Eighties film set the greatest Malteseaser

Malta’s Popeye Village was an eye-opener for SAM TEESDALE when he visited earlier in winter

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MALTA boasts a rich history within the film industry and is home to numerous notable filming locations - Game of Thrones, Gladiator, and The Count of Monte Cristo have all been filmed in the small Mediterranean country.

But there’s one more obscure film which has preserved its legacy for good on the island - Popeye.

The 1980 film, starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, is an underrated Disney gem, following Popeye's adventures as he arrives in the town of Sweethaven. The film, released in the UK in April 1981, received mixed reviews and has fallen into relative obscurity. It now has a 5.4 IMDb rating and a 60 per cent score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

To create the seaside town, filmmakers actually built an entire village.

Nowadays, it serves as an open-air museum and theme park, aptly named the Popeye Village (popeyemalta.com).

I visited during low season, in November, and was initially sceptical about whether I would enjoy the excursion, given that I had never seen the film and, to be completely honest, was generally unfamiliar with Popeye.