Alistair Olson
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Fleur
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
danielemerson
This is basically a vehicle for Tawny Kitaen's mammary glands. If you don't get this concept, it ain't for you.The unfeasibly wide-eyed innocent Gwendoline posts herself and her gamine sidekick to Generic Oriental Sleazeville, and engages the services of a rather greasy alpha male (Brent Huff) to find first her missing father. Oh and then she's suddenly looking for a butterfly instead. The plot is easy to follow, as the exposition is delivered as if spoken by lips of purest plywood.Then, after a few clunky adventures with oily villains and cartoon tribesmen, they end up in a secret underground city of bondage Amazons. This is the point at which the nipple count goes through the roof. The Amazons are captivated by Huff's winkie and that's where all the trouble starts. In MST3K terms, it is a very "boobular" movie, as might be expected of the man behind the 'Emanuelle' films. Eurosmut with a dash of hair-metal video. You know... classy. Eighties classy. There are also attempts at knowing humour which clunk painfully across the screen.Kitaen overacts, Huff underacts, but somehow it doesn't balance itself out.In short, dopey right down to the molecular level. But if you're in the mood to laugh at bad cinema, or just grew up perving over Whitesnake videos, it could be right up your street.
chow913
A simple rain shower signals the cast to strip naked. An S&M tribute to 'Ben-Hur's chariot race with human horses. And Chinese bar fights with midgets being impaled. If loving this is wrong I don't want to be right."'Barbarella' Meets 'Indiana Jones'" boasts the posters. NOT A SINGLE element of either film exists in 'Gwendoline'!!! And I challenge anyone to name one!!! (other than Indy's whip) This certainly has to go down along with 'Dune', 'Blade Runner', 'The Crow' and 'Alien 3' as one of the most visually stunning pictures ever made. The production quality is so high it just drags you right in and never lets go! It creates its own special universe where nothing else exists outside of it. The trailer is very accurate as to what you'll be experiencing, eye candy with an S&M storyline.If not for the visual masterpiece 'Gwendoline' would easily be relegated to just another sexploitation film.First off, I watched this film only in French without English subtitles. This is a true test of any truly epic story. Can the audience understand the plot and characters even without understanding the words? The answer here is a major yes. The visual actions and emotions of the characters are so compelling we know them heart and soul even without knowing their names.It reminds me a lot of 'Land of the Deaf' and 'Quest for Fire.' Bold films which intentionally created the challenge of having no dialogue what so ever. It worked for them and it works for 'Gwendoline.' This is actually how anime was originally screened is the US. Producers would show American kids anime only in Japanese. And if the kids could describe the plot and characters correctly they knew the anime film or series was worthy of an English language adaptation.I'd accuse the story of being a plagiarized from an Anne Rice novel but her books like the 'Sleeping Beauty' trilogy were written after 'Gwendoline.' The plot is not complex beyond Westerners getting into bar fights in Chinese nightclubs, journeying into the Gobi Desert and discovering to lost S&M fantasy kingdom of Yik Yak. Not too complex but very compelling and exciting. And I'm not talking about just talking about sexual excitement.'Gwendoline' isn't just another sexploitation film. In fact there's far to little sex or graphic nudity to really even be considered a sexploitation film.This film also stars American Tawny Kitaen, the girl who "shook her ass on the head of White Snake's car." SPOILER WARNING!!! My only criticism is that they didn't do more with this film. Gwendoline and Willard never consummate their relationship! I was expecting the story to climax literally with a threesome between Gwendoline, Willard, and Beth.There ending in the Gobi Desert could have at least been better with some implications that Yik Yak had entirely been a dream. This is what I was expecting as it's very odd how all three of them are able to get dressed in the few seconds they have to flee the collapsing Yik Yak.
movieman_kev
80's metal band Whitesnake's sultry siren Tawny Kitaen is extremely lucky in some ways (ie. she dated OJ Simpson and lived to tell the tale). but decidedly unlucky in deciding this as her first feature film. Kitaen plays the titular role of Gwendoline who, with some help, is trying to find her father and a rare butterfly. While the first half of this film is so bad, it's good in a campy culty way, humorously enough the second half, when they actually find the girl tribe of the Yik Yak is when it takes a nosedive and becomes tedious. You'd think it would only get better by injecting a truckload of topless women, but you'd be wrong. As it's definitely not. But as I said up to around that point the movie is pretty damn enjoyable. And as bad as the second part of this film got (and trust me it gets pretty awful). I'd STILL watch it a million times more than that "Avacado Women in the Jungle of Death" crap fest. Tawny's next film, Bachelor Party, however, was and still is a bonifide classic no matter how you slice it (not really because of her, mind you) My Grade: D+ DVD Extras: Commentary by Director Just Jaeckin; Interview with Jaeckin; Audio interview with comic creator John Willie; Tawny Kitean photo-spread for Lui Magazine; and both US & international theatrical trailers
Robin Silver
This movie is one of the great old "B" movies from the 80s. The acting is totally amateur, but perfect for the campy theme. It has everything needed for an adventure movie of this type; jungle localles, dirty boat captain, gambling, savages, and the always welcome nude scenes (wow, but Beth really made the movie!!)Rent it, buy it, borrow it, STEAL it!! It's worth the time!!!
