The Pink Jungle Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The Pink Jungle Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 5, 2022

Delbert Mann's "The Pink Jungle" (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only supplemental feature on the disc include is a vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Pink Jungle is the type of exotic action film the prolific producer Harry Alan Towers would have been proud to conceive. In the early ‘60s, Towers wrote and produced quite a few such genre films that used smaller stars and some quite striking locations. The critics were not kind to them, but they did good business for Towers, so he just kept making them. Also, even though you would rarely see it mentioned, many of the exotic action films Towers produced helped tremendously future great actors, cinematographers, and directors tune up their skills. For example, a young Nic Roeg was hired to lense Code 7, Victim 5 and he did some really terrific work in it, while Mickey Rooney impressed as a legit ‘serious’ leading actor in 24 Hours to Kill. So, despite the negative reviews, a lot of good things happened in these genre films.

Virtually all old reviews of Delbert Mann’s The Pink Jungle that you would be able to dig up are negative as well, which is why I decided to bring up Towers’ name and his output during the ‘60s. Realize that even though it was an American project, The Pink Jungle was put together in exactly the same manner Towers’ films were, and even though it had a bigger budget than Towers’ films, ultimately it was expected to deliver the exact same type of entertainment. Now, here’s the crucial point the old reviews of The Pink Jungle either intentionally ignored or missed: it was a type of entertainment that met the expectations of a pretty large and diverse audience that had a greater appreciation for the exotic than the ‘serious’ which critics focused on. (By the way, after the success of the first couple of James Bond films, this was the very reason why so many other European producers began funding the cheaper but still quite colorful Eurospy films. They were James Bond-esque copycats and offered more of the same type of entertainment Towers’ films did, and even though the critics once again dismissed them, for a while they did plenty of good business as well). To be perfectly clear, these films were still willing to find room for the ‘serious’, but they were conceived to appeal to the aforementioned audience.

I don’t know the specifics of how The Pink Jungle came to exist, but it is awfully easy for me to tell that there was never a moment where Mann or the film’s two producers (James Garner and Stan Margulies) intended for it to be anything more or drastically different than what it turned out to be. Indeed, immediately after its opening credits disappear and American fashion photographer Ben Morris (Garner) sets foot on a fictional South American country, it is already crystal-clear that the exotic would be the film’s greatest asset. What isn’t immediately clear is how Mann and the cast will sell it so that it produces the type of entertainment I mentioned earlier. But soon after the classic blueprint reemerges. Much like the films Towers produced, here the exotic is presented as one-part foreign visuals and one-part wild conspiracy which shape up the adventure of the main protagonists. Before the fun begins, the photographer is accused of being an undercover CIA agent, possibly on a mission to sabotage ongoing political developments in the fictional country, while the supermodel that lands shortly after him, Alison Duguesne (Eva Renzi), is profiled as an accidental accomplice. After the only private plane in the area is hijacked, the photographer and the model are then told that they would have to wait a week until the next plane arrives and takes them back to New York, but instead of enjoying their unplanned vacation they become involved with an American opportunist (George Kennedy) who is pursuing a map that supposedly reveals the location of a massive yet to be claimed diamond mine.

If Garner and Kennedy immediately set your expectations high enough so that you begin speculating that The Pink Jungle could be either an ignored or forgotten genre classic, your viewing experience with it will almost certainly be disappointing. The Pink Jungle isn’t that kind of a film. It fits perfectly amongst ‘smaller’ films like Mozambique, Code 7, Victim 5, Bang! Bang! You're Dead! and Coast of Skeletons. They are awfully difficult to describe as good, but I usually find them very charming and relaxing, especially when I view them in the wee hours of the night.

The Pink Jungle Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Pink Jungle arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

According to press materials, the release is sourced from an exclusive new 2K master, which is the main reason why the film has a very attractive organic appearance. Now, certain minor but noticeable density fluctuations that affect delineation and even clarity remain, but they don't ever become distracting. There are a few areas where depth can be a bit inconsistent as well, but the visuals are still very, very pleasing. (When you reach these areas, you will notice that some of the visuals there become a tad 'thicker' than they should be). The grading job is very convincing. The primaries are stable and looking very healthy, while the supporting nuances are nicely balanced. Ideally saturation levels should be slightly better, but I still like the overall color balance a lot. There are absolutely no traces of problematic digital adjustments/tinkering. Image stability is very good. The entire film looks healthy as well. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Pink Jungle Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I did not encounter any serious anomalies or technical issues to highlight in our review. The dialog was very clear, clean, stable, and easy to follow. The overall range of dynamic nuances was what I expected it to be in a film from the 1960s as well. I did notice a few areas where the audio did become a tad 'thin', but this is a common inherited limitation. So, I think that the lossless track reproduces the native qualities of the original soundtrack very well.

The Pink Jungle Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for The Pink Jungle. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

The Pink Jungle Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you have seen and enjoyed some of the exotic action films Harry Alan Towers produced during the '60s, you will have a good time with The Pink Jungle. However, if you are unfamiliar with Towers' work and the fact that Delbert Mann, James Garner, and George Kennedy's names are attached to The Pink Jungle immediately forces your mind to begin speculating that it could be a forgotten genre classic, I have to say that your viewing experience with it will most likely be disappointing. The Pink Jungle is a small film that was part of a very particular trend that made good money for shrewd businessmen like Towers, but did not produce any films that made the mainstream critics genuinely happy. For what it's worth, I enjoy these smaller exotic action films quite a lot, but only when I view them very late at night. They are a lot like the cheaper Eurospy thrillers that flourished after the success of the first couple of James Bond films -- colorful and often quite funny, unpretentious and usually very relaxing. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a nice exclusive new 2K master, but the only bonus feature on it is a vintage trailer. RECOMMENDED.