Emerald Forest

The movie itself is fantastic, but this bluray release from Kino Lorber is an absolute mess. The image and sound quality are lacking, and there's no bonus content. The DVD release was infinitely better. There is a treasure trove of behind the scenes info about this movie, and Kino chose to include none of it. At this price point, there's no excuse for such a shoddy release. To add insult to injury, I wrote the studio to express my disappointment. I wasn't crude, I simply stated my disappointment. Shockingly, they wrote back, (within thirty minutes) even more surprising, it was rude beyond belief. Basically, they told me that my disappointment was my own fault and I should just be happy with what I got. Wow! That's just the way to respond to a customer! Skip this purchase, and if you can skip the studio entirely. They clearly do not care about the quality of their product or their customers!

I first saw this film when I was a teenager and it absolutely captivated me. I’ve thought about it many times and I suppose I identified with the boy in the movie because I was blonde and blue-eyed when I was young. An amazing story that highlights events that actually happened. John Borman directed it and his son Charlie starred in the film. Definitely an adventure and a throwback to the really interesting films from the 1980s. I definitely had to have this because it was such an inspiration to me growing up. This film and a couple of others were instrumental and inspiring me to study indigenous cultures in high school and college. That’s what started me on that road. So my change it knowledge has been lost it is such a shame. I will say that the cinematography is beautiful and the message in the film is something that seems to be more easily forgotten now… Take care of the planet and it will take care of you.

For lovers of high culture movies, this movie is a delight. Not only a powerful drama, but a powerful message of humanity and parental love and nature. The movie is old, and at the time a film for the theaters is the only thing wou could expect, so do not expect any spectacular Star Wars special edition digital restoration with color tuning and defects correction or even extras. The bluray looks exactly as it looked when I went to the theater. And part of the magic is to see it exactly as it was.It seems a very low budget edition, with only PLAY CHAPTERS TRAILER in the menu. No foreign language subtitles (just english), no extras. And yet it is one rare treasure in my collection. It should have 10 stars, but I only can give 5. It is a kind of movie that we are not seeing around anymore, where content was more important than style. It is not a forgettable popcorn movie, I feel it is an underrated classic.It is a movie that has a high moral ground in its powerful message of love and what we have forgotten to see in our existence.

Well, I do not hate the movie at all. It is one of my favorites and I have periodically watched it on an old VHS copy. When I read through the reviews of the DVD and BluRay versions, I realized I'd be taking a chance on ordering it. Lots of people disappointed in the quality of the copy, though a few seemed very pleased. Unfortunately I am having to return my copy. It is supposed to have subtitles. The box it comes in says there are subtitles. But....no subtitles,,,,even when people are speaking non-English languages. In this movie, that is a big problem! The quality of the DVD was strange -- it was obviously a re-master of the orignal, and yet the copy itself was not good -- dark or black areas in a scene had a "rainy" or mottled look about them. I only watched about ten minutes of the movie and stopped it. Very disappointing and irritating.

this is a review of the Blu Ray product, not the actual movie; The movie is spectacular --a very touching story with great performances throughout. The reason for the one star is that we are supposed to be reviwing this product vs giving a movie review; This is truly one of the worst transfers I have seen in a long time-- filled with snowy images and very washed out---it is an insult to John Boorman's masterpiece; They really need to restore this movie first and then do a Blu Ray transfer before trying to sell this...this is a pale version of the original DVD;If they do a restoration, I would definitely be interested as this is one of the truly greaqt and emotionally riveting stories ever made;

Others have commented that this may not be in English or may not be a good recording. We found the sound and picture to be fine (considering how old the film is), and this was in English. There may be a subtitle option. This was a favorite film when I was younger, but I had forgotten how much violence there is. I was hoping to show my 12 year old this film, as the nature, culture and spiritual themes are good...but there is as much violence (or more) than Avatar. So tired of guns being the main character in many otherwise great movies. Yes, violence happens in life, but it could be suggested rather than shown so much. Keep in mind that although it's an interesting and beautiful story (and true, apparently), it's a bit dated. However, the love story is inspiring, the dream messages are interesting, and it is ultimately redemptive in terms of how people can change for the better.

John Boorman's visually sumptuous Amazon set adventure The Emerald Forest arrives on a region A locked Blu ray from Kino Lorber. As much an emotional charged story of a father searching for his lost son in the wilds of the Brazilian rainforest as it is an exotic 80s action film, The Emerald Forest also possesses a well meaning spiritual side as well as a environmental message relevant to the time it was produced. As a footnote it is worth noting that despite being region locked to the American standard of A, I easily persuaded my UK Panasonic BD80 to skip the region code and play the movie. Whilst the disc is loading up to the wrong region screen press 'functions' on your remote. The wrong region screen will pop up momentarily then divert back to the Panasonic home screen. From here press '1' and whilst 1 is blinking in the corner press the 'ok' and hey presto the film will load up. As far as I know this little number punching trick only works on Panasonic decks and only with certain discs from selected labels.Picture:Kino Lorber have presented John Boorman's film in an AVC MPEG 4 encoded 1080p transfer in the correct Panavision aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The first thing that struck me about this new HD master is how wonderfully filmic the image is with a natural layer of film grain and rich saturated colours. Detail is especially good from close ups of faces, hair and textures on clothing and tribal decorations through to construction equipment, wooden shanty towns and various shots of jungle wildlife. Black levels are decent enough especially in the night segments around the Invisible People's village which also possess revealing shadow detail but a handful of scenes in the jungle shade can look more grey than inky black. As mentioned before colours are rich, bold and robust with the greens of the jungle plant life really popping here. Depth is apparent in a number of shots from a sweeping camera pan over the construction site of the dam through to a crowded orphanage and for the most part the image has a solid and extremely dimensional feel to it. Nothing in the way of manipulation appears to taken place but there is occasional flashes of minor print damage and the opening Embassy logo looks a little worse for wear but these small faults in what is a fantastic transfer and a massive upgrade over SD DVD.Sound:As good as the visuals are I was rather diappointed with the lossless DTS HD Master 2.0 track offered up here. On paper this should be ideal with an uncompressed version of the original Dolby Stereo mix which was also on the DVD release albeit in lossy Dolby Digital. I noticed something was afoot in the first minute or so as the the gorgeous ethereal music score sounded a tad flat and very centre focused. As the movie pregressed I also noted that not one stereo separation could be heard whether it be foley effects or environmental activity with everything emanating from the centre. Plugging a pair of headphones into my receiver confirmed what I had thought. This was Indeed mono despite this being a stereo production. I went back to my DVD which was indeed stereo meaning that for whatever reason Kino have messed up and given The Emerald Forest a monaural rendering for its HD debut. As infuriating as it is the mono here actually sounds fuller than the stereo on the DVD. Yes this is front heavy as you would expect from mono but the track is often better balanced and more focused. Apart from a handful of louder passages such as around construction vehicles or heavy waterfalls where dialogue can be lost in the mix the spoken word is almost always clear and precise. Foley effects from the cracks of machine guns through to rain and thunder sound reasonably robust and the burst dam sequence in the films finalé even exports a little depth and some surprising low end. Of course stereo would have been preferable as not only would it have opened up the score and environmental effects in the dense jungle as well as creating more excitement in the action orientated passages but is also how this was originally intended to be heard. The track also shows a couple of anomalies in the form of a strange cracking sound thats starts just before the half hour mark and lasts for minutes. Disappointing.Extras:Kino Lorber have only provided one extra and it is the original theatrical trailer. This could be considered a missed opportunity as the DVD edition was also bareboned and any supplements would have been welcomed by fans. Also consider this is hardly a budget release either so you have really got to love the movie to warrent the price.Conclusion:I can still remember the first rime I saw The Emerald Forest way back in the 80s on VHS and it has stayed with me ever since. The film is well acted and exquisitely shot on location in the Amazon and despite a complete change of pace for the final act where the story turns into an action packed gun toting rescue mission The Emerald Forest remains compelling viewing with a respectful interpretation of tribal customs that never once resorts to the racial stereotypes it could so have done. This American import from Kino rewards fans with a beautiful picture transfer that is like night and day compared to past editions but the lossless sound is a real letdown as are the lack of extras. If you have fond memories of this then I cannot recommend this Blu ray enough just on the picture quality alone just don't expect to feel immersed in the sounds of the jungle or learn anything new about the production.

This is the factually based story of a civil engineer helping to build a dam in Brazil who loses his son in the rainforest for ten years. The boy Tommy grows up taught to hunt by his splendid adoptive father, the chief of 'the invisible people'. He attains manhood by ordeal, identifies with an eagle through psychoactive snuff and trance state and marries a strikingly pretty girl he meets whilst fishing. Then his natural father, fleeing 'the fierce people', during his latest near fatal attempt to find Tommy, mislays his automatic rifle. Their murderous chief abducts and exchanges Tommy's bride and the other girls of his tribe with a brothel keeper for further supplies of ammunition. Tommy rescues the engineer whom the invisible people know as Dadee. Tommy's adoptive and natural fathers represent man before and after The Fall. After a satisfyingly bloody rescue mission, the girls discard with disgust the scanty clothing forced on them by the brothel. "Who told you that you were naked". Tommy's wife is, like Barbara Good, 'an ace chider'. In the wedding dance she tells Tommy: 'Do it properly!' The ceremonies are tremendous and a cacophony of frogs bring a flood to destroy the dam before the engineer can sabotage it. The Butterfly Effect? John Boorman's recollections about making the film are revealing, funny and informative.

The film tells the story of an American engineer working on a dam project in the Brazilian rain forest, who has his son abducted by the local tribe, known as the 'Invisible people'. Based on a true story, it charts his 10yr ultimately successful search to find him, only to discover he is a fully fledged member of the tribe. Part adventure story, part ecology lesson on the changes to the Brazilian rain forest, and its effects on the native tribes who lived there, the use of indigenous indians, to play the part of the villagers, using their own dialect, makes the film seem 'real', Made nearly 30 yrs ago the film is as watchable now as it was then.

I remember this film first time around and it popped up on TV a while ago. Production is a bit dated but the story line is feasible. An engineer working on a dam project loses his son to the rain forest. He searches for years then gets up an expedition into the deepest forest to look for him. Won't say what he finds, but although the production is a bit dated it still has a charm of it's own.

I am a forester and between 1995-1997 I collected seed of the 45 main timber tree species in the Amazon. There are few films that capture what living in the Amazon is like. This does so spectacularly well in my opinion