You’d thought that I’d be done writing about survival movies, but nope. Die Young: Prologue brought me back to the very familiar topic that I actually love. Surviving on an island topic. Sure, I’ve had my fair share of survival topics here at IndieGala. How to Survive – the video game inspired me to look for other types of survival. Such as shark attack, wilderness survival, kidnapping and alien invasion survival. Sid Mayer’s Pirates offered a glimpse on a seemingly deserted islands (well at least in part). And, now there’s a brand new game that kinda blends all of this in an exciting adventure.
Furthermore, I’ll have my colleague here at IndieGala tell you more about the game (in his game review of course). So I’ll focus more on the Die Young: Prologue. But, I’ll just mention that Die Young is follow-up game that’s a source of pride and joy for IndieGala (aside from the fantastic upcoming Exit Limbo). The Prologue itself is developed and published by IndieGala, and it’s part of our summer summer sale. It’s a freebie you guys. So hurry up and get it while it’s hot.
Die Young: Prologue (What’s actually all about?)
First and foremost, the Die Young: Prologue narrates the events that occurred a few hours before the main story of Die Young. However, in Die Young: Prologue you get to play as Nehir. A field agent of a well-known political party. She’s on a mission, and it’s not an easy one let’s put it that way.
Furthermore, the party’s agenda is to deconstruct and eliminate Brother n.1, the leader of Island’s community. Additionally, Nehir infiltrates the Island, and their first objective is to free the leader of their party. Even more, the secondary objective of their plan was to kill Brother N.1. However, her mission took a turn for the worst. So, she has to make a daring escape in order to survive the island. And her mission of course.
Ultimately the Prologue covers her desperate attempt to reach the rendezvous point. Will she be able to save herself or will she die young? Find out in Die Young.
Die Young: Prologue And some of the best surviving an island movies
Indeed, the theme of surviving and escaping an island is so versatile that I was at a loss of ideas on which movies to actually include. At first, I thought of spicing things up, and include moves like Lord Of The Flies, Survival of the Dead and even Shutter Island. While different in terms of genre, all of them take place on a (deserted or not) island. Not to mention they all have some form of escape in the plot. But I figured just to stick to the basics, and explore more adventure type of movies. And leave the horror/thriller movies for later of course.
Cast Away
Tom Hanks’s masterpiece of a movie. I just had to include this one, since it’s a truly masterful achievement in direction and acting. Hanks plays a FedEx employee who after a plane crash, will eventually get stranded on an uninhabited island in he Pacific Ocean.
The movie was actually filmed on the island of Monuriki. A very small uninhabited island in Fiji. And it took almost 2 years to finish the production. All together. During that time, Hanks gained 23 kilograms, and the production had to stop in order to lose all that weight and then some. You can clearly see the dedication and commitment of the team behind Cast Away. Even today, some 20 years after the premiere is a true all time classic. Here’s a fun fact. Job applications for FedEx went up by 30% after the release of this film. And later on, one of the three volleyballs used in the film was sold in an auction for $18,400. Cool right?
The Blue Lagoon
Although the movie was panned by the critics, it remains a true cult classic among the fans. As it should. And indeed, much of the criticism is even now directed towards the sexualization of then 14-year-old Brooke Shield. Although a double was used for her frontal nudity scenes, the decision to star in the movie is still one of the most controversial ones. Another great complaint was the depiction of the development of young children in such an environment (lack of civilized society), but hey… It’s a movie after all. Not everything has to be realistic. Furthermore, did you know that Carrie Fisher turned down the role of Emmeline Lestrange because of her commitment to the Star Wars universe? That’s right. Some decade later, Return to the Blue Lagoons sequel, didn’t do much better either. But hey. A lot of teenagers grew up with these movies.
6 Days 7 Nights
I’m including 6 Days 7 Nights because I think it’s Ivan Reitman’s forgotten gem. Although it’s now a forgotten movie, I feel that it belongs here perfectly. The movie is in fact about survival on a deserted island. And of course setting aside the differences with the person that you’re marooned with. You know in order to survive the island. Harrison Ford and Anne Heche have to do all that in 6 Days 7 Nights and so much more. Fun fact! The movie’s filming location is identical to the 1976’s King Kong movie, but I actually love watching this movie. Even now- more than 2 decades after the release, and I just had to include it in this post. It’s really not as bad as movie critics would have you believe. Just give it a shot. You’ll like it too.
The Beach
I Feel that the critics were unfairly harsh towards this movie. True it could have been better, but looking back I feel that it’s a solid adventure movie. And not only that… It had the bad luck to be released after two of Leonardo DiCaprio’s massive flops. Celebrity and The Man In The Iron Mask. So the movie’s doom was evident from the start. But despite the poor and confusing script (and therefore the bad adaptation of Alex Garland’s book), the movie had quite the pros. Great cast, talented director and incredible filming location. They would later become a tourist attraction, solely because of the movie but I digress. Oh, and a fun fact! The videogame recreation scene in the jungle was inspired by Banjo-Kazooie (1998), developed by Rare Ltd.
Die Young: Prologue and some of your picks
Which movies would you add to this list? Which movies are your favorites? Tell us in the comment section. We’d love to know all about them.
