Movies have a fascination with islands. A sense of isolation comes with the setting
that can creep into the minds of audiences.
The island could be deserted, leaving the protagonist to face their own
inner insecurities and flaws. There
could be someone or something on the island that has a nefarious motivation and
could cause harm to the protagonist.
Maybe the island is a look at a different world, kept secret because
people rarely go there. Islands are a
wealth of story possibilities that play out throughout the history of film.
Of course, the island is rarely the first place that the
movie takes place. Something needs to
put the characters within that island setting.
Most of the time, it comes down to two ways. The first is that the character or characters
crash land on or around the island. This
could include a boat, a plane, a helicopter, or even a hot air balloon. Some sort of transportation puts them on that
island because the vehicle ceases any working functions. The other possibility is that the character
or characters want to explore a place that they’ve never been. They find the island and their curiosity gets
the better of them. Then they find that
leaving the island is nowhere near as easy as getting to it. These two ways of getting the characters to
the island put everything into motion, allowing the story to unfold.
Shock Waves,
released in 1977, was one of those movies where the characters wanted to
explore an island. They visited a hotel
on an island and were enjoying their time until Nazi zombies showed up and
began drowning them one by one. The man
who ran the island, an SS commander (Peter Cushing), tried to stop them, but it
was too late. The zombies picked off
Captain Ben Morris (John Carradine), leaving the rest of the crew and
passengers to fend for themselves.
In the case of a movie like Shock Waves, there needs to be obstacles that keep the characters
on the island. They become trapped after
travelling there of their own free will.
Something must happen that makes them have to stay there after they had
planned to leave. The Nazi zombies were
that something. Around every corner, the
zombies appeared and threatened the well-being of each character. If they tried to get off the island, and many
times it looked like they would, their plans were threatened by the
zombies. Or, in one particular case,
another cause. Everything must work
against the characters, preventing them from leaving.
One example of obstacles being thrown at the characters
involved a boat that they tried to use for their escape. They got into the boat and started paddling
toward the outskirts of the island.
Eventually, they were able to put up the sails to catch the wind. Right before they broke into the ocean, they
ran aground. The characters pushed the
boat across the ground and into the deeper waters. One of the women fell out of the boat and
everyone went to help her because the Nazi zombies were following them. When they turned back to the boat, the wind
had blown it far out into the water and they couldn’t catch up to it. This is the kind of obstacle perfect for
keeping the characters on the island. An
outside force from the main characters influenced it, and their need to protect
everyone ended up being the downfall that protected nobody.
That’s an extreme case of what could happen if characters
end up trapped on an island. It isn’t
usually as crazy as Nazi zombies going after them and drowning them in whatever
water can be found in the area. Usually it’s
just some sort of creature that stayed hidden on the island. Maybe even not so hidden. In The
Lost World: Jurassic Park, the characters went to an island that they knew
was filled with dinosaurs. Their
struggles with getting off that island involved the other people who had come
to the island to hunt the creatures, as well as the giant animals
themselves. Around every corner was a
dinosaur ready to kill the people who were trespassing on their home turf. Trailers were thrown from cliffs. People were eaten. It was a struggle for the main characters to
survive on the island that was home to so many creatures that weren’t found
elsewhere in the world.
The other type of story that involves people being stuck on
an island involves a crash landing.
Someone accidentally ends up on an island because of a breakdown and
must try and survive the wilderness.
It’s not one of those things where something tries to keep the
characters there. Instead, they’re just
trying to live and eventually get off the island. They’re more survival movies than monster
movies. It’s a different approach to the
island and one that has stood the test of time.
The ultimate film in this style of storytelling was Cast Away. The Tom Hanks film saw his character as a
FedEx employee stranded on an island when his FedEx plane crashed in the
ocean. He spent the entire runtime doing
whatever he could to survive before finally building a raft and trying his luck
against the vicious ocean. He wanted to
go back to civilization, and the audience wanted to see it too.
Throughout the film, the lead character worked his butt off
to stay alive. He pushed himself to do
everything he could think of to try and get help. He learned to fish with sticks and
stuff. He figured out how to start a
fire. The FedEx boxes came in
handy. Particularly, one that contained
a volleyball allowed him to have some sort of companionship on the island that
was now his home. It was a survival
movie on a deserted island. That’s what
many island movies end up being. If
there isn’t something sinister trying to keep characters there, their survival
is the key to the setting.
Island settings can lead to some great, or at least highly
entertaining movies. Cast Away was a great performance from
Tom Hanks as a man struggling to stay alive in a situation where most people
would fall apart. The Lost World: Jurassic Park was an interesting look at people
trying to escape a habitat that doesn’t exist anywhere other than that
island. There can be other, lesser
movies as well. Shock Waves was one of those, showing people on an island
attempting to escape the clutches of the Nazi zombies that wanted to kill
them. Islands are an important setting
for film history.
A great number of stories have utilized the setting of an
island. The islands keep people isolated. It becomes tougher to get the help needed
because it is tougher for people to get there.
Deserted islands are even worse because there’s likely no way to contact
the people needed to help. Islands mean
survival. Against a creature, a person,
or nature, there’s a battle with the main character’s life being at risk. The stakes of island stories are nearly as
high as stakes can be. That’s what makes
islands fun. That’s why writers go back
to islands all the time. That’s why
audiences enjoy islands. That’s why we
enjoy islands.
Hopefully you enjoy these notes just as much:
- @T_Lawson suggested Shock Waves. He also suggested Sextette (week 141), Octaman (week 204), and Tarzan the Ape Man (week 273).
- Shock Waves featured John Carradine, who was making his third Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance. He could previously be seen in Monster in the Closet (week 55), and The Ice Pirates (week 128).
- Some other island movies that were covered for the Sunday “Bad” Movies include Two-Headed Shark Attack (week 7) and Teenage Zombies (week 298).
- Have you seen Shock Waves? Did you think it was good or bad? How do you feel about movies that are set on islands? Use the comments if you want to discuss any of this.
- Twitter and the comments section can be used to suggest future movies for the Sunday “Bad” Movies. If there’s a bad movie that you want me to watch, let me know.
- Sometimes when I’m watching bad movies, I share clips of them on Snapchat. IF you’re interest in seeing that, add me (jurassicgriffin).
- Next week is the big week 300. There will be two posts going up. The one that I’m going to fill you in on right now is the normal weekly post. Since it’s a franchise week, I’ll be writing about a franchise. The Mega Shark franchise will be the focus of next week’s post. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark, and Mega Shark vs. Kolossus will be discussed. Come back then to see that and the bonus post.
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