Customer Reviews

Wild Orchid [VHS]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

WILD ORCHID was released in 1990 surrounded by controversy that the sex scenes between Carre Otis and Mickey Rourke were not faked. They were a couple at the time, and it is possible that there is some truth to the rumor, but in the end does it matter?

It's a typical Zalman King affair -- rather thin plot revolving around some business intrigue and mostly a sexual awakening of a girl from the country traveling to Rio. The setting provides incredible material for the brilliant cinematography, and the music is sexy and moody. A very fun role for Jacqueline Bisset, but unfortunately too little for anyone else to do other than pose and preen ... and ... well... do love scenes. Zalman King movies are soft and sensuous, and revolve around mood and sex scenes. Don't expect anything more than well-photgraphed love scenes, and you will be fine.

To all you DVD geeks out there (like me) -- edge enhancemnet is at an all-time high here. Colors are good, and its nice to see this movie in widescreen format. You get both the R-rated version and the unrated versions, but this is done on sides of the disc and not by branching. You get a 2 channel stereo mix that is not very good, but probably the original soundtrack without any remastering (pity because this one needs the extra ooomph in the sound department). Grain and print flaws are obvious, the film shows its age in the transfer. But at the low retail price fans of the movie will like it, but certainly not a demo disc by any means.

This one isn't quite mainstream, to say the least. Soft-porn probably would describe it well, but still, I enjoyed it lots, esp the scene in the weird half-abandoned building with the couple making love under a trickling stream of water.
Mickey Rourke, fresh from 9 ½ Weeks, again plays a brooding screwed-up millionaire. Lots of kinky sex and titillating background action and dialogue make it fun to watch with someone special. Good sound track, too.

Wild Orchid. Most people think its some smut movie with no plot. No one ever looks between the lines. It may have sex, and some crazy acting, and even a bogus plot, but the theme of it is important. True love. Call me sentimental and a hopeless romantic, but this movie touched me. Emily and Wheeler, opposites in every way, somehow find love, together. I wish everyone was as lucky. To find happiness where you least expect it. I wish I could be as happy as those two. Look around you. Do you see people with this kind of passion and love? It's sad, too, because we know what happened to the actors who played these lovers. I hope that someone out there has a relationship like this so that we have more to cling to then fiction. It may not have been the best movie, but it had an important message: When you find true love grab it with both hands and never let go.

Just kidding, I don't know what I'm talking about. You should see this movie if you like:

1) Sex
2) Nudity
3) Hot babes
4) Mickey Rourke
5) Carre Otis
6) Mickey Rourke and Carre Otis going at it for real
7) Perfume commercials
8) Directors trying to make their softcore porn look like art by filming everything sensually and in slow motion, so the film appears to be arthouse and "visually stimulating"
9) Really, really, really bad dialogue
10) Lots of good banging and screwing without a plot
11) Mickey Rourke playing a total pimp (which is different than just Mickey Rourke - I mean, there's Mickey Rourke, and then there's Mickey Rourke the Pimp, which is even cooler)


And finally...

12) Hot female characters who wear glasses and carry around clipboards so the audience believes they are smart and successful businesswomen, when in fact they'd have a hard time calculating 1 + 1. (Also see: Alone in the Dark, Tara Reid's character; or Fantastic Four, Jessica Alba's.)

Highly recommended to the appropriate demographic.

I could kill myself for buying it. :(

I have owned Wild Orchid for quite a few years and from the beginning thought it was a bit out there. Some of it doesn't fit, some of it doesn't make sense and some of it is just plain dumb. The reason I gave it 4 stars is because I like Mickey Rourke. Even though he does look at bit beat up in this movie and kind of scary looking at first with the slicked down hair he is practically oozing sex. Carre Otis's character, Emily, seems a bit aloof and childlike. She is bombarded by scenes of people having sex in an abandoned building, watching 2 people have sex in a limo. Wheeler (Mickey Rourke) almost seems to enjoy watching Emily squirm a bit. Wheeler is sort of detached, but wanting someone he can trust. Its tough to make sense of this movie because honestly the best part is the end. Now I have the unrated version so it shows more than the R-rating (for a movie like this one - unrated or NC-17 is the way to go)-the part where Wheeler and Emily make love finally. It is very arousing to say the least. I must give it to Zalman King. He knows how far to go to where the movie gets into your mind, but yet he doesn't go for the gratuitous sex. I suggest Delta of Venus, which is another Zalman King experience.

In the late 80's to early 90's, Mickey Rourke may as well have been a porn star. Hell, every movie Rourke was in he was playing the same character who got a different hot chick...They were big-screen soft core porn films. Problem is, Mickey Rourke is so good at playing these characters that the movies he's done aren't that bad. Here, Rourke plays Wheeler...Who won't really enter into the synopsis for a moment. Rourke's ex-wife Carre Otis plays Emily, a young International lawyer who recieves a job with a big firm in New York and is hastily sent to Rio De Janeiro. In Rio, with her boss Claudia (Jaqueline Bisset) away; Emily begins to come into contact with sex almost everywhere she goes. Then, she meets Wheeler. Wheeler is that odd, soft-spoken, rich, womanizer guy every guy wishes they could be. Wheeler is the guy who says stuff to women in movies that we would never be able to get away with, but onscreen it just looks so damned easy. Anyway, unlike "9 1/2 Weeks", Wheeler and Emily don't just begin having sex. In fact, the big sex payoff isn't until the final minutes of the movie. And let's face it, if you rent this movie...You're not renting it for the story. Truth is, the story's not even that intriguing or event good for that matter. The whole movie has a plot like a soft-core porn movie. Thing is, Otis and Rourke have enough charisma on screen to pull of a movie like this. So, even if you ignore the sex, the movie isn't that bad. I, personally, think it's better than 9 1/2 Weeks. Fact is, even if you don't give a damn about the story. Carre Otis is f**king hot, so check it out.

GRADE: B+

So, it's a little dated but this movie is still HOT! It's twisted tale of lust as a kinky rich guy (Rourke) gets a shy, sexually inhibited young lawyer (Carrie Otis) to drop her inhibitions and do things 'good' girls don't do. Otis's character is HOT and one wonders how Wheeler (Rourke) can resist her charms as he plays an emotionally unavailable guy with some serious intamacy issues. He watches in the background as he persuades her to do nasty things with another guy and lives 'through' her as she enjoys herself. Emily seems frightened of her own desires at first as she sees the sexy people of Rio being free and letting loose and having a good time and she ultimately is unable to resist her urges. Meanwhile, Jaquiline Bisset's character is and older lady obsessed with Wheeler, who is trying to throw the young and gorgeous Carrie Otis at him to see if he can resist. I didn't find this movie insulting to women or perverted, it's just a sexy film about people who enjoy sex and there is nothing wrong with this. Anyone who is seriously offended by this is probably not very comfortable with sexuality on screen in general. It's really a pretty tame movie by today's standards, though I DO beleive the Rourke/Otis love scene was not faked. Overall, I found this a sexy movie I would watch it again. The plot is not great but the visuals are awesome, the bodies are HOT and all natural (before this dreadful 'breast implant' craze took over and made all women in nude scenes look like they have grapefruits in them!) and the chemestry between the characters is awesome! This might be a good date movie but be sure of the other person's taste before watching it, some people might consider it smutty or too nasty!

This is a Zalman King classic. The best film out of the trio of films that delt with simular themes. The people are beautiful, the sound track is one of my all time favoriates, and model actress Carrie Otis is easy to look at. Zalman King used influences from Two Moon Junction and 9 1/2 Weeks to provide this fans with a wonderful love story in a wonderful setting. Rumor has it, the film's opening scene had to be re-edited because the motion picture rating board (the pepole that rate motion pictures) gave this film a X-Rating. Rumor also has it that Carrie Otis and Mickey Rourke were actually making love on film. The two later married and then devorced. We can only hope that this hard to find video, and now for the first time on DVD, is the un-cut and un-edited version which has a "Non-Rating".

Ok, I'll just state first that the film isn't the best your ever going to see, and there might be some scenes in the movie that are ok, but once you get past that and be a bit forgiving- you are going to LOVE this steamy, excitable film. First off the scenery and the music are just beautiful and captavating. From the moment I saw Mickey Rourke and Carre Otis I was hooked. Both are uniquely interesting. Mickey Rourke is HOT, and Carre Otis is sensational and beautiful as attorney emily reed. When these two come together, for the duration of the story I desperatly wanted these two to get together and boy I was not disappointed. The atmosphere and scenery are steamy and sensual, and the main love theme is excellent I LOVE IT. And if you want to see these two in action your head is going to blow off. I have not seen a sex scene shot so superbly, sexy and beautiful in my life, with a soundtrack to complement it beautifully. And for the die hard fans who buy this YOU GET BOTH VERSIONS OF THE UN-RATED AND THE R-RATED VERSIONS OF THE FILM. The R-rated is just as mesmerising as the un-rated one, it is maybe more passionate, more kissing and holding each other which I LOVE and can't get over. I'm SO in Love with this movie and scenes from this film are mesmerising. Mickey and Carre are excellent. I'v read reviews where Carre Otis is put down, but in my opinion I don't believe a word of it. Carre Otis is the BEST. A very talented actress, a beautiful women and model. I loved Carre as Emily Reed, no one else could of played Emily as well as Carre. She has a special quality to her that leaves you wanting more, to watch more of her. Good work from Zalman King.- And who could forget the end scene when Wheeler finally gives in and surrenders to Emily. That moment from when she goes to leave and he embraces her which leads to the love scene, anyone that see's that scene will instantly love this film.

Wild Orchid gave me a headache when I first saw it over a decade ago - what was all of this psychological drama? It quickly occured to me that I was watching an art film. There are scenes of sexuality that are mistaken by many as "soft core porn". I disagree -- every scene advances the story for the characters, and it is tastefully done in every instance. There is also a misconception that Mickey Rourke plays a "macho multimillionaire" -- no, he plays a sexually impotent multimillionaire that finds the will to love. This is a beautiful story, with strong characters set in an amazing city... a work of art, if you ask me.