Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)

In this sequel to the 1980 classic, two children are stranded on a beautiful island in the South Pacific. The two make a simple life together and become tanned teenagers in love.

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Henry De Vere Stacpoole (book), Leslie Stevens (screenplay)

Stars:

Milla Jovovich, Brian Krause, Lisa Pelikan

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Milla Jovovich	...	Lilli
Brian Krause	...	Richard
Lisa Pelikan	...	Sarah Hargrave
Courtney Barilla	...	Young Lilli (as Courtney Phillips)
Garette Ratliff Henson	...	Young Richard (as Garette Patrick Ratliff)
Emma James	...	Infant Lilli
Jackson Barton	...	Infant Richard
Nana Coburn	...	Sylvia Hilliard
Brian Blain	...	Capt. Jacob Hilliard
Peter Hehir	...	Quinlan
Alexander Petersons	...	Giddens
John Mann	...	First Captain
Wayne Pygram	...	Kearney
John Dicks	...	Penfield
Gus Mercurio	...	First Mate

Storyline

While the general theme of this film resembles "The Blue Lagoon" (the film for which this is a sequel), the basic plot is quite different. We open the film with a ship finding the craft with our original characters in it, Richard and Emmeline dead and Paddy alive. Established in the first film, the only word Paddy ever says is "Richard", so the crew assumes Richard is the infant's name. Taken in by Sarah, a widow with an infant baby girl Lilli, Richard (Paddy) is cared for in a return to civilization. Struck by cholera, the crew of the ship start to die and the captain sets Sarah, Richard, Lilli and a healthy crew member on a lifeboat in an attempt to preserve their lives. With water and food running short, the crew member escorting Sarah and the children becomes dangerous, so Sarah takes the only course of action she feels suitable to preserve the children: she strikes him and throws him overboard. Taking control of the small craft, she eventually guides them back to the island of ...

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Plot Keywords:

island | sequel | baby | desert island | castaway | 

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Taglines:

In a secluded paradise... surrounded by a coral sea, a boy and a girl grew up alone. Now they are experiencing the first awakenings of love. A love that can only be threatened... by discovery.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 August 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

El regreso a la laguna azul

Filming Locations:

Fiji

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$2,807,854 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Price Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Milla Jovovich said that this is the worst film she's ever done.

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Goofs

In the first shark scene, we see it as a great white shark coming towards the decoy fish Richard set, then we see it as a smaller blue shark biting into the decoy fish.

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Quotes

Lilli: I'm gonna keep this forever.
Richard: What's that?
Lilli: My prize. The white bead. I think... It looks nice in my hair. Do you?
Richard: I don't care what you do with it, or how you wear it. You can hang it from you nose for all I care.

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Connections

Referenced in The Fifth Element (1997)

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Soundtracks

"A WORLD OF OUR OWN"
Music by Barry Mann
Lyrics by Cynthia Weil
Produced by Dennis Lambert and Barry Mann
Performed by Surface featuring Bernard Jackson
Courtesy of Columbia Records

User Reviews

Return to the Blue Lagoon -- Bad films coming full circle

I can only think of one thing more incomprehensible than making a movie from a bad script and that is for a filmmaker to base his idea for a movie on another movie that is terrible. Normally directors try to rip off good movies, like the guy who directed "The Italian Connection" based on the "The French Connection" (good thinking because sometimes Americans confuse the French and the Italians), or the other fellow who directed the porno "American Booty" based on Sam Mendes' "American Beauty." And if all else fails, do a sequel like "Jaws II" based on the good "Jaws" or "Exorcist II" based on the great "Exorcist." I could go on, except I will be going off track and forgetting to tell you about the time when they decided to make the terrible "Return of the Blue Lagoon" based on the terrible "Blue Lagoon" which must have had the makers of sequels and rip offs scratching their heads.

The problem with "Return to the Blue Lagoon" is the same as the last film. It is not about anything. It seems that the filmmakers felt, in spite of the bad critical reception of the first Blue Lagoon, that an exotic island and two teenagers discovering sex and then fornicating (though we see none of that) was enough to create an entertaining film. Of course, the filmmakers did a little tweaking for this film. There is the sad background story which explains how the two kids got stuck on the island, like the last two kids. Who says that Carl Orff's Carmina Burana does not have any influence over film-making. There is also an egg competition, an encounter with a native, a seductive English girl from the outside and a lascivious sailor. But other than that, Lilli (Milla Jovovich) and Richard (Brian Krause) go through the same motions as Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins as though they were destined to live the exact same lives as the previous couple on the island. What "Return to the Blue Lagoon" really is, if you think about it, is an unsexy pornographic movie for kids; a stage for kids to go through before they see the softcore and hardcore porn films. But even based on that sordid criteria, "Return to the Blue Lagoon" fails because even the sleaziest, worst acted pornos at least do something to your libido. "Return to the Blue Lagoon" does nothing because it has all the bad acting you would expect from a porno without any of any of the great sex (not least because the actors are underage). So if you are interested in a movie where a couple have lots of great sex on a deserted tropical island, watch Lina Wertmueller's "Swept Away by a Mysterious Destiny in the Blue Sea of August" instead. It has gorgeous pictures of a tropical paradise, far better acting, and you won't feel dirty and guilty by the end of the film because the actors, Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato, were both in their thirties (though they look like in the their twenties) at the time of filming.