Movies in Malta - the Good, the Bad and the Awful

Quite a number of films have used Malta as a location, and I've picked out a few of the more notable ones.  Just in case you have the urge to watch any of them, I've included a brief comment from excellent film review site Rotten Tomatoes, as well as their percentage award, where anything over 60% is rated as good.


Count of Monte Cristo (Rotten Tomatoes: "entertaining tale" - 73%)
- This is the most 'Malta' of them all, lots of recognisable shots from all over the island, including Dwejra masquerading as two different countries.  And the movie is surprisingly good fun.  I have seen three movies starring Guy 'Mike from Neighbours' Pearce, (this one plus Memento and L.A. Confidential), and they've all been good.


Gladiator (RT: "excellent cast" - 78%)
- Gladiator!  Brilliant!  A few scenes in Mdina, but it's such a good movie that everyone should watch it regardless.

Popeye (RT:  "wildly uneven" - 57%")
- Robin Williams imbues all of his characters with the dead-eyed menace of the sociopath (the Vietnam DJ, that doctor who dressed like a clown, Mrs Doubtfire), and his Popeye is similarly unsettling in ways that presumably were not intended.  Not until the late '90's did a film director think to cast Williams as a deranged stalker, a role to which he is clearly better suited.  Besides this I don't recall much about this movie except that it's not much good.  Filmed in the specially constructed Popeye Village, which remains one of the stranger tourist attractions in Malta to this day.



Alexander (RT: "ponderous, talky" - 16%)
- I haven't seen this one, put off by terrible reviews.  Apparently Valletta's harbour features.



The Da Vinci Code (RT: "dull and bloated" - 25%)
- I read the book and so didn't feel the need to go and watch the movie.  Too much of that stuff can give you indigestion.  Scenes from Marsaxlokk and Vittoriosa I believe.


Midnight Express (RT: "excellent performances" - 95%)
- Everyone says this is a good movie.  I have not seen it, so will have to take everyone's word on that.  However I have seen numerous episodes of dramatised reality show 'Banged Up Abroad' and so feel like I've got the gist.  Fort St Elmo is the Maltese attraction here.


Troy (RT: "brawny, entertaining spectacle" - 55%)
- I saw this one recently:  'Reasonably good, but overlong', is how I would describe it.  And who exactly am I supposed to be rooting for in this movie?  Lots of Maltese sites here, including the Blue Lagoon and Golden Bay and Mellieha Beaches although CGI makes it difficult to recognise all of them.

The Saint (RT: "muddled screenplay" - 30%)
- I am not a Val Kilmer fan, but then who is?  So I have not seen this one either, although I believe it features some Valletta scenes along with shots from various other locations throughout the island.