Bolero

Summary

“I think I’m intoxicated by your horse.”

Every now and then I request to review a movie, it arrives, I watch a few minutes, and then I ask myself what the Hell I was thinking. In the case of Bolero, I felt like turning the movie off after a half hour, but I pressed on to finish my coverage. I would recommend you do not follow my example.

Basically, Bo Derek (who was 28 at the time of filming) plays a teenage girl in the 1920s who has recently finished school. She is on a quest to lose her virginity. This quest takes her to the Moroccan dessert to meet a sheik and then to Spain to meet a matador. Along the way, her trusted chauffeur and protector Cotton (George Kennedy) affably watches her antics as her quest proves more complicated than she could have guessed.

Bolero was written and directed by John Derek,  the actor and director whom was thirty years her senior when Bo Derek married him at age 20. Obviously their relationship was meant to last, because they stayed together until his death in 1998, which I commend them on, but the fact that this movie was written and directed by Bo Derek’s husband makes Bolero all the more strange as a film to me. Bolero is essentially a sex romp that tells a sort of globe trotting virginity quest that seems to just be an excuse to get Bo Derek frequently undressed and occasionally brought into a drawn out sex scene. So… what made John Derek feel this was the best way to highlight his bride on film? I don’t know, but it’s pretty strange to me. The film also has a fully nude sequence for the young actress Olivia D’Abo at the age of fifteen, which should make all audience members feel queasy. Questions abound about that choice.

It is hard to criticize the acting in the film, because the picture is so silly that the script is really what is at fault. Basically, this is a pretty weak film that probably lives on best in the memories of the adolescents who used to watch it late at night on HBO or on a VHS rental. I would not recommend checking this one out.

Video:

This is a very old transfer that is not up to snuff.

Audio:

Same with the audio as the video.

Special Features:

None

Overall Scores:

Video: 2.5/5

Audio: 3/5

Supplements: 0

Overall: 2.5/5

Bolero is pretty silly. It is not a good movie and seems to only serve the purpose of frequently disrobing Bo Derek, who was undeniably a beauty. I regret requesting to review this one. The Blu-ray quality matches the movie quality. I think even fans of the film will be disappointed by the lackluster technical specs. Skip it.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.