Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Wild Orchid Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 5, 2016

Zalman King's "Wild Orchid" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The release contains the shorter Rated R Version and the longer Unrated Version of the film. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The loner

The story is simple and quite unbelievable, but there is nothing wrong with it. It is perfect for the type of film Zalman King envisioned -- a dreamy, very beautiful, borderline surrealistic erotic film with a special atmosphere.

Emily Reed (Carre Otis) is hired by a prestigious law firm and sent to Rio de Janeiro to assist an aggressive businesswoman (Jacqueline Bisset) who is about to close an important deal. Before the proper paperwork is signed, however, the businesswoman is forced to leave for a few days and Emily is left alone to explore the city. She meets James Wheeler (Mickey Rourke), a lonely self-made millionaire who has been desperately trying to find the right girl to fall in love with. There is instant attraction between the two, but both sense that the other is afraid of something. He plays with her emotions and eventually forces her out of her comfort zone. During the game, the two fall madly in love with each other.

The narrative is broken into multiple episodes that build and sustain a certain type of atmosphere rather than focus on a series of important events. Each episode is carefully shot and polished and at times it does feel like one is viewing unusually long commercials that have been prepped for a group of unknown designers. But the atmosphere does not distract -- it is actually treated as a crucial element of the relationship between the two protagonists.

The film will work only for viewers who can accept that reality can be as colorful and seductive as it is shot by Zelman. Indeed, in the film Rio de Janeiro is transformed into the ultimate erotic resort where most men and women are overwhelmed by carnal desires. The bolder ones constantly seduce each other and make love, while the shy ones observe them from afar until eventually they also join the games. Of course, these are all beautiful men and women, with the type of perfect bodies that even professional models would envy.

The lovemaking scenes are intense but very beautiful. It is hard to imagine that anyone can see them differently, but they have been described in some rather strange ways. The most intense one is towards the end -- there are multiple terrific cuts and zooms and the lighting is very effective. Earlier in the film there is another very good scene that is shot in an abandoned hotel but it has a very different vibe.

Rourke looks incredibly handsome and confident where he needs to be. He also looks like the type of guy who would make millions of dollars and then disappear in some exotic paradise where he would want to fall in love. Otis looks shy and incredibly brittle, exactly like a girl who struggles to control her intimate desires and routinely feels ashamed that she does. Her only weakness is that at times she also looks too beautiful. Bisset is clearly miscast. She does not have the personality which the supposedly seasoned businesswoman does.

The film has a truly special soundtrack. The very beautiful love theme features a phenomenal trumpet solo. Also heard in the film are such hits as Ofra Haza’s “Love Song”, Ambitious Lovers’ “It Only Has to Happen Once”, Underworld’s “Promised Land” , and The Rhythm Methodists’ “Wheeler’s Howl”.

Eureka Entertainment’s upcoming Blu-ray release of Wild Orchid contains the shorter Rated R Version of the film, which runs at approximately 105 minutes, and the longer Unrated Version, which runs at approximately 112 minutes.

Wild Orchid Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Zalman King's Wild Orchid arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release appears to have been sourced from the same master which Olive Films worked with when they prepared their Blu-ray release for the U.S. market. This is good news because the basics we typically address in our reviews are quite strong. Indeed, excluding a few dirt specks that pop up during and shortly after the opening credits, the film looks healthy and pleasingly vibrant. Close-ups boast good depth; even when light is restricted small objects and details are easy to see. There are a few sequences where shadow definition could be better, but there are absolutely no ugly anomalies (crushing, smearing, etc). During the larger panoramic shots fluidity is also very good. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Grain is visible throughout the entire film and quite well resolved. A new master will surely make it look slightly more refined, but its current appearance is very convincing. Edge-enhancement is not an issue of concern. Colors are rich, quite well saturated, stable, and healthy. There is a good range of nuances as well. Overall image stability is very good. Finally, there are no large damage marks, cuts, stains, or torn frames to report in our review. All in all, this is a really solid presentation of Wild Orchid that makes it easy to experience the film in an entirely new way. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: Unlike the U.S. release, this release of Wild Orchid also features the longer Unrated Version of the film. The release is Region-B "locked").

Wild Orchid Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 (with a few small exchanges in Portuguese). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The quality of the audio track is quite good, but it is easy to tell that it has not been recently remastered. Occasionally there is small unevenness in the mid-range and some of the dialog can be a bit flat. Nevertheless, the dialog is easy to follow and the music -- and specifically the beautiful sax theme -- sounds good. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report in our review.

Wild Orchid Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Wild Orchid. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Unrated Version - included on the disc is the longer Unrated Version of the film. (1080p/LPCM 2.0).

Wild Orchid Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I thought that the critics who unceremoniously dismissed Zalman King's Wild Orchid back in 1989 when the film was released were utterly wrong and I have not changed my mind one bit. In fact, I think that it looks even better today -- it is a dreamy and very effective escapist film with an atmosphere contemporary directors are quite simply incapable of producing. The film also has a phenomenal soundtrack. Last year, Olive Films released Wild Orchid on Blu-ray in the United States, but their release has only the shorter Rated R Version. This is the release fans of the film should have in their collections. It looks better and it has the longer Unrated Version. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.