I recently bought the dvd of The Blue Lagoon, and I thought I'd type up stuff from the case. The front of the case has the image above. The back has a summary and three images. One is of Emmeline and Richard sitting on the beach, staring off to one side. Another is a shot of the Northumberland on fire, with the dinghy rowing away. It can be seen on my images page. The third is the dvd's interface, with Richard and Em sort of hugging, and the options.


The summary is...


The lush beauty and splendor of a South Pacific paradise is vividly captured in this version of Henry DeVere Stacpoole's 1903 novel. Two small children and a ship's cook survive a shipwreck and find safety on an idyllic tropical island. Soon, however, the cook dies and the young boy and girl are left on their own. Days become years and Emmeline (Brooke Shields) and Richard (Christopher Atkins) make a home for themselves surrounded by exotic creatures and nature's beauty. They learn to cope with the bewildering variety of physical and emotional changes that come with adolescence. And as they begin to mature, their childhood affections lead to a sensitive and more profound love and the birth of a child. But will they ever
see civilization again?


The special features are also listed on the back of the case, and include...


  • Digitally remastered audio and anamorphic video

  • Interactive Menus

  • Director, Writer, & Brooke Shields' Audio Commentary

  • Director & Christopher Atkins' Audio Commentary

  • Brooke Shields' Personal Photo Album

  • Original Featurette

  • Theatrical Trailer

  • Production Notes

  • Talent Files

  • Audio: English 2-Channel (Dolby Surround) & Spanish (Mono)

  • Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai


I went over both sides of the dvd and never saw the production notes, but oh well. It doesn't seem that important to me, really. Also, I watched the English Subtitles, and they aren't accurate. I'm assuming they were made using the original script, not the changed one. It's alright though, because you get the general feel for the movie. Inside the dvd case is an insert with several pictures and a little background article. Again, I am transcribing the article...


"The Blue Lagoon," written by Victorian novelist Henry DeVere Stacpoole, was first published in 1903. A provocative best-seller, the book posed the enduring question: is it nature or nurture, instict or learning, which makes us what we are?

Although it was first adapted to the screen in 1949 -- and starred Jean Simmons in her film debut [ed. note: Jean Simmons had been in thirteen films prior to THE BLUE LAGOON]-- the definitive version of Stacpoole's novel would be directed by Randal Kleiser as a follow-up to his feature film debut Grease (1978), the highest grossing musical in motion picture history.

Kleiser: "I was at the crossroads of deciding what film to do after Grease. I was being offered big commercial films with big casts and big budgets but I couldn't get THE BLUE LAGOON out of my mind. I'd been waiting to film it ever since I read the novel eight years ago."

To bring THE BLUE LAGOON to the screen, Kleiser assembled a first-class production team that included screenwriter Douglas Day Stewart -- who had written the Kleiser-directed TV movie "The Boy In The Plastic Bubble" -- and Oscar-winning cinematographer Nestor Almendros (Days Of Heaven, 1978). Tp play the teen-age Emmeline, Kleiser signed his first and only choice for the role, 14-year-old model/actress Brooke Shields (Pretty Baby). After a country-wide talent search that screened a reported 3000 actors, 18-year-old newcomer Christopher Atkins was chosen to play the part of Richard. Completing the cast were nine-year-olds Evla Josephson and Glenn Kohan as the young Emmeline and Richard; Leo McKern (Help!) as Paddy, the ship's cook; and William Daniels as Richard's father, Arthur Lestrange.

THE BLUE LAGOON was shot in its entirety on Nanuya Levu, a privately-owned island in the Fiji archipelago. Upon his arrival, Kleiser met with the island's chief, who volunteered his tribesmen to help build the tent city that would house the incoming cast and crew. Although much of Nanuya Levu's scenery would be shot in its natural state, the film's waterfall was man-made, having been blasted out of volcanic rock at the island's center. The great stone god was also artificial, having been constructed from polyurethane blocks that were shipped in from Melbourne, Australia.

Production of the $3.5 million project began on June 18, 1979, and was completed in four months. A devotee of natural lighting, Almendros shot THE BLUE LAGOON in the manner of the early filmmakers, using sunlight defused through silk tarpaulins. (Almendros' stunning cinematography would receive a 1980 Oscar nomination.)

Kleiser: "We'd lift the roof off a hut and let the sunlight in. We even shot the ship interiors that way."

THE BLUE LAGOON opened on June 20, 1980, and went on to become one of the highest grossing films of the year ($43.6 million). "A low-keyed love story stressing innocent eroticism," THE BLUE LAGOON is "a beautifully mounted production" (Variety).


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