Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue
Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue
R | 06 May 1992 (USA)
Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue Trailers

Blue is a teenage girl who lives with her Jazz playing father Ham. Ham gets very sick and dies, and now Blue must support herself somehow. Elle, the headmistress at a brothel, talks her into living and working at her establishment. She decides to leave the business and lead a normal life. Elle is hellbent to see that she never has one.

Reviews
Hellen

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Plantiana

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

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ChanFamous

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

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StyleSk8r

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

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SnoopyStyle

Blue (Nina Siemaszko) and her drug-addicted jazz trumpet-playing father Ham McDonald (Tom Skerritt) go on the road. She has to sleep with Jules to get drugs for him. He crashes the car and dies. Alone, she falls under the influence of Elle (Wendy Hughes) working in her brothel. High school hunk Joshua Winslow doesn't know her secret and has fallen for her. Once he's even dragged to the brothel by his father to lose his virginity. Elle's henchman Sully (Robert Davi) rescues Blue from perverted Senator Dixon and they escape trying to live a normal life.Zalman King's overwrought style is all over this movie. It's luscious and cheesy. It's 90s late night fare. Nina Siemaszko's stone-faced acting limits this and doesn't really help the movie. It's a beautifully shot softcore porn and a slow moving melodrama.

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L. Denis Brown

Zalman King is an actor and scriptwriter who expanded his capabilities in mid career to include both producing & directing (more recently he has also very successfully tried his hand at cinematography, to complete what today has become a rare fivefold). In 1986 the success of the strongly erotic film '9 1/2 weeks', for which he was both a co-writer and the producer, drew a great deal of attention and gave him a chance to build a reputation as the best known North American Producer/Director of erotic films. He accepted this challenge by co-writing and directing another very successful film 'Two Moon Junction', released two years later. Another year on and the first 'Wild Orchid' film with a script attributed totally to ZK was released. Its claim to be a true erotic film became widely accepted - largely on the strength of its last very intense love making scene between Carre Otis and Mickey Rourke. (They were married soon afterwards, and background publicity fostering an unlikely rumour that this scene was not simulated probably helped this) Two years later came 'Wild Orchid 2 - Two Shades of Blue', released in 1989. This featured another original film-script written by Zalman King, and its name was not derived from any previous literary or dramatic work, but was clearly intended to exploit the reputation which WO-1 had earned - no doubt its sub-title was also selected with the same objective. It has only achieved a relatively low approval rating from IMDb users, however as far as I am concerned it is a fine work that, despite some flaws, is the nearest approach to a true erotic film with which Zalman King has so far been associated.Unfortunately most of his more recent works have been directed more towards television presentation than to the cinema and do not provide a lot of competition. His company has created two different sets of short films for television both comprising independent episodes based on a longer feature film that provides a more detailed background for the complete series. The best known of these is probably the Red Shoes Diaries series. It started with a 1992 feature film of the same name which explained the significance of both the red shoes and the diaries. This has spawned an ongoing series of about fifty short TV episodes that have been continuing ever since. The very similar Chromium Blue series featured fantasies associated with the visit of a billionaire's private cruise ship to various exotic Mediterranean resorts, and probably had a higher unit budget. For me, most episodes from both these series were partly spoiled by the use of cinematographic techniques that are usually regarded as associated more with music videos than with the cinema; in addition their short running times makes it difficult for them to convey any meaningful message.Unlike these later short productions, Wild Orchid 2 succeeds in involving the viewer in a story that is sufficiently disturbing to provide genuine emotional impact. The film is best described as a movie equivalent of the 'bodice ripper' paperback romances which appeal most strongly to the fair sex but men often also enjoy, and when televised they provide ideal entertainment for a couple. For me Wild Orchid 2 remains far the best of the many works with which Zalman King has been associated. Although the story is rather far fetched the film has an excellent cast and is very well acted, so most of its viewers probably enjoy it. (Some IMDb users have criticised the acting of its star, Nina Siemaszko, but this performance successfully established the foundations for her very productive acting career which has covered numerous TV productions as well as significant feature films - so enough said). The films ending is rather prolonged and is also somewhat weak, this is particularly noticeable because of the strong meat which preceded it, but Zalman King does deserve credit for ensuring that it was not made glaringly obvious long in advance. Watching it, I wished at times that he had had the training as a cinematographer which Russ Meyer received in the U.S. army. The modern cine camera is a technological marvel, capable of providing clear easily viewed images of even the most complex scenes. Unduly short sequences handicapped by excessive or inadequate contrast are used today by too many directors when attempting to create atmosphere or mood; ignoring the fact that this mood can be irretrievably lost once the audience starts wondering what they missed in the lost parts of the screen image. Despite these criticisms, Wild Orchid 2 is a fine film which successfully captured the trauma faced by a young girl being reluctantly but irretrievably drawn into a life of prostitution, whilst lacking the courage to break away and face the world on her own. It provides viewers with much more 'meat' than any of King's other recent films (except perhaps for his own performance in St Francis - another noteworthy film, but a serious study of the drug culture rather than an erotic work.) I believe WO-2 deserves a far higher rating than it has currently been given by IMDb users, this rating seems to be the victim of what appears to have become a double standard, the upgrading of any excessively violent films (even those showing scenes of torture) because they display the freedom of film to uncover aspects of society which are normally kept under the carpet; but the downgrading of any showing intense sexual situations because they might unduly influence young people.

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Scarecrow-88

To support her jazz musician father's heroin habit, daughter Blue(Nina Siemaszko)loses her innocence. He later succumbs to that habit leaving her with no place to go with no money. Enter Elle(Wendy Hughes)who offers Blue an opportunity to make real money where profit is certain considering her alluring looks. Elle is the proprietor of a high-class brothel where the establishment plays host to only the wealthiest clientèle. Blue tries to hold her harbored sadness and despair in check, making the best of an unfortunate situation. But, trying to adjust to the sordid life-style of a star-hooker is anything but easy, and Blue finds a savior in Sully(Robert Davi), a driver and bodyguard for Elle. Sully is on the verge of leaving Elle because watching innocent girls fall prey to domineering Elle has almost taken it's toll on his conscience. Blue almost becomes trapped in the profession's pull for lost young women with no niche they can see in the world outside their confines, but a chance couple of meetings with a young man her own age(ironically, she makes love to him as Blue the hooker, underneath a wig which is supposed to hide her looks, I guess)begins to persuade her that life might be worth escaping to. What pushes Blue ultimately over the edge is a Senator(Christopher McDonald, of all people)whose ferociousness, and desire to place her in an uncomfortable situation regarding some political associates of his, presses her motivation to quit the business for good. Sully helps her escape to a normal life of high school, but how long will it be before her past(and Elle)comes calling? The film is certainly morally ambiguous with King not entirely indicting the profession of being a call girl. He tries to put it under the microscope with us judging through Blue and her experiences with the profession, but I never felt totally convinced he made a real statement. The film's final thirty where Blue goes to high school is balderdash, I believe, because it's so overwrought and superficial. The film does show naked bodies in various positions, but does the life-style of this profession ever truly get true dissection? I don't think that flashy visuals and a soothing jazzy score can mask the film's major problems..unconvincing performances and this whole corny melodrama that ensues once Blue and her beau begin their courtship.All that said, Nina is certainly easy to watch for an hour and 45 minutes and her beauty is quite intoxicating.

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Ride-3

Wild Orchid 2: Two Shades of Blue is a sexually explicit drama, which is essentially a teen romance. Young Blue travels with her father, Ham, while he plays jazz at nightclubs. One night Ham, desperately needing a fix, begins going through withdrawal. Blue then sleeps with a club owner for drugs, Ham uses it, and dies. Next, Blue accepts an offer from Elle, a madame, to enter a exclusive brothel, and she accepts. But fate intervenes in the guise of a high school boy Blue loves. Will she leave her life of prostitution for him?Unrated for strong sensuality and nudity, some drug content, and for language.Note: Unrated Version contains 4 more minutes of footage than the R-Rated Version.

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