Blue Lagoon

I guess I was about 13 when I first saw The Blue Lagoon, and I loved it from the first. The 1949 movie of my memories not only starred one of my favourite actresses, the delectable Jean Simmons, but this was the stuff dreams are made of - growing up on a desert island with her!

Then, around 1980, came this version from director Randal Kleiser, starring Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins. And somehow the dream didn't seem so real. It was very American, very glossy and very pretty, but without the solemn mystery of the old black and white version.

But at the same time, this version is quite sweet and charming. And the presence of veteran Australian actor Leo McKern certainly adds much-needed dignity to this saccharine tale of early sexual discovery and love.

If you come to this movie expecting very little, then you may be pleased. I think I saw the 1949 version at the right age - I can't imagine anyone over 13 or 14 getting much out of The Blue Lagoon. It's desert island escapism for the barely pubescent - there's not much here for us grown-ups.

But despite having grown away from desert-island dreams, I must admit that the film is acted quite well by its youthful cast, it's shot in totally ravishing colour, and Brooke Shields is very beautiful. So if you have fond early memories of this film, there may be just enough here for some sweet reminiscences.

This anamorphic transfer really belies its age. The 1980 movie comes up as fresh as if shot yesterday. There is no sign of print age; this appears to be transferred from a pristine source.

Colours are well saturated; they just glow. Details are crisp and there are no signs of artefacts. It is a first-rate transfer in every way.

The main English-language track is four-channel Dolby Digital surround sound, with good clarity and a very natural sound-stage presentation. The sound, while not breathtaking, is as good as it would ever have been in its cinema heyday.

The French, German, Italian and Spanish two-channel soundtracks all create very different soundstage perspectives and are worth sampling just to hear the difference engineering can make.

There are two very generous audio commentaries; the first with director Randal Kleiser discussing the making of the movie with Douglas Day Stewart (who adapted the screenplay from Henry De Vere Stacpoole's novel) and Brooke Shields. The second commentary pairs up Randal Kleiser with Christopher Atkins.

There is a patchy 'photo scrapbook' which purports to be Brooke Shields' own souvenir photo album from the shoot - a pretty tawdry souvenir. And there's the original 'making of' featurette, a full-screen documentary transferred from a scratched print, with poor muffled sound which renders the feature almost unviewable.

The original film preview is full-screen, transferred from a well-worn print. Interestingly, this preview boasts subtitles in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch - it hardly seemed worth the effort!

This is definitely for renting only, unless your childhood memories are so strong as to make it irresistible. I think people coming across it for the first time will find one viewing is quite enough.