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Gwendoline (Uncut)
Barbarella meets Indiana Jones featuring Tawny Kitaen as Gwendoline, yes
she of those famous Whitesnake videos of the mid 80’s. Gwendoline is an
action adventure set in the Far East, our heroine with her maid Beth
(French actress Zabou) are on a mission to track down her father, who
has mysteriously disappeared whilst on a mission to find a mythical
butterfly. She is joined on her quest by a soldier of fortune named
Willard (and no he doesn’t own a pet rat named Ben). Their journey
leads them to the land of the Yik Yak, an Amazonian society led by an
evil Queen who rules over an army of female fetish-clad warriors.
Gwendoline must defeat the Queen to prevent Willard from being forced to
spawn a new race of female amazons, although if I were Willard I don’t
know if I would want to be rescued.
Our
adventure begins in China as Gwendoline stows away in a shipping crate,
she is discovered by some ruffians who deliver her to the local gangster
for money. Her attendant Beth furiously searches for her and finds her
captive in a local gambling den. Fortunately for both of them a
swashbuckling American mercenary Willard accidentally kills the gangster
with his grappling hook and reluctantly rescues the girls. He then
loans out his services to follow Gwendoline’s father’s footsteps to help
find a rare butterfly (for a price of course). During the journey the
three are captured by a primitive tribe of humans called Cheops, who
practice human sacrifice. We learn that Gwendoline, a virgin, is
infatuated by Willard, who finally warms to her and promises to make
love to her at least once before the Cheops kill them. As they are all
tied up the love making is only verbal but is one of the funnier moments
in the film. They manage to escape and travel to the land of the Yik
Yak, avoiding poisonous dust storms they again are captured by a warrior
society of woman led by an evil Queen. The Amazon society must mate
with captured male prisoners to maintain their race; Gwendoline earns
this right by combat and finally makes love to her beloved Willard right
under the Queens nose. The Queen has a pet human named D’Arcy who is so
broken and sycophantic that he replies to all the Queens requests by
uttering “Superb, superb”, longing to escape this hellish existence
whereby he is used to build torture devices he inadvertently helps our
three butterfly chasers to escape as the Amazon city collapses around
them. Our three heroes emerge from the sands above triumphantly in
survival and having also captured the butterfly they sought.
So
what gives this movie a cult like status? Well Tawny Kitaen has quite
and few naked scenes and a sexploitation/erotic theme is apparent
through the movie. The Amazon city is well done with fetish
armour
being worn by the attractive female warriors and bizarre torture rituals
that remind one of the legendary sci-fi camp film Barbarella. It is
very cheesy but directed in a lighthearted comedic way. There is a
little violent gore, a chap losing his ears is quite original and funny
but the film never becomes boring of offensive. The best line comes
from Willard after he finds out he is to mate with the Amazon champion
“Give me all your women and tomorrow you’ll be overpopulated”.
Coming from 1984 picture quality is very impressive and is shot in
2:35:1 widescreen aspect ratio and has Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
sound. Running time is approximately 87 minutes. Extras include an
audio commentary with director Just Jaeckin, a featurette called “Perils
of Just”, theatrical trailer, image gallery and even a French language
option. Very good value for this cult movie. English subtitles were
mentioned but were not apparent upon playback.
Highly enjoyable campy action adventure with a touch of eroticism, very
good video transfer and a beautiful cast. Gwendoline has a unique look
and feel, a French/USA coproduction it comes recommended for anyone
looking for something different from the typical Hollywood fare.
Special Features:
Audio Commentary With Director Just Jaeckin
Just Jaeckin Featurette “Perils Of Just”
Theatrical Trailer
UK Promo
Gallery
French Language Option With English Subtitles
American Opening Titles |
