Two early '80s pop culture favorites collide in Paradise, the most famous and widely seen of the sexy exotic adventures churned out in the wake of 1980's highly successful The Blue Lagoon. Star Phoebe Cates was a teen model at the time in her first major role before going on to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Gremlins, and Lace, among other projects, and as with the later Private School, she sang the theme song for this one (which went to #1 in Italy). Opposite her is Willie Aames, a much bigger name at the time thanks to his breakthrough role on TV's Eight Is Enough and the film Scavenger Hunt. His career didn't go in the same direction after this, though he did go on to improbably headline Ruggero Deodato's Cut and Run and star opposite Scott Baio in Zapped! and Charles in Charge. Released by Embassy Pictures (while still bearing the old Avco Embassy logo on the prints), the film went on to become a very popular VHS and cable TV favorite thanks to its enticing teen liberation story and the chance to see both leads frolic around naked in several scenes, though it never became as iconic as Cates' tape-destroying iconic pool moment in Fast Times. After that this film went under the radar for a long time, getting a minor VHS reissue from MGM directly via Amazon and turning up again on cable, both in a different version missing the theme song multiple times (including the end credits) with alternate score bits dropping in instead. In 2024, Fun City Editions revived the film on Blu-ray in a much longer edition than ever before, but more on that in a moment.

Two 19th-century teenagers, Sarah (Cates) and David (Aames), are traveling with a group from Baghdad to Damascus and stop at a marketplace oasis to take in the sights. However, Sarah catches the eye of a violent warlord known as The Jackal (Tavi) who wants to buy her against her will. A slaughter ensues that kills everyone but David, Sarah, and her servant Geoffrey (Curnock), though the latter doesn't last much longer once they retreat into the desert. Eventually David and Sarah make their way to an idyllic paradise in the middle of nowhere, allowing them to create a new home along with some new simian friends. David's uptight religious upbringing also begins to wane as nature begins to take its course between them, but the danger that put them there in the first place isn't finished with them yet.

An entertaining romp bookended by brisk action scenes, Paradise really only resembles The Blue Lagoon in its middle section when our protagonists discover their sexual awakening. Otherwise the setting and plot differ considerably, which makes it surprising that Columbia took dual legal actions against the film at the time (first to block its advertising, then to halt the exhibition of the film itself). Neither bid really worked apart from altering one of the artwork designs for its advertising, but more minor controversy arose when Cates slammed the insertion of very glaring nude body double shots for her character into a couple of love scenes in the last half hour. Canadian actor-turned-director Stuart Gillard didn't benefit much from the film, sticking primarily to working in TV before and after, while Gene Corman was on hand to consult on the production thanks to his expertise with shooting in Israel at the time.

For its first-ever special edition as well as its inaugural presentation in HD, Paradise fares well on the Blu-ray release with a striking, very colorful presentation that's far more detailed than the old masters we've had for ages. As mentioned above, it's also much longer than the earlier releases with numerous bits peppered throughout the film including some fun banter between Cates and Aames that never should have been cut in the first place. The English DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono options (with English SDH subtitles) include the original theatrical sound mix with the song intact (definitely the best option), the alternate score-only pre-release version, and an isolated music track for good measure. Also present but obviously not up for evaluation here is an audio commentary by yours truly. Also included are a 7m31s image gallery, 2m16s of radio spots, the red band and green band trailers, and a TV spot, while the first pressing comes with an insert booklet featuring a thorough and excellent essay by Amanda Reyes about the film's background and production as well as one by Margaret Barton-Fumo about Cates and her musical contribution.

Reviewed on November 2, 2024