My three hour Kauai Movie Tour Inc. was less than stellar. Singing showtunes from South Pacific, while hoping the bus would come to an explicit stop throwing my boyfriend out the window was admittedly not the best attitude to have for one the world’s premier filming locations.
Hollywood’s collaboration co-starring Kauai has had a long history. Stunning untouched landscapes lure many productions to the Garden Isle. Deep valleys, exotic flora and fauna, white sand beaches describes a look at what might have been before civilization prevailed. A place where dinosaurs roamed and Raiders searched for a lost Ark. Hollywood spends a lot of time here because its tropical beauty makes for spectacular scenes. There’s a vague familiarity to the Garden Isle, even for people who have never set foot in Kauai, because Hollywood has used it as a backdrop for years. Since the silent movie era, Kauai has filmed the imaginations of many movie-goers. Steven Spielberg, a Kauai loyalist, famously filmed Kauai as it was savagely beaten by Hurricane Iniki. He used the footage of tropical storm scenes. The movie adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, needed the primitive and mysterious world of the Na Pali Coast.
Oddly, the Island never plays itself. Often impersonating another more costly destination, Kauai often disguises itself to be Costa Rica, Africa, South America and others. It’s what you call the go-to-local locale.
Gilligan and his cohorts filmed their pilot episode on a beach in Kauai (with many different plot and character changes). Some of the many film credits include, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hook, Jurassic Park, Blue Hawaii, Body Heat, Diamond Head, King Kong, South Pacific, Lord of the Flies, Throw Momma from the Train, Honeymoon in Vegas, Love Song, Uncommon Valor, Mighty Joe Young, Outbreak, Flight of the Intruder, and The Thorn Birds.
