Comino – perfect movie location
Comino, an island that forms part of the Maltese archipelago, has been home to many famous movies because of its pristine waters and untouched landscape. This island truly embodied the much-needed picturesque scenery for many Cinema and TV movies. These are five classics that were shot on the Island of Comino.
Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
The Count of Monte Cristo is a classic story of an innocent man wrongly, but deliberately, imprisoned, by his friend to keep so he could steal the love of his life. The movie is an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel of the same name.
The stunning brilliance of the way the Count of Monte Cristo executes his strategy to exact revenge on those who betrayed him is amazing. In the movie, the Dashing young sailor Edmond Dantes’ (Jim Caviezel) peaceful life takes a sharp turn as his best friend Fernand (Guy Pearce) deceives him and gets him jailed so that he is no longer bound to his lover. However, an inmate tells Dantes about a hidden treasure, and using his wits, the Count escapes, gets hold of the treasure, and exacts his revenge.
Comino was the perfect set-up for the island prison in “The Count of Monte Cristo”. This movie showcases piracy, exile, betrayal, solitary confinement, secret messages, escape tunnels, swashbuckling, a treasure, Parisian high society, and sweet revenge all in just two hours.
Comino offers versatility and scenic views for this classic film. Thanks to the islands’ cliffs, fortress, beautiful sea and untouched landscape, the movie gained the perfect atmospheric feel as the island was portrayed as the island prison. The rest of the movie was shot in old Capital City of Malta – Mdina – known as “The Silent City”.
Troy (2004)
Brad Pitt stars in this epic movie based on Homer’s “Iliad”. This blockbuster hit portrays the battle between the ancient kingdoms of Sparta and Troy. When Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) visits Spartan king Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), the former falls for the latter’s wife Helen (Diane Kruger) and decides to take her back with him to Troy. When Agamemnon (Brian Cox), Menelaus’ brother, discovers this, he uses his brother’s fury as an excuse to declare war against the Greek city of Troy, the last kingdom standing between him and his control over the entire Aegean Sea.
Comino’s golden-sand beaches and crystal-clear sea were perfect for this cinematic classic. The story about one of the bravest warriors to roam ancient Greece, Achilles, was set in 1193 B.C.
The star-studded cast includes Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Brian Cox, Rose Byrne, Garrett Hedlund, Peter O’ Toole, Brendan Gleeson, and Tyler Mane. Hollywood heartthrob, Brad Pitt delivers one of the best performances of his career as Achilles. Eric Bana, who plays Prince Hector, also did a terrific job, his character trying to establish some common ground between the ancient cities. Another notable performance was Peter O’ Toole, who plays the King of Troy.
This movie contains some of the most elaborate action sequences ever seen on the big screen. The costumes and art direction look like they are straight out of ancient Greece, adding a realistic feel to the movie. All thanks to the untouched beauty of Comino, this movie was able to deliver fantastic scenes, from distinguished art to intense battle sequences against the picturesque background of Comino.
“Troy” has left its mark as one of the most remarkable and action-packed motion pictures that movie audiences will never forget.
Swept Away (2002)
Imagine yourself being shipwrecked on a beautiful island. But there’s a catch – it’s with someone you just can’t stand. What would you do?
Amber Leighton (Madonna) plays the part of a sick millionaire’s wife, very rich and spoiled rotten. She joins two other couples on a private cruise from Italy to Greece. Amber immediately develops an intense dislike to Giuseppe, a deckhand, and she insults him heartlessly throughout the trip.
At one point she insists on being taken out for a ride on a dinghy, ignoring Giuseppe’s warnings that a severe storm was looming.
While out on the dinghy, Amber rebukes and slates Giuseppe relentlessly, and this reaches ridiculous proportions when they run out of gas. Through a series of mishaps, Amber damages the dinghy and they end up washing ashore on a deserted island (Comino).
Once they are alone on a deserted island, Giuseppe feels omnipotent and gains the upper hand due to his notable skills of survival. As the roles reverse, Giuseppe becomes more dominant in his treatment of Amber, while she concurrently becomes more submissive and cowering. However, in a twist of fate, their hateful relationship turns into intimacy.
Comino’s Blue Lagoon, the caves, the beautiful beaches, and clear Mediterranean Sea were perfect for this castaway love affair.
Swept Away is a remake of Lina Wertmüller’s 1974 Italian adventure comedy romance movie of the same name. The 2002 movie was written and directed by Guy Ritchie, who was at that time married to Madonna. Italian actor Adriano Giannini, the son of Giancarlo Giannini, the original film’s lead, played the part of Giuseppe. The supporting cast featured Bruce Greenwood, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Elizabeth Banks.
Revelation (2001)
Revelation is a 2001 British movie directed by Stuart Urban, starring James D’Arcy, Natasha Wightman, Udo Kier and Terence Stamp. Revelation is about the intrigues of a search for a relic dating back to 50 A.D. called the Loculus, and the effect this relic has on the Martel family and the whole world.
Magnus Martel, played by Terence Stamp, is the chief character in Revelation. He wants to steal the artifact that was created around the time of the crucifixion of Christ. James D’Arcy, a computer whiz, gets invited on a discovery expedition with a group of scientists and archaeologists to find the artifact. Sadly, the villainous Grand Master of an ancient cult sets out to stop them.
Dating back to the time of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, an ancient relic known as the Loculus has been sought throughout the centuries by the forces of good and evil.
Created in 50 AD, the wood panels of the Loculus are emblazoned with two images: the Ankh symbol – a looped crucifix, and the Caduceus – a rod entwined with two serpents.
On its perilous journey through history, the Loculus was further adorned with more arcane mystical imagery including pentagrams, hexagrams, a crucified serpent, the naked human form divine, and a hermaphrodite, and many have tried to unlock the secret of the sacred artefact, a secret only a chosen few know contains profound and overwhelming ramifications for mankind.
In 1299, a Jewish alchemist’s attempts to unravel the enigma ended in disaster.
In 1710, Sir Isaac Newton, discoverer of the laws of gravity and a foremost member of the Masonic Order of the Knights Templar, also strove to answer the riddle.
But with the art of science in its infancy, Newton realized the Underground Stream of research needed to solve the puzzle would have to flow for several more centuries before the prophesied ultimate Great Work could be wrought in all its glory.
Flayed bodies, ravenous rottweilers, flaming corpses, severed tongues, torturous traitors, arcane myths, and the legendarily savage Knights Templar – these are but some of the gruesome obstacles that fall in the perilous path of Martel’s estranged son Jake (James D’Arcy) as he is lured into this sinister sequence of fateful events.
Final Justice (1985)
Final Justice, also known as “The Maltese Connection” and “The Maltese Project”, is a 1985 Italian-American action movie directed, produced and written by Greydon Clark, and stars Joe Don Baker as a Texas sheriff who overturns a Maltese city to find the mobster who killed his partner.
Mafiosi Joseph Palermo (Venantino Venantini) and his brother Tony are fleeing across the US border after assassinating a building contractor. They get into a car accident and, after killing the driver of the other car, they decide to hijack a car from a local police station. In the ensuing firefight, Palermo shoots and kills the sheriff (Greydon Clark). The gangsters are pursued across the border by the sheriff’s deputy, a no-nonsense Apache-descendent (or so he claims) named Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III (Baker). He shoots Tony dead and captures Joseph, who swears he will take revenge for his brother’s death.
As a publicity stunt, a US State Department official named Wilson (Bill McKinney) orders Geronimo to escort Palermo to Italy. However, the plane is sabotaged and forced to land in Malta. Soon after arriving in Valletta, Geronimo is ambushed by gangsters and Palermo escapes his custody.
The Maltese police, under the command of Superintendent Mifsud (Lino Grech), assure Geronimo that they will recapture Palermo themselves. Chief Wilson telephones and orders Geronimo to return to Texas. But Geronimo is determined to capture Palermo himself. With the help of a local policewoman, Maria Cassar (Helena Dalli), he eventually tracks Palermo to the estate of Don Lamanna, a local bigwig. Geronimo is repeatedly arrested by the Maltese authorities, but always manages to escape and continue his pursuit of the gangster.
Eventually, it turns out that Palermo was in cahoots with Wilson, who had never intended for Geronimo to deliver Palermo to Italy. In the end, Cassar kills Wilson and Geronimo kills Palermo.
This action-packed classic mobster car-chase movie is definitely one for the books. With some scenes shot in Malta and on Comino, it secured its way into the Hollywood classics.
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