The Blue Lagoon - check out what this teenager went through after watching it! When I was 17 years old I stayed up till 3am one night to watch a late showing of this film. I had seen clips of 'The Blue Lagoon' when I was younger and it always remained embedded in my mind.
Depending on where you live and how powerful your air conditioner is, summer may not always feel like the sexiest season. But while us mortals are subject to sweating through shirts and sporting the fetching blotchiness of minor heatstroke, movie characters are free to explore the inherent sultriness of a summer setting. And they have! Since the advent of feature film, directors have equated the steamiest months of the year with simmering sexual tension. Sexy summer movies are a niche category that stretches across genres. In the list below, you’ll find sexy summer thrillers; sexy summer comedies; and of course, sexy summer romances to fire you up in the way nature and Hollywood intended. These are the 26 sexiest summer movies of all time.
When temperatures rise, anything can happen. Or at least, that’s how these films will make you feel. These movies range from the innocent to the explicit, but all of them share that heightened sense of freedom and occasional danger that summer can inspire. When you don’t fancy wasting away in the actual sun, you can crank up the AC and put on one of these 26 sexy flicks. I promise, you’ll still feel the heat.
1. Blue Crush
Fierce surfer girls with strong bodies battle the waves in this drama that will have you booking your beginner lesson ASAP.
2. American Pie 2
Sex is awkward and that's fine. And no one knows that truth better than the teens in American Pie. The first sequel sends the boys to a summer lake house to continue their crash course in sex and love.
3. Do The Right Thing
Racial tensions and the heat index both run high in Do The Right Thing's New York City. Rosie Perez's opening credits dance sequence to N.W.A.'s 'Fight The Power' is sexy and iconic.
4. A Walk On The Moon
Diane Lane and Viggo Mortensen have an illicit summertime affair in this dreamy romance.
5. To Catch A Thief
Cary Grant and Grace Kelly look fabulous and con wealthy vacationers in a Hitchcock classic.
6. Mamma Mia
Say what you will about Colin Firth's ability to carry a tune; I wouldn't mind him serenading me with Abba songs against a gorgeous island backdrop.
7. Y Tu Mama Tambien
Two old friends take a road trip with a woman with a secret, and none of them are ever the same.
8. Little Darlings
A rare '80s sex comedy where the women are in charge, Little Darlings is about two teenage girls who go to summer camp and make a bet about who can lose her V-card first.
9. The Seven Year Itch
Marilyn Monroe tests the limited willpower of a married man when she moves into the apartment above his.
10. Monsoon Wedding
A family comes together to celebrate a daughter's nuptials in this sumptuous dramedy — a breakout for director Mira Nair.
11. Body Heat
This modern noir features Kathleen Turner as a sinfully persuasive femme fatale.
12. The Man In The Moon
Reese Witherspoon makes her film debut in this coming-of-age drama about two Southern sisters who fall in love with the same boy.
13. Dirty Dancing
The ultimate summer fling. Baby Houseman avoids organized resort activities with her parents, opting instead to pachenga and make love to heartthrob dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
14. Swimming Pool
If you get this French thriller on DVD, you'll be treated to the un-rated cut that was clipped to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating.
15. Blue Hawaii
They called him the King for a reason.
16. Rear Window
Another Hitchockian summer. Grace Kelly sparkles in a enviable wardrobe as the girlfriend of a photographer (Jimmy Stewart) who's confined to a wheelchair for the summer and becomes convinced that his neighbor is a murderer.
17. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Jason Segel follows his ex to Hawaii and figures out that rebound relationships aren't actually so bad.
18. Point Break
Forget the recent remake and stick to the original. '90s cover boys Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze star in a thriller about a group of thrill seeker criminals and the FBI agent who goes under deep cover to stop them.
19. The To-Do List
Aubrey Plaza stars in a sex-positive homage to the raunchy teen comedies of the past.
20. City Of God
By no means is City Of Goda happy film, but it's a beautifully realized one. Its Rio is corrupt, but seductive.
21. Dazed & Confused
There's something mythic about the last day of school. It's only the first day of summer vacation, but it feels like the first day of the rest of your life.
22. Last Summer
Two boys in the modern rural South savor their last summer together before life and school take them in separate directions.
23. The Blue Lagoon
What else are a couple of beautiful teenagers trapped on a deserted island and dealing with their changing bodies supposed to do? Make friends with a volleyball?
Click here to watch.
24. My Summer Of Love
In her film debut, Emily Blunt plays a rich girl who befriends and falls for a woman from a working class family. Can their relationship survive their disparate backgrounds?
25. A Streetcar Named Desire
Stanley Kowalski is one of American literature's greatest villains, but man does Marlon Brando look good in (and out of) a dirty undershirt.
26. Before Sunrise
The first film in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy follows a pair of strangers during an impromptu all-nighter in Vienna. Pure hipster romance.
If these sexy summer movies sent you right into a cold shower, you're in good company.
Images: Lionsgate; Giphy (21)
The Blue Lagoon | |
---|---|
Directed by | Randal Kleiser |
Produced by | Randal Kleiser |
Screenplay by | Douglas Day Stewart |
Based on | The Blue Lagoon by Henry De Vere Stacpoole |
Starring | Brooke Shields Christopher Atkins Leo McKern William Daniels |
Music by | Basil Poledouris |
Cinematography | Néstor Almendros |
Edited by | Robert Gordon |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | |
Running time | 105 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $4.5 million |
Box office | $58.8 million (North America) |
The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romanticsurvivaldrama film directed by Randal Kleiser from a screenplay written by Douglas Day Stewart based on the 1908 novel of the same name by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins. The music score was composed by Basil Poledouris and the cinematography was by Néstor Almendros.
It tells the story of two young children marooned on a tropical island paradise in the South Pacific. With neither the guidance nor the restrictions of society, emotional feelings and physical changes arise as they reach puberty and fall in love. The film contained a substantial amount of sexual content, and both main characters were depicted in the nude. This was controversial, as Shields was 14 years old at the time of the filming. A body double was used for all of her nude scenes and her breasts remained covered in frontal shots.
The Blue Lagoon was theatrically released on June 20, 1980 by Columbia Pictures. The film was panned by the critics, who disparaged its screenplay and execution and Shields's performance, although Almendros's cinematography received praise. In spite of criticism, the film was a commercial success, grossing over $58 million on a $4.5 million budget, becoming the ninth highest grossing film of 1980 in North America. The film received a significant amount of awards attention. It was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, Almendros received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Atkins was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor, and Shields won the inaugural Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress.
- 4Reception
- 5Awards and honors
- 6Versions and adaptations
Plot[edit]
In the early Victorian period, two young cousins, Richard (Glenn Kohan) and Emmeline Lestrange (Elva Josephson), and a galley cook, Paddy Button (Leo McKern), survive a shipwreck in the South Pacific and reach a lush tropical island. Paddy cares for the children and forbids them by 'Law' from going to the other side of the island, as he had found remains from bloody human sacrifices on an altar. He also warns them against eating a deadly scarlet berry.
Several years later, Paddy dies after a drunken binge. Now alone, the children go to another part of the island and rebuild their home.
Years pass and they grow into tall, strong teenagers. They live in their hut, spending their days fishing, swimming and diving for pearls. Richard and Emmeline (now portrayed by Christopher Atkins and Brooke Shields) begin to fall in love. This is stressful for them, because of their lack of education on human sexuality. Emmeline is frightened by her first menstrual period; she refuses to allow Richard to inspect her for what he imagines is a wound. Richard becomes physically attracted to Emmeline, but she does not reciprocate his feelings, inciting Richard to go off alone and masturbate.
A ship appears for the first time in years, but Emmeline does not light the signal fire. As a result, the ship passes by without noticing them. When Richard angrily confronts Emmeline about this, she tells him that the island is their home now and they should stay, to Richard's disbelief.
Emmeline secretly ventures to the forbidden side of the island and sees the altar. She associates the blood on the altar with the blood of Christ's crucifixion. She comes to the conclusion 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. They insult each other and Emmeline reveals she knows about his masturbating and threatens to tell her Uncle Arthur about it. They throw coconuts at each other and she hits him on the head. Following the fight, Richard kicks Emmeline out of their hut.
Emmeline accidentally steps on a stonefish. Sick and weak, she pleads with Richard to 'take her to God.' Richard carries her to the other side of the island and places her on the altar, offering a prayer to God. Emmeline recovers and Richard admits his fear of losing her.
After Emmeline regains her ability to walk, they go skinny dipping in the lagoon and then swim to shore. Still naked, Richard and Emmeline discover sexual intercourse and passionate love. They regularly make love from then on. Emmeline becomes pregnant. Richard and Emmeline are stunned when they feel the baby move inside her and assume that it is her stomach causing the movements.
Emmeline gives birth to a baby boy, whom they name Paddy. Emmeline holds him and learns how to feed him as the baby instinctively starts suckling. The young parents teach Paddy how to swim, fish and build things.
A ship led by Richard's father Arthur (William Daniels) approaches the island and sees the family playing on the shore. When they notice the ship, they walk away instead of signalling for help, content with their lives. As they are covered in mud, their appearance is difficult to determine and Arthur assumes that they are natives.
One day, the family takes the lifeboat to visit their original homesite. Richard goes off and finds bananas for them, leaving Emmeline and Paddy with the boat. Emmeline does not notice when Paddy brings a branch of the scarlet berries into the boat. Emmeline and Paddy slowly drift away and Paddy tosses one of the oars out. Unable to reach the oar, Emmeline shouts to Richard and he swims to her, followed closely by a shark. Emmeline throws the other oar at the shark, striking it and giving Richard time to get into the boat. They are unable to retrieve the oars without risking a shark attack. They paddle with their hands to no avail; the boat is caught in the current and drifts out to sea.
After drifting for days, Richard and Emmeline awake to find Paddy eating the berries he had picked. Hopeless, Richard and Emmeline eat the berries as well, lying down to await death. A few hours later, Arthur's ship finds them. Arthur asks, 'Are they dead?' The captain (Gus Mercurio) answers, 'No, sir. They're asleep'.
Cast[edit]
- Brooke Shields as Emmeline Lestrange
- Elva Josephson as Young Emmeline
- Christopher Atkins as Richard Lestrange
- Glenn Kohan as Young Richard
- Bradley Pryce as Little Paddy Lestrange
- Chad Timmermans as Infant Paddy
- Leo McKern as Paddy Button
- William Daniels as Arthur Lestrange
- Alan Hopgood as Captain
- Gus Mercurio as Officer
Production[edit]
The movie was a passion project of Randal Kleiser, who had long admired the original novel. He hired Douglas Day Stewart, 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.[1]
The film was shot in Jamaica and Nanuya Levu, a privately owned island in Fiji.[2] The flora and fauna featured in the film includes an array of animals from multiple continents. As it turned out, the iguanas filmed on Fiji were a species hitherto unknown to biologists; this was noted by the herpetologist John Gibbons when he watched the film and after traveling to the island where the iguanas were filmed, he described the Fiji crested iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis) in 1981.[3] The lagoon scenes were shot in Comino Island, Malta and Champagne Bay, Vanuatu.[citation needed]
All of Brooke Shields' nude scenes were performed by the film's 32-year-old stunt coordinator, Kathy Troutt.[4] Shields did many of her topless scenes with her hair glued to her breasts.[5][6] Atkins appeared nude[7][8] (including frontal nudity[9]) in the film.
Underwater moving picture photography was performed by Ron and Valerie Taylor.[10]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
The Blue Lagoon was panned by critics. It holds a score of 9% on Rotten Tomatoes out of 22 reviews.[11] Among the more common criticisms were the ludicrously idyllic portrayal of how children would develop outside of civilized society,[12][13][4] the unfulfilled buildup of the island's natives as a climactic threat[12][4] and the way the film, while teasing a prurient appeal, conspicuously obscures all sexual activities.[12][13]Roger Ebert 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.[12] He and Gene Siskel selected the film as one of their 'dogs of the year' in a 1980 episode of Sneak Previews.[14]Time Out 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.'[13] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post 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.[4]
Box office[edit]
The film was the ninth biggest box office hit of 1980 in North America according to Box Office Mojo, grossing US$58,853,106 in the United States and Canada[15] on a $4.5 million budget.[16][17][18]
Awards and honors[edit]
- Main awards
- Nominee:Academy Award for Best Cinematography – Néstor Almendros
- Nominee:Saturn Award – Best Fantasy Film
- Nominee:Golden Globe Award, New Star of the Year – Christopher Atkins
- 1st Golden Raspberry Award
- Won:Worst Actress (Brooke Shields)
- Young Artist Awards
- Nominee: Best Major Motion Picture – Family Entertainment
- Nominee: Best Young Motion Picture Actor – Christopher Atkins
- Nominee: Best Young Motion Picture Actress – Brooke Shields
Other honors[edit]
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated[19]
Versions and adaptations[edit]
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 silent1923 film of that name. There was another British adaptation in 1949. The 1980 version includes much more nudity and sex scenes than the 1949 version, though far less than the book.
The sequel Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991) loosely picks up where The Blue Lagoon left off, except that Richard and Emmaline are found dead in the boat. Their son is rescued. As Paddy's name is unknown to his rescuers, he is renamed Richard, after his father.
The movie was briefly parodied in a flashback scene of the movie Top Secret! (1984). The Quantum Leap episode 'Leaping of the Shrew' guest-starred Brooke Shields and was about a young man and woman marooned on a deserted island. It was also parodied in the movie Going Berserk (1983) when John Candy reveals his recurring nightmare inspired by the movie. The end of the dream spoofs Christopher Atkins' masturbation scene when Candy is spotted masturbating by the jeering passengers of a ship that happens to pass by.
On December 9, 2011, the cable TV network Lifetimegreenlit the television filmBlue Lagoon: The Awakening.[20] It premiered on the channel on June 16, 2012. Atkins appears in the 2012 film as one of the teachers on the shipborne field trip where Emma and Dean are lost at sea and end up on an island.
DVD and Blu-ray[edit]
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, 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.[21] The film was re-released in 2005 as part of a two-pack with its sequel, Return to the Blue Lagoon.[22]
A limited edition Blu-ray Disc 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.[23][24]
Streaming[edit]
The 1980 movie was made available for streaming through services such as Amazon Video and Vudu.[25][26]
See also[edit]
- The Blue Lagoon (1923 version)
- The Blue Lagoon (1949 version)
- Blue Lagoon: The Awakening, a Lifetime television movie
- Martin Popplewell, an English journalist who was inspired by The Blue Lagoon to intentionally strand himself and his lover on a desert island at age 15
References[edit]
- ^Scott Murray, 'The Blue Lagoon: Interview with Randal Kleiser', Cinema Papers, June–July 1980 [166-169, 212]
- ^McMurran, Kristin (August 11, 1980). 'Too Much, Too Young?'. People. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
- ^Robert George Sprackland (1992). Giant lizards. Neptune, New Jersey: T.F.H. Publications. ISBN0-86622-634-6.
- ^ abcdArnord, Gary (July 11, 1980). 'Depth Defying'. The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- ^The Blue Lagoon (DVD Special Edition). Released October 5, 1999.
- ^'SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT'. Screenarchives.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^McMurrin, Kristin (August 11, 1980). 'Too Much, Too Young?'. People. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^'Christopher Atkins: Poster Child for Gay Rights Movement?'. Advocate.com. January 9, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^'Chris Atkins'. HollywoodShow.com. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^Valerie and Ron Taylor join the action in 'THE BLUE LAGOON', The Australian Women's Weekly, November 19, 1980, pages 64 and 65, Retrieved February 17, 2013
- ^'The Blue Lagoon'. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ abcdEbert, Roger. 'The Blue Lagoon Movie Review & Film Summary (1980) - Roger Ebert'. Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ abcFF. 'The Blue Lagoon (1980)'. Time Out. Archived from the original on October 10, 2010.
- ^'Sneak Previews: Worst of 1980'. Siskelandebert.org. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^'1980 Yearly Box Office Results'. Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Blue-Lagoon-The#tab=summary
- ^http://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/56372
- ^http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/21857%7C0/The-Blue-Lagoon.html
- ^'AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees'(PDF). Afi.com. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ^Andreeva, Nellie (December 9, 2011). 'Lifetime Greenlights 'Blue Lagoon' Remake'. Deadline.com. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^'The Blue Lagoon'. Amazon.com. 5 October 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^'The Blue Lagoon / Return to the Blue Lagoon'. Amazon.com. 1 February 2005. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^'The Blue Lagoon Blu-ray'. Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^The Blue Lagoon Blu-ray, Twilight Time, 2012
- ^'Amazon.com: The Blue Lagoon: Christopher Atkins, Brooke Shields, William Daniels, Leo McKern: Amazon Digital Services LLC'. Amazon.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^'VUDU - Watch Movies'. Vudu.com. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Blue Lagoon |
- The Blue Lagoon on IMDb
- The Blue Lagoon at the TCM Movie Database
- The Blue Lagoon at AllMovie
- The Blue Lagoon at the American Film Institute Catalog
- The Blue Lagoon at Box Office Mojo
- The Blue Lagoon at Rotten Tomatoes