Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Bora Bora....Movie Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tahiti & French Polynesia
boraborabob 01:38 UTC 20 Mar 2008 | Just in case you happen to read this. Mutiny on the Bounty, the Brando version shot mostly in Bora Bora is on in about an hour on TCM. Enjoy |
jirikoo 07:07 UTC 20 Mar 2008 | i love the movie, on the other side i believe the island is highly overated. I have found most of the promotional pictures of Bora Bora being enhaced to make the impresion of beautiful peacful paradise. In my opinion, the reality is sometimes different. Speaking about the main island there are no nice beaches (even the beach on the Matira stretch is mediocre), all island is strongly overcapitalized, the shoreline is often messy and gridlocked on essential parts of the island. People seemed somehow less friendly than eg. on Moorea or Huahine not to mention Tuamotus...as if all the boom had negative affects on them (in this regard). Although i dont wanna make gross generalization... Well, i didnt visit any of the motus but saw it was doted with all of the classy resorts keeping themselves obviously clean and tidy. But its another chapter - what do they have to do with polynesian way of life? | 1
raro 03:57 UTC 22 Mar 2008 | Yes, if it weren't for that movie, Tahiti would have not had an international airport for several more years! The producer/director made a deal with the Fr. govt to expand the short runway so planes could fly in directly from LAX. Prior to that (1961/62), to get to Tahiti by plane one from LAX had to fly all the way to New Zealand, then take the Solent flying boat to Fiji/Samoa/Aitutaki (Cooks) and then to Tahiti. took about a week! And that movie heralded the beginning of the tourist boom to Tahiti and Fr. Polynesia, and then to much of the rest of the South Pacific. The later version with Mel Gibson, called "The Bounty", was mostly shot on Moorea. Yes I agree, in general, people on Bora Bora do not seem as friendly on the other islands, in large part because the ratio of tourists to locals is so much higher. Also, it tends to attract wealthier tourists, and honeymooners, rather than travelers who might want to mix and mingle with the locals a bit more. Kind of sets up an us vs. them mentality in some ways. Anyway, it's still a beautful place to visit. | 2