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Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991) – DVD Review

Return to the Blue Lagoon DVD cover art

Film:
DVD:

Written by Leslie Stevens, based on The Garden of God by Henry de Vere Stacpoole
Directed by William A. Graham
Starring Milla Jovovich, Brian Krause, and Lisa Pelikan

Features:

  • Theatrical trailer

Released by: Columbia-Tristar.
Rating: PG-13
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Nope; fullscreen only.

My Advice: Rent it.

Sara (Pelikan) is a widow sailing back to her home after her husband was killed on a colonial expedition in the South Pacific. The ship crosses paths with a small dinghy that is floating at sea with a small child and his two dead parents (who just happen to be the two from the original Blue Lagoon). The crew rescues the child from starvation…only to put him in danger of dying of cholera. It seems that the ship’s doctor was remiss in telling the captain that the crew were dying of the disease.

[ad#longpost]So, the captain decides to set the woman and the two children off the ship in a small boat with a small complement of provisions and a sailor to protect them. However, the sailor soon is a little too stingy with the provisions (mostly the water) and he threatens to throw the kids overboard if they don’t stop crying. So, after disposing of the sailor, the three wind up on the same island from the first film and the two children grow up on the island with the beautiful…blue lagoon.

Okay, so the premise seems just a little bit contrived–or maybe a lot contrived–but this movie is not as bad as it could have been. Although it feels as if it were a vehicle strictly for Jovovich even though this was early in her movie career. And she is the only one that really shines here. Brian Krause doesn’t seem to get exactly what’s going on throughout his entire performance, and it’s difficult to tell whether the character was written that way or if the actor is just clueless. Either way, they are the two that have to carry the full weight of this movie and it winds up seeming a little bit one-sided.

And, there have been better DVD presentations. Without a lot of effort, even. In this package, we don’t get anything that resembles what have become common special features: no commentary tracks, no behind-the-scenes featurettes, no interviews with the cast or crew, nothing. For Jovovich fans, and Lord knows there’s a few, you’d think they would have tried to at least get an interview with her in order to make the DVD seem a little bit meatier. All you get here is a full-screen presentation (which is just flat out unforgivable for any title, regardless of quality) of the film and a couple of theatrical trailers.

Brian Krause and Milla Jovovich in Return to the Blue Lagoon
Brian Krause and Milla Jovovich

If you are looking for a good date movie, you really could do a lot worse than this one, but rent it. It’s not worth adding to the collection as it is.

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