It isn’t possible to launch our top five Greek movie pics without these two phenomenal cinematographic musicals.

In July 2008 the star-studded film version of the Mamma Mia! Musical opened in cinemas all over the world. And it opened with a big bang!

This is a romantic story about Donna (Meryl Streep), an independent hotelier in the Greek islands, who is preparing for her daughter’s wedding with the help of two old friends.

Meanwhile Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the spirited bride, has a plan. She secretly invites three men from her mother’s past in hope of meeting her real father and having him escort her down the aisle on her big day.

We wrote an article about some of the Mamma Mia! Movie scenes, including Kastani Bay and beach, where “Does Your Mother Know” was performed took place on Skopelos. There’s also Nisi Glisteri clifftop where ‘Our Last Summer’ was performed, and Agios Ioannis Prodromos Monastery, which is where the famous wedding scene was filmed.

We are feeling nostalgic already.

And then 10 years later Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was released. The sequel reveals the story of the past.

In 1979 young Donna, Tanya and Rosie graduate from Oxford University, leaving Donna free to embark on a series of adventures throughout Europe. On her journeys, she makes the acquaintances of Harry, Bill and Sam – the latter whom she falls in love with, but he’s also the man who breaks her heart.

In the present day, Donna’s pregnant daughter, Sophie, dreams of renovating their hotel while reuniting with her mother’s old friends and boyfriends on the Greek island of Kalokairi.

If this story doesn’t make you cry, it will definitely inspire you to visit Greece as soon as we can travel again.

From Nia Vardalos, writer and star of Big Fat Greek Wedding, comes a hilarious comedy. Georgia (Nia Vardalos) has lost her kefi (Greek for “mojo”). Discouraged by her lack of direction in life, she works as a travel guide, leading a rag-tag group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece.

This romantic comedy film set amongst the ruins of ancient Greece reminded us how much we miss this part of the world. Last year, we embarked on a 9-Day Island Hopping group tour. We started in Athens and headed up to the rooftop of our hotel to view the gorgeous sunset over the Acropolis before heading off into the heart of the Plaka district for a Folklore show and dinner with Greek traditional folk- dance, singing and experiencing the local culture. Although, such adventurous travel isn’t possible right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are confident that this is about to change.

If you are feeling travel sick as well, create one enjoyable evening with My Life in Ruins to soothe your wanderlust blues.

This emotional movie is based on the 1994 novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. The film pays homage to the thousands of Italian soldiers executed at the Massacre of the Acqui Division by German forces in Cephalonia in September 1943, and to the people of Cephalonia who were killed in the post-war earthquake.

Corelli (Nicolas Cage) is the leader of the Italian invasion force that controls the Greek island of Cephalonia. Billeted with the local doctor, he falls in love with his daughter (Penélope Cruz), even though she is engaged to resistance fighter Mandras. Slowly, his feelings are returned but their life and love is disrupted when the Italians surrender to the Allies. Should Corelli and his men join with the Germans or continue to resist?

This wonderful depiction of its era is a blood boiling and heart melting experience you are going to love.

This old black and white classic will leave you giggling with joy. Directed by Jules Dassin and starring Oscar-winning actress Melina Mercouri, Never on Sundays is a great film that tells the story of Ilya, a self-employed and free-spirited prostitute who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, and Homer, an American tourist and classical scholar who is enamored of all things Greek.

Homer feels Ilya’s lifestyle typifies the degradation of Greek classical culture, and attempts to steer her onto the path of morality, while, at the same time, Ilya attempts to loosen Homer up.

You must see what happens next!

How can we wrap up our top five Greek movies without Troy? Troy (in ancient Greek, Ἴλιος or Ilios), was located in western Turkey, not far from the modern city of Canakkale (better known as Gallipoli), at the mouth of the Dardarnelles strait. Its position was crucial in controlling the trade routes towards the Black Sea and, as the Trojan prince Paris mentions to the Spartan king Menelaus in Homer’s epic tale, the Iliad, the city controlled access to Indian silks and spices.

While visiting Spartan King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) falls for Menelaus’ wife, Helen (Diane Kruger), and takes her back to Troy. Menelaus’ brother, King Agamemnon (Brian Cox), having already defeated every army in Greece, uses his brother’s fury as a pretext to declare war against Troy, the last kingdom preventing his control over the Aegean Sea.

You know the rest of the story. And if you’d like to refresh your memory and dive into the turbulent Ancient world of Greece, carve out an evening with Troy.