Paradis

At the end of the19. Century, two youngsters - an attractive heiress and a good-looking son of a missionary couple - are the only survivors of a massacre in Baghdad by a bloodthirsty sheik, who wants the girl for himself. Then they cross the desert to reach Damascus, but the sheik is after them.

Has-been, limply acted, dramatically empty and totally unconvincing period piece derived from "Blue Lagoon"; a curiously halting succession of Asian adventure and adolescent sex in breathtaking locations. Only for lovers of antique teenage romance and beautifully photographed pictures of tropical nature.

As to the previous comment that the movie is not worth seeing, any movie showing a half-naked, young Phoebe Cates IS worth viewing, (at least for a straight male or gay female). Just get it on DD and fast forward through the boring parts.

Admittedly, the story is silly and predictable. ALso, for me, I identify W. Aames with Charles in Charge, where he was the perpetual dummy. I realize it's just a role, but it's hard for me to see him as a woman's version of a sex symbol.

But the story aside, the photography and surroundings are beautiful, as of course is P. Cates. And since most of us can now get movies for free from the local library, or virtually free from the usual sources, it's worth an hour, just don't have unrealistic expectations. (BTW, it's not as if Blue Lagoon was an artistic masterpiece either, just a little less silly than Paradise.

After reading the comments here, I hesitated on this one but glad I went ahead and saw it. Yes, the story has problems, far-fetched and cheesy, but the cinematography, costuming, and settings were fantastic. I don't consider myself too generous giving the film a 7 despite certain shortcomings. The locations - desert, oases, Arabic architecture were well chosen, costuming very stylish, camels, ocean, underwater photography were well done. The actors/actresses did a decent job despite the script. And since when was any paradise on this planet anything but far-fetched? Blue Lagoon does not own youthful awakening. Dream a little and enjoy the visuals.

Like most of the others, I found a lot of this movie rather trite. I don't blame Aames or Cates for this; I thought they were good actors who did their best with terrible material. The plot is something straight out of a trashy romance novel, which could have worked with better writing but the script is a mess. However, lost in this mediocre feature film is a great 30 minute soft-core porn. The sex scenes are highly erotic, and the nude scenes are done with much better camera work and production than you would typically have in a skin flick. I'm particularly fond of the cave shower scene, where Phoebe Cates positively scorches the camera with her hotness.

The only two reasons to watch this movie are on Phoebe Cates chest. This is better than the movie it copies "Blue Lagoon", but that is saying very little. The best way to watch this movie is to have your finger on fast forward. There is a lot of wasted time that will put you to sleep. Unless you are specifically interested in seeing the the reasons previously mentioned, don't bother with this mess.