke Shields had done many of her topless scenes with her hair glued to her breasts.

The film's underwater moving picture photography was performed by Ron & Valerie Taylor.

For the role of Emmaline, various actresses such as Kelly Preston, Jodie Foster, Daryl Hannah, Jamie Lee Curtis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Basinger, Bridget Fonda and Sarah Jessica Parker were considered for it. Other actresses such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lori Loughlin, Carrie Fisher, Dana Plato, Charlene Tilton and Debra Winger had to turn down the role of Emmaline due to other various commitments.

For the role of Richard, actors such as Christopher Reeve, Matt Dillon, John Belushi, John Travolta and Richard Gere were offered or considered for the part. Sean Penn auditioned for the part, but lost the role to Christopher Atkins in the final auditions.

Box Office
"The Blue Lagoon" was the ninth biggest box office hit of 1980 in North America, grossing $58,853,106 in the United States and Canada.

Critical Reception
The Blue Lagoon was panned by critics. It currently holds an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes out of 18 reviews.

Roger Ebert gave the film 1 1/2 stars out of 4, claiming that the film "made him itch".

He and Gene Siskel selected the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of "Sneak Previews."

Despite this, the film has developed a cult following over the years.

Janet Maslin from the New York Times said the film "concentrates coyly on sensuality rather than sex, and scenes that are vaguely lurid tend to be followed by shots of porpoises cavorting or beautiful birds. This approach might seem purely smarmy were the film's nature photography not so lovely."

Accolades
1980 Academy Awards
 * Best Cinematography: Nestor Almendros (nominated)

1981 Golden Globes
 * New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture- Male: Christopher Atkins (nominated)

1981 Saturn Awards
 * Best Fantasy Film (nominated)

1981 Razzie Awards
 * Worst Actress: Brooke Shields (won)

Young Artist Awards'
 * Brooke Shields: Best Young Actress in a Major Motion Picture (nominated)
 * Christopher Atkins: Best Young Actor-Major Motion Picture (nominated)
 * Best Major Motion Picture-Family Entertainment (nominated)