6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
After her father dies, Blue is forced to grow up fast. Taken in by Elle, a high-class brothel madam, she discovers a beguiling world of power and pleasure but also the tightening grip of Elle's control. To make matters worse, she is falling for Josh, a regular guy who doesn't know about her double life. Now, if she tells the truth, will she lose him forever?
Starring: Nina Siemaszko, Wendy Hughes, Tom Skerritt, Robert Davi, Brent David FraserDrama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Zalman King was once a young actor trying to build a career in Hollywood, finding his way into television work, eventually graduating to features, including roles in 1977’s “Blue Sunshine” and 1981’s “Galaxy of Terror.” King wasn’t a remarkable performer, with career opportunities eventually drying up. A move behind the camera changed everything for him, taking on directorial duties for 1988’s “Two Moon Junction,” allowed to indulge his interest in erotic entertainment. The effort found its audience on VHS, where it became a staple of mom-and-pop video store selections, giving King an opportunity to keep working the system, returning to a similar study of distress and undress in 1989’s “Wild Orchid,” which enjoyed tremendous publicity due to the possible all-too-real heat generated between stars Mickey Rourke and Carre Otis, creating another picture perfectly suited for the rental market and late-night cable enjoyment. It was another green light for King’s creative wheelhouse, and he jumps right back into the thick of sensual distress with 1991’s “Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue” (aka “Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue”), which carries a head-turning title, but actually has nothing to do with the 1989 endeavor, as King, who returns to write and direct, seeks a new screen adventure featuring an impressionable young woman and the world of predatory men she inhabits. “Wild Orchid 2” isn’t a bold leap forward in imagination from King, who mostly rests on his laurels here, once again giving viewers an uneasy mixture of heated encounters and sexual violence, trying to craft a soap opera to give what’s basically an exploitation offering some softness, helping the audience digest a story that’s quick to dive into unpleasantness.
The AVC encoded image (1.84:1 aspect ratio) presentation appears to be sourced from a much older scan of "Wild Orchid 2." Fine detail isn't strong, and filtering is present, losing any look at skin particulars. Costuming isn't richly textured. Interiors aren't sharp, with a hazier sense of decoration and depth. Exteriors retain some dimension. Colors aren't remarkable, with flatness throughout. The picture's lighting schemes are mildly appreciable, flooded with blues and reds. Skin tones lose natural qualities at times. Delineation has moments of solidification. Grain is chunkier. Source is in good condition.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix for "Wild Orchid 2" also offers a level of age, with dialogue exchanges softer, less pronounced at times, requiring some brief volume riding to manage emotional conversations. The jazz score supports with more definition, leading with a clear trumpet sound. Atmospherics are limited, but crowd bustle is appreciable.
There's a lot of ickiness to cut through in "Wild Orchid 2," which trades adult agony in "Wild Orchid" for teen horror here, only King doesn't always recognize the evil present in the picture. He's more attentive to ornate lighting, an extended jazz score by George S. Clinton, and the disrobing of female characters, with Siemaszko unable to get much going in the way of characterization despite her best efforts. "Wild Orchid 2: Blue Movie Blue" is allowed to be dark, it should plumb the depths of hopelessness, but King isn't a refined filmmaker, offering blunt command of a dreary and poorly scripted B-movie that eventually reaches a phony conclusion, triggering questions the helmer has no interest in answering.
1992
L'uomo che guarda
1994
2009
2007
2013
2011
1939
1983
2018
2001
2014
1942
1993
1940
1994
2021
2013
2012
1978
Lucía y el sexo | Unrated Director's Cut
2001