Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Amazon Jail II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 18, 2023

1985’s “Amazon Jail” contained unintentional laughs, but it was mostly a production out to provide a serious understanding of dangers involving a collection of women and their fight against human traffickers. 1987’s “Amazon Jail II” is an intentional comedy, turning something that intended to be both titillating and bleak into an episode of “The Benny Hill Show,” complete with undercranked shenanigans and screen time set aside to ogle female characters. “Amazon Jail II” isn’t really a sequel, but more of a remake of the original endeavor, only here the emphasis is on silliness, watching the actors flail around in an attempt to be funny. Director Conrado Sanchez doesn’t really have a vision for the feature, loosely stitching together whatever he can capture with his camera, creating a wearisome viewing experience that’s too random to be engaging, resembling a production where everyone gave up early on.

Don Canneloni is a human trafficker, eager to sell the young women he’s kidnapped to his connections from around the world. His team has recently collected members of a Brazilian tribe, with these female prisoners led by the Princess. Canneloni is prepared to offer these women to Japanese gangster Ling-Ling, but delivery of the goods has been complicated. Chris and Chubby are pilots hired to bring the prisoners to Canneloni, only to realize what’s going on, working to disrupt the trip and separate the women from Fox, Canneloni’s top enforcer. Taking off into the jungle, Chris, Chubby, and the tribe make their way through a dangerous area while searching for safety, encountering animal threats and teasing love connections along the way. Fox and his men remain in close pursuit, determined to retrieve the women, allowing Canneloni to score a major payday for his most enthusiastic customer.

We know that Don Canneloni is a bad guy, because during his initial conversation with Chris and Chubby, he punctuates his demands by biting into a tarantula, which happens to be Chubby’s pet. This is the level of broadness “Amazon Jail II” is presenting to viewers, and the production doesn’t hide its wackiness for very long. There’s introductory material with the tribe, who are dancing on the beach when Fox and his men arrive to steal the females, including the Princess, though her royal designation really doesn’t mean anything to what little here passes for a story. The kidnapping occurs, and we meet Chris and Chubby, the latter a slovenly fellow who’s the fraidy cat of the team, while the former is more of a hero type. These men can be bought easily, providing a plane for Canneloni to move the goods, but they aren’t complete monsters, beginning to understand the danger their human cargo is in, also openly flirting with the surprisingly friendly prisoners.

“Amazon Jail II” isn’t sensitive about culture or stereotypes, with Ling-Ling a samurai-style underworld figure who’s sick and tired of being left out of the human trafficking business, ready to pay cash for indigenous women. Again, there’s no drama in play here, with the plot basically following Chris and Chubby as they try to lead the prisoners to safety, while Canneloni deals with Ling-Ling’s thinning patience. “Amazon Jail II” transforms into a pursuit picture, with Fox and his goons chasing after the escapees, and everyone elects to cut through the jungle to reach their final destination. This gives Sanchez a chance to explore the surroundings, which are filled with carefully positioned creatures, including leopards, ostriches, and snakes, the latter being subjected to some animal cruelty in the movie’s quest to sell the dumbest ideas as humor. Animal encounters are strange, added randomly to the endeavor to help add some action to an otherwise static effort, and one that’s not terribly interested in sexploitation activities. There’s certainly nudity here, but the sequel is considerably more reserved than its predecessor, with Sanchez looking to make viewers laugh when I’m sure most are expecting a more erotic viewing experience.

Comedy doesn’t come easy to “Amazon Jail II,” and it’s up to the viewer to decide if it even arrives at all. The picture aims to be dopey, which is quite a turn from the first “Amazon Jail,” keeping up shenanigans with Chubby, who’s afraid of everything and loves female attention. There’s a running gag concerning explosives that doesn’t provide much more than an opportunity for Sanchez to play with pyro. And if the audience has trouble understanding the tone of a scene, the helmer adds multiple uses of the “sad trombone” sting to clarify intent. Oof.

Amazon Jail II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is sourced from a 4K scan of the 35mm answer print. Colors are alert, exploring the jungle adventure with terrific greenery, and animal appearances look natural. Costuming offers more varied hues, and skin tones are precise. Paint work on boats and buildings is vivid. Detail does well with clothing, exploring cultural wear. Skin particulars are strong, with a wide range of actors in various states of undress. Jungle depth is preserved. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is capably resolved. Source has a few points of damage, also dealing with mild wear and debris.

Amazon Jail II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA English dub offers intelligible dialogue exchanges, keeping up with argumentative behavior and comedic activity. Scoring largely maintains a jazzy mood, preserved with decent clarity. Sound effects are blunt. A Portuguese 2.0 DTS-HD MA track is also included, pulled from a video source.

Amazon Jail II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview (39:28, HD) is a video conference discussion of "Amazon Jail II" with director Conrado Sanchez, who began his interest in features at a young age, with his father involved in the production business. As a young man, Sanchez continued to make his way into filmmaking, gathering experience from veterans while striking out on his own. The interviewee recalls his early helming endeavors and some of the strange locations he worked on, including a farm where "many explicit animal sex movies" were created. Some technical and creative challenges are explored from the "Amazon Jail II" shoot, along with a recent revisit of the picture, with Sanchez stating he "thought it was worse than it is."

• Interview (23:45, HD) is a video conference chat with actress Vanessa Alves, who began her career with commercial work as a child, eventually graduating to musical performance, ultimately choosing to pursue the life of an actor. Memories from the "Amazon Jail" and "Amazon Jail II" shoots are offered, with Alves reflecting on producer behavior and difficult locations. The sexual content of scenes is also analyzed. The interviewee also details other career adventures.

• A Trailer has not been included on this release.

Amazon Jail II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Amazon Jail II" graduates from jungle trekking to the open water, with the warring sides eventually battling on boats, bringing a flame thrower into the action. Such potential excitement is greatly diminished by editorial indifference, as spatial relationships and continuity are mostly ignored, creating periodic confusion. Without filmmaking care, there's little incentive to stay invested in "Amazon Jail II," which trades salaciousness for silliness, and the wacky stuff is often intolerable. Perhaps this could work as a Bad Movie Night option, with the clumsiness of it all tempting to those in the mood for nonsense, and this endeavor is absolutely stuffed with it.