by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 03, 2008

Islands offer a new world, where stranded characters learn whether their beliefs can survive in a new frontier. But each island movie and TV show has presented a different take on this concept.

Here's a list comparing some of the most interesting island-based TV shows and movies

"Lost" represents one extreme - where being cut off from civilization is only part of the problem. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and the rest are also facing

a deadly smoke monster, as well as a treacherous tribe called "The Others" who might kidnap or kill them. But the island gives a new perspective on their past lives, and many episodes show the island granting characters a fresh start.

"The Island of Dr. Moreau" was even more treacherous. Bela Lugosi played the wicked scientist in a 1933 adaptation of the horror story. Called "The Island of Lost Souls," it showed a hapless shipwreck victim discovering freakish animal-man bred by Dr. Moreau's painful lab experiments. In this movie, the island's remoteness has allowed his evil to flourish, and new movies later re-told the island's story of morality in 1977, 1994, and 1996.

"Lord of the Flies" depicted perhaps the most disturbing island of all. There were no magical creatures or science fiction experiments - just shipwrecked children. Without adults, they devolve into chaos, splitting into tribes, with several children eventually killed. "Lord of the Flies" is said to be the literal translation of the name Beelzebub (another name for Satan). Though best known as a book, it was adapted into a film in 1963 and 1990.

But not all islands were depressing. "Treasure Island" lured pirates and sailors with its tantalizing promise of riches. The island adds an exotic location for the buried chest of doubloons, but also gives the pirates a safe tropical refuge for their scheming, blustering, and treasure hunting. In 1955, the pirates became the stars in a TV series called "The Adventures of Long John Silver!"

And the island eventually became a symbol of fantasy and fun. "Fantasy Island" ran for 7 years, featuring the glamorous Ricardo Montalban as a romantic island-keeper who could make your wishes come true. And while "Gilligan's Island" showed seven castaways who wanted to return to civilization, the sitcom showed their hut-filled life as being surprisingly comfortable. The actor who played "The Professor" shipwrecked on the island once joked, "If you were shipwrecked on an island with Ginger and Mary-Ann - would you really want to be rescued?"

Even the children's

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