Return To The Blue Lagoon - Background and Production

Background and Production

The film was shot on location in Australia and Taveuni, Fiji and is a sequel to the 1980 remake The Blue Lagoon, starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins. Return to the Blue Lagoon bears a strong similarity to the original film, which was produced and directed by Randal Kleiser, but picks up from where the original film left off. It is almost nothing like The Garden of God, Henry De Vere Stacpoole's sequel to his novel The Blue Lagoon. However, in the second sequel novel, The Gates of Morning, a pair of sailors attack the people of a nearby island because they know its waters are rich with pearls, and it is possible the filmmakers used this. Richard is the child of Richard and Emmeline Lestrange of the original film, who both are revealed to be dead at the beginning and are buried at sea. The new shipwreck occurred mere days after they were found where the crew is struck with cholera.

Although many of the film's elements were derived from the 1980 Blue Lagoon film, and there was some nudity, the film was much more sanitized in content than its predecessor, and was able to garner a PG-13 rating in the United States. Despite the adult content of this film, including partial nudity (controversially, from a 15-year-old Milla Jovovich) and sexual themes, when Return to the Blue Lagoon was released to home video, it was promoted in North America as a family film suitable for all ages. The DVD version of this film is reframed to cut out Milla Jovovich's breasts in the scene where she's looking at herself in the mirror. The older VHS version showed her nipples at the very bottom of the screen.