Wordiezett
So much average
Tedfoldol
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Kidskycom
It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Jenna Walter
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
videorama-759-859391
Don't say I didn't warn you about this snooze fest and exercise in boredom and plainness, for this one will have that affect. Paradise is so bad, it's makes The Blue Lagoon looks so good. This movie, yeah, let's call it a fictional tale, is like Blue Lagoon, meets Lawrence of Arabia/ Here like Blue Lagoon, we don't have the best performances. Cates and Aimmes are lovers + monkey. They're not living in the safest place, so they take off, where Cates is later kidnapped, sold into slavery, by a middle aged shiek, adding one more beauty to his, so it's Aammes to a quick rescue. Who the f..k structured this story, anyhow. There's only redeeming feature. Can anyone tell me? Yeah, black haired babe, Cates, looking her most sexiest in light wear. She's sultry sexy, that's how I would describe her, in not half bad performance. Pity I can't say the same for Aammes. Buy this video cheap, and just fast forward to the parts with Cates, cause that's the only enjoyment you'll get out of this. Trust me. Here's another film, which can help you get to sleep quick. Take stock of it.
bkoganbing
Phoebe Cates made her screen debut with TV teen heartthrob Willie Aames in Paradise, a landlocked Blue Lagoon with unfriendly Arabs lurking on the borders of Paradise. It's definitely got some nice nude shots of both young performers to gratify the prurient.The two young people are in Bagdad of 1823 then part of the Ottoman Empire and governed rather loosely from Istanbul. Cates is with her guardian who is your proper British official and Aames is the son of a bible thumping reverend and his wife. All of these people haven't a clue about where they're at, just an exaggerated sense of western superiority.But the beautiful and nubile Cates has caught the attention of a sheik who's in the slave trade. He could get some good bucks for her or keep her as private stock. He and his people ambush the caravan, but the kids escape and come to a hidden oasis where they set up and play house.The similarities to the Blue Lagoon are rather obvious even in the looks of the protagonists. But whereas those kids had been shipwrecked on their island since they were still in single digits in The Blue Lagoon, in Paradise these two young people already know the facts of life, it's just that they have that Protestant Christian upbringing.The film was shot in Israel and the scenery is magnificent with and without Aames and Cates. Given that Aames is now a born again Christian he probably wants those male nude shots off the market, so hang on to your DVDs and VHSs.
dwpollar
1st watched 12/4/2007, 2 out of 10(Dir-Stuart Gillard): Silly, titillating story of two young people alone in the desert being chased by a slave trader who wants the female, played by Phoebe Cates, to be his concubine. They run into oasis's as their being chased that become their temporary paradises as they play out the teenage horny version of "adam and eve." The movie starts in a city in the middle east and they are both accompanied by adult companions but as they are in route to get back to their own countries, the slave trader kills their entire group except Phoebe's companion and Willie Aames, who plays the male young character in the story. Phoebe's companion soon dies off and they are left alone to fend for themselves. This is the when the titillation begins as we get to see Phoebe nude bathing and all of a sudden Willie's characters only interest is getting into Phoebe's pants and then turns into a spoiled adolescent who isn't getting his way. Willie Aames is absolutely horrible in this film acting debut(which is probably why he didn't do much else in the movies) and Phoebe's OK when she's given a decent line. But most of the time the script calls for her to giggle at Willie's antics and de-robe whenever possible. I can't say I dislike the disrobed Phoebe, but a complete movie it doesn't make and it seems like the makers run out of ways for this to happen so they end the movie. Well, I guess I am exaggerating a little, because their was a storyline but ultimately it becomes secondary to the subplot of adolescent sexual discovery in the desert. Good movie to have around for an early 80's sample of the attempt by Hollywood to make kiddie-porn but as a movie it doesn't hold up.
wedraughon
People who say that this movie is a ripoff of Blue Lagoon either haven't seen Blue Lagoon or haven't seen this movie. I suspect that they are merely quoting Leonard Maltin or some other uninformed source who doesn't bother to watch movies before reviewing them.The only thing this movie and Blue Lagoon have in common is atrocious dialog. But whereas Blue Lagoon is atrocious dialog all the way, in this movie the idiot-level talk occurs only in certain scenes. If you copy the scenes that are NOT idiotic onto a blank videotape, you'll have a ten-star movie that is one hour and twenty-three minutes long with no story elements left out, no love scenes left out and no nudity left out. The stupid scenes are brief but numerous, so fast-forwarding over them is tedious.The story of this movie is actually pretty good. It contains action scenes, love scenes, playing scenes, scenes of people being human. And all of it is quite credible, given the time and society. The nude scenes are also done quite naturally. There is no teasing, no three-second breast shots, and no shoving in the nudity for its own sake. Also, there is a fair amount of nudity, not the usual throwing in a single shot to get the R rating. And it is not drenched in hostility like the so-called "art" movies or other pretentious fare. The crisis and resolution are believable and satisfying. The music is far above average.As to versions, if you have the videotape, there is little to be gained from buying the DVD. It's semi-widescreen, but that adds little. Both are mono, even though the DVD claims to be stereo. The sound and picture quality are quite decent on both media.Bottom line: with the idiot-talk scenes cut, this is a rare movie, exciting, touching, and satisfying.