Top 10 Movies that Take Place on an Island
Movies can take place in a plethora of different locations which usually contribute to the movie's story and visuals. A less common, but interesting type of filming location is on an island which gives plenty of options for viewers. If you're looking for mystery, exploration, survival, horror, war or even romance, it's all there. Let's rank the best movies that take place on an island.Note that whether these movies were really filmed on an island or not is unimportant for this list, as long as the story takes place on an island and the viewer is led to believe it does, then it counts.
One of the greatest movies of all time, Jurassic Park is Steven is Spielberg's massive blockbuster which sees paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) who are among a select group chosen to tour an island theme park populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. Jurassic Park was filmed on location on Kauai island, the smallest and most beautiful of the four major Hawaiian islands. Fun fact: on the last day of filming, Hawaii was hit by hurricane Iniki and forced the team to wait out the bad weather in their hotel.
One of Tom Hanks' most well-known and critically acclaimed movies in which he plays the role of FedEx executive Chuck Noland who is going on an assignment in Malaysia when his plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean during a storm. He survives the flight and luckily washes ashore on a deserted island. The only friend he has to keep him company is a volleyball he named "Wilson". Cast Away was filmed on Monuriki, one of the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji.
There are many films based on this story, this one being the 1960s version, and it is many people's favorite. The Robinson family is composed of the mother, father and their three sons Fritz, Ernst and Francis. They were fleeing France from the reign of Napoleon to start a new life in New Guinea, but then their ship gets damaged and the family takes refuge on a deserted island on which they learn to survive. This film was shot entirely on the island of Tobago in the West Indies. With its palm-fringed beaches, dense jungles, and dark swamps, Tobago provided the ideal backdrop for the tale of a shipwrecked family facing an unfamiliar and perilous new life.
Starring Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh and Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian, this movie is based on a true story about a famous mutiny that took place in 1789 on an English ship. Captain Bligh struggles to restore discipline among the crew of the HMS Bounty after the ship has an extended furlough in Tahiti. After the captain doles out floggings and other physical punishments, the crew mutinies, led by Bligh's former close friend, Fletcher Christian. The film was shot on location over 20 weeks in Mo'orea, French Polynesia and Port of Gisborne, New Zealand. Many of the shots of the ship were filmed in Opunohu Bay, Moorea, the bay where Captain James Cook anchored during 1777.
The Thin Red Line is a WWII movie based on the Battle of Guadalcanal. It follows a U.S. army absconder living peacefully with the locals of a small South Pacific island who is forced to resume training in preparation for the upcoming battle. This movie's story and it's different beach scenes make it look like they are on an island, but to save money, the entire movie was filmed in the Daintree Rainforest and on Bramston Beach, both in north Queensland, Australia.
A team composed of scientists, soldiers and adventurers travels to the mysterious Skull Island, a mythical, uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. As they explore the island, they eventually venture into the domain of the mighty Kong. Many scenes for Kong: Skull Island were filmed in northern Vietnam. Aerial shots and helicopter chases took place in Ha Long Bay. Filming locations also include UNESCO World Heritage site Tràng An and the Tú Làn Caves System.
Richard, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is a young man who travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of an odd map which is rumored to lead to an island paradise. Accompanied by a few friends, he sets out to find it. The movie was filmed on the Thai island of Ko Phi Phi Le.
Jurassic World the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise and the first in the Jurassic World trilogy. A successful theme park of cloned dinosaurs, dubbed Jurassic World, has operated on the island for years, bringing John Hammond's dream to fruition. The park plunges into chaos when a transgenic dinosaur escapes from its enclosure and goes on a rampage. Jurassic World was shot in the islands of Kauai and Oahu in Hawaii.
A movie directed by Clint Eastwood about the battle of Iwo Jima during WWII from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers.
The Blue Lagoon is a 1980 romantic survival drama film. Seven-year-old cousins Emmeline and Richard, who are portrayed by two different sets of actors as they get older, survive a shipwreck and find themselves marooned on a beautiful island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
Another movie about the Bounty, this time starring Marlon Brando.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars in this psychological thriller as US Marshal Teddy Daniels. He's on assignment to investigate a missing inmate from the asylum named Ashecliffe Hospital located on a remote island. The woman appears to have vanished from a locked room, and there are hints of terrible deeds committed within the hospital walls. The film used Peddocks Island as a setting for the story's island. The rest was mainly filmed in Massachusetts.
A powerful storm forces a couple and their pilot to land on an island. The movie was filmed on Kauai island, the same place they filmed Jurassic Park.
Starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson, this is a futuristic thriller about a contained, seemingly utopian facility in the mid-21st century. The residents hope to be chosen to go to the Island - the last uncontaminated place on Earth, but when one inhabitant discovers that there are sinister forces at work, he and a female friend make a daring escape.
A movie about the battle at Hacksaw Ridge, on the island of Okinawa. The filming took place in Australia.
The island in question is one of the Channel Islands north west of France
A 17 year old young man named Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded distress signal from an island where none should exist. Knowing that he will not be able to dissuade Sean from tracking the signal to its source, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), Sean's new stepfather, joins the teen on a quest to the South Pacific. Tog ether with helicopter pilot Gabato (Luis Guzmán) and Gabato's feisty daughter, Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island and rescue its sole human inhabitant (Michael Caine). The film was filmed on Oahu, Hawaii.
