30 Best Island Movies
We all want to escape from time to time to some beautiful lonely island. But, island movies on this list will show you that not all island retreats are as beautiful as it seems at the first sight.
In this article, we are bringing you the best movies that take place on islands. Some of the movies on our list are well-known blockbusters, while others are hidden gems you just need to see if you are looking for island movies. So check them out below, and have your island escape from within your room.
The Beach (2000)
A young American, Richard (L. DiCaprio), travels through Southeast Asia and stops briefly in Bangkok. In the obscure hotel where he stayed, he meets the eccentric Daffy (R. Carlyle), who reveals to him that a beautiful beach is hidden on one of the Thai islands, where life is like paradise. The next day, Richard finds Daffy’s map to the mysterious island on the door of the room, but discovers that Daffy has committed suicide.
Teaming up with a French couple in love, Françoise (V. Ledoyen) and Étienne (G. Canet) from the hotel room next door, Richard sets off for the island. After a tiring journey, the three young people finally arrive at the enchanting beach, realizing that the island is inhabited. Two groups of people live on the island: unscrupulous marijuana growers and hard-working pacifists led by the enigmatic Sal (T. Swinton).
Cast Away (2000)
Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) is a top professional whose deadlines govern both his business and private life, and the company FedEx, whose employee he is, often sends him on assignments around the world. His dizzying pace of life is tragically interrupted by the crash of the plane in which he was traveling on another assignment.
Chuck manages to survive, but remains alone on a remote island, cut off from civilization and the possibility of salvation. Deprived of the conveniences of modern life, Chuck must first provide himself with the basic conditions of life, such as water, food and shelter, but once he does this, the real challenge begins – waiting for an uncertain future.
After four years of seclusion, he is given the opportunity to return to the world, where he finds himself faced with an emotional challenge more difficult than all the physical demands of the desert island.
Shutter Island (2010)
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), are two federal sheriffs investigating the disappearance of a convicted murderer who escaped from a mental institution and is suspected of hiding on remote Shutter Island.
The whole situation suddenly gets complicated after the island is hit by a big storm that separates them from the rest of the world.
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The year is 1942, and Japanese enemy military forces hold the island of Guadalcanal. The US military wants to return it at any cost to stop the enemy’s advance toward the Pacific.
The unit of American soldiers “Charlie Company” is given this task. In order to carry it out, they must first remove the enemy bunker located on the hill, and only then make their way into the interior. A lot depends on the outcome of that battle…
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
In 1868, fear and panic reigned over the world’s seas due to frequent shipwrecks and numerous human casualties. The reason for them was, allegedly, a huge sea monster of unprecedented strength and cruelty. The surviving sailors described the terrible events, fueling the fear that no ship was safe from the mysterious scourge. The US authorities, therefore, decide to invite the world’s most respected expert on marine issues, the French professor Pierre Aronnax (P. Lukas) from the National Museum of Paris.
Boarding an American warship to search for a dangerous monster for the next few months, Professor Aronnax will be greatly assisted by his servant Conceille (P. Lorre) and harpoon expert, sailor Ned Land (K. Douglas). After several weeks of sailing, the ship’s crew comes across a vessel that is experiencing an ordeal identical to the stories of the surviving sailors. Before even helping the drowned, Professor Arronax’s ship was hit by the same force and the crew found themselves in the sea.
Conceille, Ned and the professor avoid drowning and swim to the mysterious object that drowned them, and are shocked to realize that it is not any sea monster, but an incredibly modern underwater vessel called “Nautilus”. Soon, his crew notices them and brings them to Captain Nemo (J. Mason), a genius scientist alienated from the rest of the world. And while the amazed Professor Arronax tries to win Nemo’s trust and discover his motives, Ned plans an escape.
Jurassic Park (1993)
John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), an eccentric billionaire who heads the InGen corporation, is forced to call in a team of experts to investigate the safety of Jurassic Park. The team of experts consists of paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician, that is, a self-described “chaoticist”, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum).
They are joined by the lawyer who requested the investigation, Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero). But this team of scientists has no idea what kind of park it is. Until at one point a living Brachiosaurus is found in front of them. Then they meet a Dilophosaurus and then go in search of a T-rex. During the continuation of the ride, they also meet sick Triceratops. Ellie Sattler stays with the Triceratops, and the others continue their journey through the strange park.
The Blue Lagoon (1980)
After a shipwreck in the South Pacific, two children, Emmeline (Brooke Shields) and Richard (Christopher Atkins) and the ship’s cook Paddy (Leo McKern) are the only survivors. But Paddy soon passes away, so Richard and Emmeline are suddenly forced to learn everything about survival on a deserted island, hundreds of kilometers away from civilization.
And as the years pass, the boy and the girl become young men and women, and the discovery of their own sexuality brings them a major turning point in the form of a child, about whose care the new parents know almost nothing. On top of all that, there is a great danger lurking on the island, which Richard and Emmeline are unaware of.
Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)
The ship on which the widow Sarah Hargrave and her one-year-old daughter Lili were traveling is affected by a deadly disease from which the parents of the two-year-old Richard die. Sarah was transferred to a small boat with Lili and Richard, hoping to be saved from cholera. Sea currents took them to an uncivilized tropical island, where Sarah devotes all her attention to raising and educating her two small children.
They grow up healthy and happy in harmony with nature and are unaware of the creations of modern society. Before the children are mature enough, Sarah dies of pneumonia. While discovering all the secrets of growing up together, Lili and Richard genuinely fall in love with each other. Their idyllic life ends with the arrival of a ship that introduces them to the achievements of civilization.
Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012)
Ambitious high school student Emma and lazy Dean find themselves on the same class trip to Trinidad. Although they don’t have much in common, Emma and Dean go on a wild boat party, and when Emma falls over a fence during a police raid, Dean jumps in to save her.
The couple floats in a dinghy without a motor until they run aground on a deserted island. While their parents desperately search for them, Emma and Dean are forced to depend on each other to survive, and the more time they spend together, the more they discover their attraction to each other. Despite their differences, a bond eventually develops between them.
But as the days on the island turn into weeks and months, Emma and Dean wonder if they will ever be saved or if their life in the Blue Lagoon will last forever.
George of the Jungle (1997)
After a plane crashes in the African jungle, newborn George is rescued by a highly intelligent monkey named Monkey. The monkey reads and speaks and has raised George to communicate easily with wild animals. The white monkey George (B. Fraser) grew up and became very strong. He jumps from tree to tree, holding onto vines.
He lives with Monkey in a hut at the top of a giant tree. One day, a rich man’s daughter Ursula Stanhope (L. Mann) arrives in the jungle in search of adventure, but also to take a break from her boring fiance Lyle Van de Groot (T. Harden Church), but it is not easy to get rid of him. He arrives at the head of an expedition led by Kwame (R. Roundtree).
When Ursula is attacked by a lion, George saves her life and takes her to his cabin. She immediately falls in love with him, but he doesn’t know what a woman is or what love is. Monkey and Ursula will teach him about this. Ursula takes George to San Francisco. Now he has to face the metropolitan jungle and its family…
Jaws (1975)
In the beautiful, picturesque summer resort on Amity Island, something terrible, some great evil overcame the tranquility and shook the peace. First, it took the life of a young girl, leaving her remains to rot on the beach, the echoes of her screams cursing the night sky. Then the big white dog set its sights on the children, and the calm waters turned red with blood.
And then, just when they thought it was safe to get back into the water, it attacked again, mercilessly rampaging and attacking the jetties where the unsuspecting fishermen sat and waited for their catch. Something has to be done before it goes back in search of food.
Amity’s tourism office and Mayor Larry Vaughn are determined to keep the beaches open for the summer season, and it’s up to Police Chief Brody, marine biologist Matt Hooper, and fisherman Quint to catch the white dogfish and stop the bloodshed.
Moana (2016)
From Disney’s animation studios comes Vaiana, a spirited computer-animated film about an adventurous teenage girl who sets sail on a dangerous mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana meets the once-powerful demigod Maui, who guides her on her mission to become the ultimate navigator.
Together, they sail across the ocean in a dangerous, action-packed adventure and encounter giant monsters, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient mission of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always been searching for: her own identity.
The Rock (1996)
Biochemist Stanley Goodspeed lives in Washington and works for the FBI. When his fiancee Carla Pestalozzi tells him she is pregnant, Stanley gets a call from his boss, James Womack, who tells him that 81 tourists are being held captive on Alcatraz Island. Marine General Francis Xavier Hummel has protested for years against the government’s decision not to pay compensation to the families of fallen veterans. The death of his wife Barbara Hummel pushed him to the brink and now he wants to achieve his goal.
Stanley is needed because Himmel has stolen the missiles and intends to fire them at San Francisco if his conditions are not met. Stanley will be assisted by agent John Patrick Mason, who has been imprisoned without trial for the past 30 years for stealing J. Edgar Hoover’s private files. In 1962, John was the only prisoner to ever escape from Alcatraz…
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
When Sean (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded message from a mysterious island that does not exist on maps, a new adventure begins. Mountains of gold, killer volcanoes and many secrets are enough of a challenge to go on a quest and save the last of its inhabitants until the volcano erupts and the island ceases to exist forever.
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) is a former bank robber and so far a successful escapee from several American prisons. But that should change with his arrival at Alcatraz, the strictest and best-guarded prison in the world. But Frank does not give up and gathers a group of prison colleagues with whom he carefully plans an escape from the prison from which apparently no one has managed to escape.
Papillon (2017)
Henri “Papillon” Charriere is a petty criminal, wrongly arrested and accused of a murder he did not commit, and sentenced to life in the infamous penal colony on Devils Island in French Guiana.
Determined to escape from prison, he teams up with the eccentric forger Louis Degas, who agrees to finance his escape in exchange for protection. However, his every attempt to escape ends in arrest and even worse punishments.
Dr. No (1962)
British secret agent Strangways and his secretary were killed in Jamaica. The three killers took a file from his office that says “Dr. No”. The head of the British secret service, the legendary “M” (B. Lee), sends his best agent James Bond (S. Connery) to Jamaica to find out why Strangways was killed. They only know that he tried to find out if someone near Jamaica was interfering with the paths of American space rockets launched from Cape Canaveral.
Bond is not only an excellent agent but also a great seducer to whom no woman is indifferent. And in this adventure, he will meet several of them, but some will work on his head, although they will go to bed with him first. As soon as he arrives in Jamaica, Bond is met by a driver with a car supposedly sent to him by a government office. While driving, the driver tries to kill Bond, but when he beats him, he swallows a poison pill and dies immediately.
Casino Royale (2006)
British secret agent James Bond (D. Craig) is at the beginning of his real career. Having cold-bloodedly carried out two liquidations, Bond receives the prestigious status of 00 agent. His first assignment takes him to Madagascar. Fierce and unrestrained, Bond causes a real spectacle in Madagascar, attracting unnecessary media attention with his action, which is why his boss M (J. Dench) is extremely unhappy. In search of dangerous international terrorists, Bond goes to the Bahamas and enters into a relationship with dangerous criminal Alex Dimitrios (S. Abkarian).
The striking Bond, of course, seduces Dimitros’ attractive wife Solange (C. Murino). Dimitrios is just a way station that leads Bond to an extremely dangerous world terrorist and criminal called Le Chiffre (M. Mikkelsen). Bond and Le Chiffre enter into a conflict that will result in a bizarre showdown at the gambling table in Montenegro.
The Light Between Oceans (2016)
After four years of fighting on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes up a job as a lighthouse keeper. To this isolated island, where supply ships arrive once a season, Tom brings his wife Isabel.
The two are unsuccessfully trying to start a family. One day, after several miscarriages, Isabel hears the cry of a child on the shore. A stranded boat hides a dead man and a living child. Isabel manages to persuade Tom to keep the child and adopt it as their own.
Eat Pray Love (2010)
Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything in her life that a modern woman dreams of – a husband, a house and a successful career. However, just like many, she felt lost, confused and searching for what she really wanted in life.
Freshly divorced and at a real crossroads in her life, Gilbert decides to leave her “safe living zone”, risk everything to change her life and embark on a journey around the world that will become a real quest for self-discovery. On his journey, he will discover the true pleasures of Italian cuisine; the power of prayer in India and, completely unexpectedly, the first true love in Bali.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Two village boys, Rafe and Danny, constantly spend their days together playing and dreaming about becoming military pilots. And truly, when they grow up, both of them study for that profession. When the Second World War begins, they are mobilized and meet the seductive nurse Evelyn (K. Beckinsale) during a systematic examination. Rafe (B. Affleck) falls deeply in love with her, and they begin a love affair.
However, Rafe soon receives a call to join the British Air Force, and Evelyn and Danny (J. Hartnett) receive a military transfer to Pearl Harbor, the American base in Hawaii. Rafe is now on one front, and it looks like he’s killed. The remaining two, also in the whirlwind of war, turn their sadness for home, Rafe and all their fears into an adulterous relationship.
Life of Pi (2012)
The film tells the story of Pi Patel, the son of a zookeeper. The family has decided to move from India to Canada and embarks on a big voyage on a cargo ship. After being shipwrecked, Pi floats in the Pacific Ocean.
His companion is a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. When everything you know is lost, hope remains, which gives you the strength to fight relentlessly.
King Kong (2005)
The year is 1933, the time of the great economic crisis in the USA. Unemployed New York actress Ann Darrow (N. Watts), forced to steal because of hunger, is rescued from her predicament by filmmaker Carl Denham (J. Black) and persuaded to accept the female lead role in a film being shot in Asia. She accepts and the two of them set off on a boat trip with the team.
Denham has a map of the mysterious Skull Island and pays Captain Englehorn (T. Kretschmann) to divert and sail to the island. On board is playwright and screenwriter Jack Driscoll (A. Brody), who falls in love with Ann. The ship docks next to the island and the team disembarks, looking at the remains of an ancient and primitive civilization. After a member of the film crew is killed, they realize that they are being chased by natives and flee, but Ann is caught and taken to the shore where they intend to sacrifice her to a giant gorilla they call Kong.
The film crew and some of the crew return to save Ann. Ann is at first horrified by the huge gorilla, but his behavior is very peaceful and gentle, and the beast becomes sympathetic to her. Driscoll manages to rescue Ann and they escape, which infuriates the gorilla, who gives chase. The film crew lures Kong and puts him to sleep with chloroform, ties him up in the ship’s hold and transports him to New York…
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
The producers of “Godzilla” bring their version of the source of one of the most powerful monster myths of all time. In this exciting original adventure, a group of scientists, soldiers and adventurers explore a mythical, hitherto unexplored island in the Pacific Ocean that is equal parts beautiful and dangerous.
The team is cut off from everything they know and enters the territory of the mighty Congo, which begins the final battle between man and nature. Their mission of exploration turns into a mission of survival and they must fight to escape from a primeval paradise where humanity does not belong.
Tomb Raider (2018)
Lara Croft is a passionate, independent girl and the daughter of an eccentric adventurer who disappeared when she was still a teenager. Now, seven years later, Lara has no real goal or purpose and refuses to take over the reins of her father’s empire as much as she refuses to admit that he’s really gone.
Against her father’s last wishes, Lara decides to leave everything behind to solve the mystery of his mysterious disappearance, and begins her search by investigating the last location where he was seen.
Couples Retreat (2009)
After several failed attempts to have a child, Jason and Cynthia’s marriage is on the brink of disaster. In order to save what can be saved, the two decide to reserve a place in the couples’ rest area, and to save costs, they invite a few of their friends (also couples) along under the guise that they do not need to participate in group therapy. What everyone imagined as a real vacation in paradise will soon turn into a series of funny, but also worrying situations for everyone.
Old (2021)
The family enjoys a secluded beach, but they soon discover that the beach has a strange effect on them. For some reason, they age rapidly… their whole life is shortened to 24 hours.
The Bounty (1984)
Captain Greetham (E. Fox) and Admiral Hood (L. Olivier) question Captain William Bligh (A. Hopkins) at a trial in which he tries to explain the events that led to the loss of command of the ship “Bounty”. Captain Bligh assembled a crew and set out on a voyage by ship to Tahiti to bring back breadfruit saplings.
His friend, young and ambitious Christian Fletcher (Mel Gibson) is also on board. In order to gain time, Bligh decides to sail around Cape Horn, a route that is uncertain and unknown. The crew barely survives the venture, which only increases the tension and dissatisfaction with Bligh’s extremely cruel imposition of discipline. When they finally arrive on the island, the heavenly atmosphere erases the memory of all conflicts and problems. Fletcher falls in love and embarks on a passionate love affair with a Tahitian princess, which further destroys discipline and destroys the friendship between him and Captain Bligh.
It is time to return and the crew is reluctant to leave the island, and the conflicts on the ship continued. When the captain orders a return trip along the same dangerous route, Fletcher makes a fateful decision and takes over the ship. He leaves the captain and part of the crew in the boat, and returns to Tahiti with the rest…
Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
Robin Monroe (Anne Heche) is a real New Yorker – she always thinks about work and career and is a successful editor of a New York fashion magazine. Her fiance Frank Martin (David Schwimmer) surprises her with plane tickets to a South Pacific island where they are supposed to spend a carefree vacation. Already at the airport, they are met with an unpleasant surprise – the plane they need to travel on is very small, and the owner is the nonchalant Harris (Harrison Ford), who is anything but a trustworthy person.
Besides everything, he is also a pilot. In addition to Robin and Frank, Harris’s friend Anjelica (Jacqueline Obradors) will also travel with them, who will quite catch the eye of the apparently clumsy Frank. Circumstances will interrupt Robin’s vacation and she and Harris will fly to Tahiti to reach New York, but the plane crashes on a deserted island. Fortunately, Robin and Harris will survive, but they are doomed to only have each other.
50 First Dates (2004)
Marine veterinarian Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) lives a carefree life and takes care of animals in the Hawaiian waters. In addition to caring for animals, Henry has a very interesting hobby. Namely, he breaks the hearts of female tourists, who are looking for romance, and after spending the night, he leaves them without any remorse. After he has an accident, he comes to a cafe where he notices the beautiful and charming Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore). When he returns the next morning to see Lucy again, he breaks his own rule about going out with local girls, and arranges a date with the hot waitress.
All happy, Henry comes to the cafe the next morning, but when Lucy mentions their conversation yesterday, she thinks he’s some kind of madman and doesn’t recognize him. Henry, completely distraught, makes a shocking discovery and realizes that the first girl he really likes, he has to win again. He realizes that if he wants to win Lucy’s heart, every day, for the rest of his life, he has to charm her anew.
