La laguna azul

Often while watching this movie I asked myself, How would filmmakers tackle this or that scene today, 25 years later? And while I am certainly not going to applaud 'The Blue Lagoon' as an overlooked masterpiece, CERTAINLY not!, it is still a far cry better than the standard teenage soft-porn that is on offer today.

Basically, 'The Blue Lagoon' is about two horny teenagers finding their own path towards sexual fulfillment and adulthood, and it strives to point the way for its multitudes of teenage audiences with some dignity and even fearlessness. Today footage of completely naked infants as well as pre-teens and teens would simply never be realized or even permitted in mainstream OR art cinema, God forbid! Brooke Shields' frank alluding to Christopher Atkins' masturbatory habits could, in a movie today, only be filmed amidst a sea of giggles, whereas in 1980 they did it very deadpan and honestly.

The film is full of quite touching scenes and gently, if not exactly marvelously acted. I liked Atkins' prayer that the sick Shields be saved, and he doesn't remember how a prayer goes: "Our Father who art in Heaven ... Kingdom come ... Liberty and justice for all. Amen". They don't lead terribly eventful lives on that desert island, but their everyday rituals are beautifully filmed, and the underwater sequences are memorable.

This movie is about love and romance. It is about 2 children who are stranded forced to learn everything about survival and life on there own. They are also forced to deal with very adult issues on their own such as Patty's death. Patty was the only adult to be stranded with them. His death came when he found a keg of rum, got drunk and decided to swim for his rescue. This happened shortly after they were marooned and the kids found him dead in the morning. Up until that point Patty had been giving them advice and trying to raise them the best that he could. I found it charming that they still had the vocabulary of a child even into adulthood but gradually they started figuring more things out, for instance, there is a big scene about Emeline realizing that there really a Santa and that the sun doesn't really make a hissing sound when it sinks into the ocean each night.

There was some press at the time about them, (Christpher Atkins, and Brooke Shields) doing nude scenes which resulted in them not actually being nude at all in the film, they are wearing body stockings in the water.

My review has nothing to do with the perfect beauty of Brooke Shields because I am a straight female. Brooke was at her most radiant.

One excellent part of the film comes after the two have been bickering for days and then Emeline becomes sick and falls asleep. It forced the viewer to think about how much grief would be felt by one if the other should die, really all they had was each other and eventually a baby. Everything depended on them both staying alive.

I believe that anyone who didn't love this movie as much as me, missed the entire story somehow. It wasn't about Brooke being nude and it wasn't about life in paradise it was about innocence. This was a huge hit film back in it's day and launched Brooke's career into super stardom.

Although panned by most critics, this film represents something we all want: love and beauty. Beauty, on more levels than just Brooke Shields' tan, in being true love, without the "corruption" of western culture, feelings of guilt or shame. Though being called unrealistic- is it really? If we all went back to a simpler way of life, cut through the complicated nature of everyday life, could we not be more stable, and find true love? I enjoyed this film, it was witty, innocent, and beautiful.

This movie is simple, it captures what life is really about. Without the many special effects that is used in movies now and even in the past it is a absolutely wonderful movie.

A young romance blossoming between two kids who have known nobody else but themselves. They discover everything in life without all the interference of the rest of the world.

The low rating on this movie is unjust, it deserves a lot more then it is given, this is possibly one of the best movies I have ever seen.

It is absolutely wonderful for a romantic night just you and the television. And the nudity? it was exciting when I was younger, it becomes a bit too much as I am getting older, but it does not bother me. It fits the movie, the pure soul of the movie.

I've never understood the critical slam this film has received. Then I saw the widescreen dvd version and understood; everyone has been watching it in pan and scan! The film is a visual poem. So much of the story telling is done through visual information. The impact of this is lost when the cinematography is altered. Remember that Nestor Almendros received an Academy Award nomination for his work on this film. The film has resonated with global audiences for so long for this very reason. I suggest people watch the dvd commentary with Randal Kleiser and Brooke Shields to get a better understanding of why this film is still such a popular one.

People attack the acting, but these are children left alone with no one to guide them into adult sophistication. Their interaction and reactions to situations are very consistent with this scenario. Yes, the birth scene is a little rushed, but do we really need to see the umbilical cord? Not all films need to be about gritty reality, ala "Taxi Driver." No one asks to see the bloody guts of the smashed witch in "The Wizard of Oz."

It is a beautiful, romantic film that speaks to millions of people. It seems that only the most skeptical cynics cannot embrace this film.