Wanda Nevada (1979), Brooke Shields sophomore effort. Now on Amazon (1 Viewer)

[Kyrsten Brad]

Brad here. This might have to be some kind of personal record. I just purchased Wanda Nevada on DVD last month and just watched it last week. Only to get on Amazon and find there is now a Wanda Nevada blu-ray available (it didn't show up on previous Amazon searches). I put it here because you can purchase it thru the U.S. Amazon site (though the disc itself comes from Germany).
I put it on my wish list (for $32 I might add) but now was wondering if this BD transfer will be any better that what I have on DVD. Especially considering the list of BD movies from Germany which are nowhere near BD standards. Advice would be welcome. Being a admitted Brooke Shields fan to this day, if this is a good blu, I'll buy.

UPDATE: Well I had a panic attack and ended up buying the blu-ray. There were 4 copies left earlier today but when I checked this evening, they were down to 2. So now I'll find out whether the transfer was done correctly for a blu-ray or....well I don't want to think about that.

This was Brooke Shields's next film after the controversial Pretty Baby (1978). Of course Brooke hit the big time with her next film The Blue Lagoon (available from TT on blu) and her Calvin Klein jeans ads.

Anyway, I've copied my posting from blu-ray.com over here for your reading pleasure.


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Well folks I was about to put this one on the Wish List but a check of Amazon has revealed that Wanda Nevada is now out on blu-ray.
I just watched this movie on DVD (which I just got a couple weeks ago) and now comes the blu-ray. Being a Brooke Shields fan somewhat, I may be shelling out $32 for the upgrade, that is if the blu transfer is a good one.


Wanda Nevada (1979) Wiki article

Excerpt:
"Wanda Nevada is a 1979 film starring Peter Fonda and Brooke Shields. It was also directed by Peter Fonda. Henry Fonda makes a cameo appearance, barely recognizable as a grizzled, half-insane goggle-wearing old miner, making this the only film to feature the father and son together.[1]

Set in 1950s Arizona, the story follows a drifter and gambler named Beaudray Demerille (Fonda). In a card game he wins the movie's title character Wanda Nevada (Shields), a 13 year old orphan with dreams of singing at the Grand Ole Opry. Despite his best efforts, Wanda sticks to Demerille, accompanying him to a pool hall. Texas Curly (Fix), an aging prospector, enters and tells the bar patrons about his gold mine in the Grand Canyon. They laugh him off as a drunk. As Curly leaves the bar, he drops a pouch. Wanda picks it up and follows Curly, then sees Strap Pangburn (Markland) and Ruby Muldoon (Askew), two cons from the bar, harassing the man about the location of the mine. Wanda runs when Strap and Ruby kill Curly, alerting them to her presence. She hides in Demerille's car and tells him about Curly's death. Strap and Ruby see Wanda in the car but get lost in the chase. Stopped for the night, Demerille and Wanda open Curly's pouch and find a map. They head to the Grand Canyon and trade the car for mining supplies. Strap and Ruby follow behind by half a day."
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[David Norman]

If you want to or can cancel from the 3rd party seller and you don;t need it immediately, you can order this directly from Amazon.de for about $13.50 shipped. It on backorder, but the last order I did with them took about a week to release it for shipping and around 7 days to deliver through Royal Mail. Around Christmas it was available for a couple of dollars cheaper. I finally broke down and got the unedited version of Arthur and the Invisibles BD for about $15. I actually wanted to get the French Trilogy release, but I never could catch in on sale and the shipping from France is a lot more expensive than germany for some reason. Wanda Nevada (Bluray/German)

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Well the new blu-ray has arrived at my house. Soon as I get home, I'll view it and do a mini-review of Wanda Nevada (comparing the PQ to the DVD) here. Question for Admin, can we modify the title to indicate a review once I get it typed up here? Thanks in advance. And while on the topic of Brooke Shields movies, the blu for The Blue Lagoon is also on its way from SAE. I'll review it in another thread once I get to view it.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Well now that I've actually had the chance to watch my blu-ray of Wanda Nevada and do some brief comparisons with the DVD I had purchased the month before. I reviewed Wanda Nevada on a Sony BP-S520 blu-ray player with my DVD on the older BP-S360 player, both hooked to my new Vizio 70" E-Series TV.


Please bear in mind that I'm not (yet) a "technophile" on this but I know enough to be dangerous, very dangerous actually. I"ll review this from two aspects, picture & audio quality (also have a Vizio 2.0 Soundbar), and my own takes on the movie itself. I"ll also include a couple information links on the movie as well.

My Wanda Nevada blu-ray was purchased on the U.S. Amazon site, however the blu-ray came from Germany (which explains all the German on my screen). When I first found the listing, there were only 4 blu-rays available and dropped quickly to 2 before I put in my order. The title now lists on Amazon as no longer available (sold out for now). UPDATE: Amazon.de has the movie in stock again for about 6,96 Euro (someone convert that to U.S. dollars for me). This blu is one of two Brooke Shields movies (out of the four major ones she made) that is available on blu. The Blue Lagoon is the other one, available from Twilight Time.


Wanda Nevada PQ & Audio Quality: the blu-ray is a definite improvement in picture quality over the DVD (in a few side-by-side comparisons) though at first I didn't think so at the opening scene (facial close-up of Brooke Shields putting on makeup). Film grain was definitely present (and evident in some other scenes as well). But as the movie progressed, I saw some real improvement, especially with people & foreground objects.
Film grain was very evident in some shots where there was a large sky background.
Overall, while a definite improvement over the DVD (or VHS), I don't feel this blu-ray edition quite matched a well-transferred blu. But this will probably be the best we will get with this movie and its really not bad at all.
Not being a expert on audio quality but I'd say the sound was quite good over the sound bar. It will be interesting once I get my new bluetooth 5.1 sound system (from Vizio again).

The Movie Itself, my own takes.
I won't do a full critics review of Wanda Nevada here (as there's some good reviews out there) but just my own observations. Full disclosure, I'm was and still am a Brooke Shields fan (not to the point of obsession though, thankfully).

This was Brooke Shields sophomore effort and the movie might also be titled "Jailbait & the Grand Canyon Gold Rush". They definitely played up the "jailbait" angle with Brooke Shields (who was 14 when this movie was made). Also seems like half the male characters were definite pervs lusting after Wanda.

Henry Fonda makes a cameo as the old prospector that Wanda and Beau encounter in the canyon. According to Wiki, this was the only film that Peter Fonda & his dad Henry appear together.

While Beau & Wanda start out pretty much despising each other, they eventually do become friends. Of course the viewer is wondering if Beau will actually fall for Wanda's precocious charms and give in to "temptation". He stands strong but they do end up together in the movie and the view is left with the impression that they'll become a real couple in about 4 years when Wanda grows up fully.

The movie is set in the early 1950s and in those days "May-December" couples while not commonplace were more accepted than today definitely.

And that's all I have for now. Enjoy.