Six Days Seven Nights is a 1998 film, part romantic comedy and part adventure film. Directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche. David Schwimmer and Jacqueline Obradors play the most significant supporting characters, but there are also Temuera Morrison, Danny Trejo and Cliff Curtis.
The film starts with a young couple Robin Monroe (Heche) and Frank Martin (Schwimmer). Robin is a workaholic journalist for "Dazzle", a New York-based fashion magazine. Frank wants to get her away from work, arranging for a weeklong vacation in Makatea, in the Tuamotu Archipelago of the South Pacific. (Actual location.)
Their trip is uneventful, until they hire the DHC-2 Beaver airplane flown by Quinn Harris (Ford). The trio are joined by Angelica (Obradors), Harris' friend and lover. Her employers notify Robin that she has to attend a fashion event in Tahiti. She hires Harris to take her there, leaving Frank and Angelica waiting for them in Makatea.
When the aging Beaver crash-lands on a deserted island, Robin and Quinn have to survive on their own. Later encountering modern-day pirates and having to escape them as well. During all the action, the duo start falling for each other. Meanwhile, back in Makatea, Frank and Angelica are romancing each other.
The film was a box office hit but a critical failure at the time of its release. Nevertheless, its worldwide grosses of $164,839,294 probably ensure that it's fondly remembered by its various creators.
Not to be confused with the 2017 political thriller 6 Days.
This film provides examples of:
- Age-Gap Romance: Harrison was 58 and Heche was 29 at the time. Their characters get together eventually.
- Barely-There Swimwear: "I thought it was an eyepatch!"
- Brick Joke: "And there is NOTHING wrong with my tits!"
- Captain Obvious:Robin: Some kind of creature has just swum up my pants. I'm guessing...it might be a snake.
Quinn: Oh. That's bad. - Defrosting Ice Queen: Robin loathes Quinn to begin with; by the end of their adventure she's in love with him.
- Didn't Think This Through: Robin fires a flare gun to get the attention of a passing airliner. Quinn berates her for wasting the flare, pointing out that the jumbo jet is several miles above them and would be hard pressed to notice an explosion, let alone a signal flare they're not looking for.
- Fanservice: Robin spends almost the entire movie in thin white shirts with no bra. Her attire getting progressively skimpier is also a measure of her warming up to Quinn.
- From Bad to Worse: From crashing on a deserted island to being chased by pirates on the same island.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The pirates shooting at their own boat, at the end.
- Hypocritical Humor: Frank gets awfully indignant when finding out about Robin and Quinn, despite having just confessed to sleeping with Angelica.
- Kiss of Distraction: Just before taking a dive over the cliff.
- MacGyvering: Quinn and Robin rig up floats for the plane to replace its broken wheel.
- May–December Romance: Quinn and Robin.
- Precision F-Strike: When Robin has been crammed against the window of their plane by an inflating emergency raft. Combined with Flipping the Bird when Quinn (claims he) can't quite make out what she said.
- Punny Name: Invoked for no apparent reason. The guy leading up the search and rescue hunt for Quinn and Robin is named Tom Morrow.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Robin demands Quinn explain exactly what his problem with her is. He obliges.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: Nothing romantic about these pirates.
- Salvage Pirates: Robin and Quinn thought they were saved, but things actually go From Bad to Worse.
- Scenery Porn: The absolutely gorgeous shots of island scenery and ocean vistas rival anything from Lost.
- Shout-Out:
- Subverted when Quinn has to touch a snake. Based on Indiana Jones, one would expect him to be afraid, but he actually has no problem whatsoever digging it out of Robin's shorts. An Inversion of Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?.
- Also subverted when fellow (future) Star Wars veteran Temeura Morrison gets Han Solo's line, "We got company!"
- Snakes Are Sinister: Robin doesn't want to put one out of her shorts herself, so Quinn has to do it.
- Stepping Out to React: When Quinn realizes his plane crash landed on an uncharted island with no way to signal for help, he calmly walks over to a shrub, ducks behind it, then thrashes around while muttering Angrish for a minute or two. When he emerges he looks shell-shocked but calm.
- Time Title: A 1998 survival adventure with a romantic subplot between a Lovable Rogue aviator and a Defrosting Ice Queen fashion model that takes place over what was intended as a weeklong vacation in Makatea.
- Too Dumb to Live: The pirates fire a mortar shot straight up at the fleeing plane, with predictable results. They actually do survive, but are now stranded on the island themselves.
- Took a Level in Badass: Robin, when they fight the pirates. Not to mention going from The Load to helping repair Quinn's aircraft and later flying and landing it when Quinn is injured and unconscious.
- Toplessness from the Back: A brief moment where Robin changes her shirt (into something even thinner and skimpier).
- When Angelica seduces Frank, the camera switches behind her just as she takes off her bra. His reaction tells us all we need to know about the view.
- Tropical Island Adventure: The movie is set on a deserted tropical island, and French Polynesia is also a prominent location.
- You're Not My Type: Played for Laughs in this exchange between the acerbic pair:Quinn Harris: If it makes you feel any better you're not my type.Robin Monroe: Oh good, why?Quinn Harris: You talk too much. You're opinionated. You're stubborn, sarcastic, and stuck up! Your ass is too narrow and your tits are too small.Robin Monroe: Hey, you wanna know why you're not my type?Quinn Harris: Nope.
