| Paradise | |
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 Videotape cover for Paradise |
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| Directed by | Stuart Gillard |
| Produced by | Robert Lantos Stephen J. Roth |
| Written by | Stuart Gillard |
| Starring | Willie Aames Phoebe Cates |
| Music by | Paul Hoffert |
| Cinematography | Adam Greenberg |
| Editing by | Howard Terrill |
| Distributed by | New World Pictures (Canada) Avco Embassy Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) | May 7, 1982 (Canada/USA) |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,500,000 (CAD) (estimated) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Paradise is a 1982 English language romance and adventure film starring Phoebe Cates and Willie Aames, written and directed by Stuart Gillard. The original music score was composed by Paul Hoffert. It was critiqued at the time as a "knockoff" of the more-famous The Blue Lagoon (1980). The film was marketed with the tagline "If Only It Could Have Been Forever...Paradise...No Two People Have Ever Come So Close."[1] The films' themes were similar: Two young people find themselves abandoned in a world with no adult supervision, in fact no other people anywhere. Thus they have total freedom, inevitably learning all about love and reproduction, as well as basic survival techniques. Leonard Maltin's annual Movie Guide book describes it this way: "Rating: star and a half. Silly Blue Lagoon ripoff, with Aames and Cates discovering sex while stranded in the desert. Both, however, do look good sans clothes." Upon its release, when reviewed on the show "Sneak Previews", Roger Ebert selected it as his "Dog of the Week", the worst film he saw that week and heavily berated it.[2]
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Plot summary
In the Victorian period, David (Aames) and Sarah (Cates), two teenagers, travel with a caravan from Baghdad to Damascus. At an oasis, the white slave agent 'Jackal' raids them, mainly to add the beautiful young Sarah to his harem of mistresses. David and Sarah narrowly escape, but all the others are slain in the massacre. Their flight leads them to a beautiful oasis—their peaceful place in paradise—where they discover natural love and their sexuality. However, the Jackal has not given up on Sarah yet, and David must lure him to his death, or be killed by him. In the film's ending, Sarah reveals to David that she is pregnant and the two young lovers have finally reached Damascus.
Nominations
- Nominated: Worst Actor (Willie Aames)
Main Cast
- Phoebe Cates - Sarah
- Willie Aames - David
- Tuvia Tavi - The Jackal
- Richard Curnock - Geoffrey
- Neil Vipond - Reverend
- Aviva Marks - Rachel
- Joseph Shiloach - Ahmed
- Jerry Rosen - Jackals Bodyguard
- Riki Halfon - Belly Dancer
External links
- Paradise (1982) at the Internet Movie Database
- Paradise (1982) at All Movie Guide
- Paradise (1982) at Rotten Tomatoes
