PiraBit
if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.
Kaelan Mccaffrey
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Caryl
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
Roelof Vos
What great fun it was to see this one.The beginning of the movie is a bit romancing the stone/ Indiana Jones. A woman and her friend are looking for the girls father who has gone missing looking for a rare butterfly. They team up with a tough guy and go on a dangerous adventure involving natives, pirates and a deadly poisoned storm.But the real fun starts when Gwendoline finds the butterfly she is looking for.The movie becomes kind of a "barbarella", which happens to be one of my all time favorite's! An almost naked woman is being sucked op and down a big tube, another naked woman is spinning around on a big wheel and more great viewing pleasure's.But the biggest fun is yet to start, when Gwendoline and Beth are trying to escape on some kind of chariot, pulled not by horses but by ( Yes, you've guessed it) more almost naked women!Go see it, it really is fun, fun, fun!
MetalMiike
Perhaps the best movie ever to be made (starring Brent Huff)...What can I say? I tried to review NEMO (1984) a while back and was pretty lost for words. Whatever happened to films like this? There was a period in the early to mid 80's where cinema just went... not wrong... balmy, I think is the word.This has been called INDIANA JONES meets BARBARELLA but it's so much more. By ignoring the comic book, Jaeckin has, ironically enough, preserved the graphic form on film. He is, after all (and first and foremost) a fashion photography so his arrogance of story structure leads to the best eye candy you'll see in a long while. Sequences from this film may have resembled Jodorowsky's aborted Dune project had it ever have been made! Sure the first half is pretty slow but it leads into the strangest and most mind-blowing balm-pottery ever to hit celluloid, as Gwendoline and her pals go on a mission to find a rare butterfly, her missing father and a lost civilisation. The city of Yik-Yak itself is some of the best visualisation I've ever seen, not unlike an S+M party in a salt mine. Forget the acting (PLEASE forget the acting) just sit back, listen to the vaguely Michael Nyman-esquire score and watch the mind-blowing images unfold. Otherwise, just pretend you're watching TINTIN: THE MOVIE, as rendered by Peter Greenaway.
grendelkhan
Gwendoline, or the Perils of Gwendoline, is loosely (and I mean loosely) based on the bondage-themed comics of John Willie. Willie's stories were basic melodrama with a lot more kink. They are pretty tame compared what passes for erotica today (no sex, just fetish), but this movie was pretty tame for Willie.This film tries to blend the Willie kink with some Indiana Jones adventure; but, there isn't much adventure or kink. The film is never particularly erotic. Sure, there are a few bondage scenes, with unusual Willie/Stanton devices and scenarios, and plenty of nudity, but it's not that exciting. The only really interesting scene is the gladiator battle. The costumes and the absurd nature of the combat add a Barbarella flair to the scene.The budget is too small for any major stunts and doesn't have the creativity to make better use of the Terry and the Pirates meets Indiana Jones flavor at the beginning. The hidden city is never shown well to add any exotic flavorThe acting is atrocious, barely above real porn-level. Tawnny Kitaen is one of the worst actresses I have ever seen. The rest of the cast is completely forgettable.Unless you can't find any porn, forget this film. it's not entertaining enough for a vanilla audience, and not kinky enough for fetishists. Watch Raiders of the Lost Ark or Bound, instead. Or Barbarella; at least it was somewhat comical.
frankfob
A beautiful woman hires an intrepid adventurer to help find her father, who has disappeared in the jungle while searching for a rare and priceless butterfly. Along the way they run into cannibals, a race of Amazon warriors and all the usual attractions one would expect to find in a lost jungle. That's pretty much all you have to know of the plot, which is mainly an excuse to show off scads of beautiful naked women, gorgeous Filipino scenery, some almost competent action scenes, and Tawny Kitaen. That about covers it. Director Just Jaeckin apparently put a fair chunk of the tons of money he made off his "Emanuelle" movies into this one, and it shows; the film doesn't look cheap, at least, and Jaeckin's photography shows off the film's best assets--including Tawny Kitaen's--to their best advantage. Go at it with the right attitude and this film can be a lot of fun.
