Movie Description
The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 American romantic survival drama 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.