Top Ten Must See Foreign Summer Movies

Here are ten great summer flicks that are set in a foreign land or country. These flicks are all about summer vacation, summer travel and summer romance, but they take place somewhere other than the United States. The setting might be Europe, a tropical island, or even South America. What's great about these summer movies is that we get to see other places, like Austria, India or Italy.

1. European Vacation (1985). Chevy Chase revives his character Clark Griswald in this awesome funny summer movie about a family traveling to Europe. This summer foreign movie takes place in London, where we see the Big Ben clock, and then Stonehenge in England. From there, the family makes it to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. Carry on to Germany and then Italy. My favorite part is where Eric Idle's character keeps getting injured by the Griswald family, and he ends up with all kinds of bandages. He doesn't let it get to him, and when asked how he is, he states that, "It's only a flesh wound." I love it.

2. Eurotrip (2004). This summer travel movie is about three friends who go to Europe so that one of them can meet his pen pal. They adventure through Amsterdam, London, France and Germany, as well as Italy. The main character, Scotty, was dumped by his girlfriend and so decides to set out to find his pen pal and meet her.

3. Joe vs. the Volcano (1990). This is the first movie starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks' character Joe works in a dull, boring office and he feels bad all the time. A doctor tells him he has a brain cloud, and is about to die. A businessman makes him a proposition that if he is willing to jump into a volcano on the island of the Waponis, he will give him lots of money before that to enjoy his remaining days of life. The businessman will get what he needs from the Waponis if he gives them this human sacrifice. Joe accepts. The adventure travel movie then proceeds with Joe being escorted to the island by Meg Ryan, who plays three different people in the movie. You and I both know, that Joe never really had a brain cloud. That's what makes this summer movie so interesting to me. People work in these awful jobs, not really living life, and they start to feel sick all the time. It happens to lots of us.

4. The Sound of Music (1965). The Sound of Music is a classic summer musical moviethat takes place in Austria, where a nun becomes a governess for a widowed man with seven children. The widower is engaged to be married to someone else, but finds himself falling for the nun. She has to make a decision of what to do. He is also torn, because he must begin to serve in the German navy, something he doesn't want to do. The two decide to flee the country, and set off into the mountains of Switzerland. This is a must see if you haven't already watched it fifteen times!

5. Tropic Thunder (2008). I don't really even understand what this movie was about, but it was a very funny summer movie. Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Robert Lee Downey, Jr. are actors making a film about Vietnam. The trio are dropped off in the middle of a jungle, where hidden cameras have been placed to make the film look realistic. However, it is unknown that this area is actually a 'war zone' of its own. So, the actors don't realize when someone actually gets killed, thinking it was a stunt. The adventure ensues.

6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). This summer flick stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox again. Shia is caught in the war between the good and bad machiens, the Autobots vs. the Decepticons. He must help the good machines survive so that the bad ones don't take over. His goal is to prevent the Decepticons from finding an energy source that could destroy Earth in the process.

7. Slumdog Millionnaire (2008). Slumdog Millionaire is set in Mumbai, where we see desolation and destruction, and the life of a boy growing up in the slums. He somehow lands a chance to play on a game show, and we see how his life led him to be able to answer the questions correctly to win the game.

8. Heidi (2005). Heidi is a classic tale about a girl who is orphaned, who goes to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. This adventure tale is a must see, because we get to experience Switzerland and a peaceful area, one of my favorite places to go in the world. The land of Heidi in real life is in Appenzellerland in Switzerland, an actual place you can go and visit.

9. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005). Four best friends are about to be separated for the summer. They all try on a pair of pants, which fits them each to a tee even though they don't have the same body shapes. They decide to share the pants, so the pants have to get back and forth from girl to girl during the summer. Part of this summer travel movie takes place in Greece and Mexico.

10. Volunteers (1985). John Candy and Tom Hanks star in this foreign summer movie where a rich kid gets away from his gambling debtors who are chasing him by hopping onto a Peace Corps plane bound for Southeast Asia. Once he gets off the plane, he is assigned to help some villagers build a bridge. There, he meets John Candy and Rita Wilson. This is another great flick starring Tom Hanks.

What are your favorite foreign summer movies?