Customer Reviews

Butterfly

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm gonna get a lot of heat for this, but I'm a fan of Pia Zadora. I don't think she's the greatest actress or personality or even singer, but there's something about her that makes me giggle. Sure, she's been in a lot of questionable movies (to my count, her husband financed four of them - BUTTERFLY, FAKE-OUT, THE LONELY LADY, and VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS), but she seems to have a wicked sense of humor playing in all of them, like she's in on the joke. Maybe she was or maybe she wasn't, but FINALLY her "first" film, BUTTERFLY, has been officially released on DVD. I say "officially" because JER Films has had a bootleg DVD release on the market for several years now, mastered from the early 80s Vestron Laserdisc, a better source than a VHS tape minted from the same transfer but still a poor choice considering how blurry, blown-out, and speckly the print and noisy Laserdisc pressing were.

And now the official release from Industrial Films, a label I've never heard of, in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen from a new hi-def master, complete with a 45-minute featurette and commentary track with Pia herself! To say I'm shocked is an understatement, but I felt I should let the other dozen or so people in the world who might be interested in this release know of its quality.

The mastering isn't perfect, as there is a strange ghosting issue which appears to be from poor conversion from the hi-def master (I've seen this on some other independent DVD releases), and the audio commentary is woefully out of synchronization for the first half of the film (the film's audio is mixed in low and it reveals a large 3-4 second gap in sync). I still expected FAR worse than I got, and I'm very pleased with this disc. Even the packaging is quite nice with a slipcover that has the BUTTERFLY logo in raised red foil. The back cover gives a url, Welcome to butterfly-movie.com!, that is nothing more than a site registered for selling domain names! Weird...

DVDTown is the only review I've been able to find for the DVD so far, and I think it was a little harsh. If the reviewer only knew how poor the previous video master was...

I hope that more of Ms. Zadora's oeuvre is on its way to DVD, but from what she states in the commentary track I doubt it. "The other movies sucked," she says, citing FAKE-OUT as terrible and THE LONELY LADY as being intentionally over-the-top but it ended up being, "what it was." No mention of VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS at all. *sigh* The face of the actual DVD has a 2008 copyright credit for Par-Par Productions, from which I can only surmise Ms. Zadora had something to do with allowing this film to be released. She seems to have a good sense of humor on her commentary track about herself and her films, but I'm not convinced she thinks putting out a special edition of THE LONELY LADY or VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS is a good idea (but Pia, if you're reading this, I think they deserve DVD releases!!!)

If you are on the fence about this release, BUY IT! Some effort obviously went into this one, and I only hope sales figures convince Ms. Zadora to let some of her other films out of the vault. No, I won't hold my breath, but I never expected this one to get released either.

I posted comparison pics here:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/sd-dvd-film-documentary/277189-butterfly-1982-official-release.html

I remember reading about Pia years ago. Apparently her husband (ex ?) has millions of dollars and was willing to make her a well known movie star and invest in her career. However, there was a huge backlash of those who felt she was paying her way to stardom. Her movies were panned and many critized her abilities.

Tonight, I watched Butterfly, and I thought it was riveting. Pia stars as Kady, a young woman who returns to the father she never knew and attempts to get him to steal silver from the mine he is guarding. Stacy Keech plays the father and other talented actors like James Francisco round out the cast. Pia looks gorgeous and convinced me with her acting. She has talent, looks, ability and star quality. She is totally believable as Kady, generating heat, youth and a knowing of what she needs and how to get it all at once.

The movie includes a bonus segment where the actors talk about the movie and Pia still looks awesome 26 years later. She speaks very intelligently and represents herself well.

It seems that real fame eluded Pia... and I wonder if without the money her husband put into her career and the resentment it caused, she would have accomplished her goals.

~ Lee Mellott

I was only able to locate and purchase this item on amazon.com, Thanks once again for helping to find this hard to find item it was a great product and service, A+++ Highly recommended to devoted fans!
William Brooks

A quirky little film with some fun and interesting supporting performances... and Pia certainly has her lolita'esque charms. But the real star of the movie for me is the excellent soundtrack by maestro Ennio Morricone.

I had'nt seen this since the 80's. I was happy to see ButterFly released on dvd. The interviews with everyone still alive was very interesting and fun. The movie itself is even more interesting as an adult. Before, and always, Pai was the draw.....She is gorgeous !! Now I can appreciate the acting and see the different depths of each relationship on screen. This really shows the power of a woman and how dumb men can be. Yet, there is true love and a happy ending...... Really a deeper story as I can look past Pia at the whole story now.
ANYWAY ^_^ Thanks, This was great to see again and own now.

This DVD, put out by a company called New Star Video, will not play in my dvd players. ISN# 0-29502-00295-4 DVD label is Black - no artwork. No mention on package if Widescreen, Stereo, Close Captioned, etc. Also, there is no mention of the film's original release date (1981), or the movie's total runtime (length of the film). And to top it off, there is no phsical street address or web address for "New Star Video" anywhere to be found on the packaging or disc label. Is this some sort of bootleg release?

Back in the 80s, Butterfly was one of those movies you always heard about, but never actually saw. Men's magazines at the time talked a lot about it, and then there were all those Razzie awards. Pia won a Golden Globe, but scandal struck when it was suggested that Butterfly producer and Zadora husband M. Riklis BOUGHT the award for her. (This inuendo is discussed in the commentary and in the 44-minute featurette on this DVD.) Well, what a surprise! The movie is pretty good, in a scenery chewing, John Waters kind of way. It's short on skin, long on sleaze and NEVER BORING. Orson Welles hams it up, Stacy Keach tries his level best to rise above the material, even Ed McMahon and June Lockhart (Mom Robinson from Lost in Space) show up. Besides Keach, the only performance that rises above the material is Kate Nelligan, who seems to be acting in a completely different (high quality) movie. Director Matt Cimber frequently gets a bad rap for his pictures, mainly because lots of people like to paint him as the bad guy in his marriage to Jayne Mansfield (two sides to every story, you know), but his direction here is very effective. If you like this, you should also check out another Cimber film, The Witch Who Came from the Sea, an interesting movie that does NOT feature a witch. In Butterfly, the cinematography is splendid, the Ennio Morricone soundtrack majestic, the script so-so, the acting very uneven, but if you like good B-pictures, C-pictures and D-pictures, you'll love it. Unlike another commentator, I've never been a big fan of Pia Zadora, but I'll admit: Nobody else could play the part as well. And hats off to Stacy Keach for trying so hard to take the material seriously. Also a pat on the back to Orson Welles for his willingness to cash the check. One thing to watch for: When Keach and Zadora go into the silver mine, the scene is shot almost identically to an early shot in Welles' own Mr. Arkadin. But Welles would never horn in on directorial duties on somebody else's picture, would he? Anyhow, this movie really is worth seeing.

You have to love Pia in this and with Stacy Keach and Orson Welles how can you go wrong for a couple of dollars? I saw this when I was much younger and vowed to see it again someday. For the price you can't go wrong with Pia Zadora and this cast!

If you are tempted to watch it all the way through just to find out if it really has the obvious and absurd "surprise" ending that it telegraphs, (spoiler follows) ...






... it does.