The Girl from Rio – Blue Underground (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: West Germany/Spain/USA/UK, 1969
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Harry Alan Towers, Franz Eichhorn, Bruno Leder
Cast: Shirley Eaton, Richard Stapley, George Sanders, Maria Rohm, Marta Reves, Elisa Montés, Beni Cardoso, Herbert Fleischmann

Release Date: September 26th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.95

"In the tradition of Barbarella and Danger: Diabolik comes this swinging '60s action orgy as bisexual super-villain Sumuru (the luscious Shirley Eaton of Goldfinger) launches a diabolical plan to enslave the male species with her army of lusty warrior women. But when Sumuru kidnaps a fugitive American playboy, she crosses a sadistic crime boss (Academy Award® winner George Sanders of All About Eve and Village of the Damned) and ignites a battle of the sexes that will bring Brazil to its knees in more ways than one." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "brand-new 4K restoration from the original camera negative."

The Girl from Rio comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 59.7 GB

Feature: 53.9 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Colors are nicely saturated and at times vivid; flesh tones look healthy; image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid; and the image always looks organic. That said, this transfer is a substantial upgrade when compared to Blue Underground’s 2016 Blu-ray release.

The Girl from Rio comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.6 GB

Feature: 23 GB

The Blu-ray included as part of this release uses the same source that was used for the 4K UHD’s transfer.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The audio is in great shape; there are no issues with distortion or background noise. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented. That said, range-wise, things sound very good. Included are removable English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include an audio commentary with film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth.

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a poster & still gallery (73 images), additional scenes from the German version (9 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German with non-removable English subtitles), trim reel (6 minutes 6 seconds, no sound), an archival interview titled Rolling in Rio with director Jess Franco, producer Harry Alan Towers and actress Shirley Eaton (14 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and French with removable English subtitles for French), an interview titled Rocking in Rio with Stephen Thrower, author of Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco (40 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), RiffTrax Edition – The Girl from Rio riffed by Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy (77 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth.

Other extras include a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Directed by Jess Franco, a prolific filmmaker whose filmography eclipses two hundred films. Over the course of two years, Jess Franco would collaborate with producer Harry Allen Towers on a total of nine films. The Girl from Rio is their second collaboration and their second adaptation of the literary works of Sax Rohmer. Also, the screenplay for The Girl from Rio was written by Harry Allan Towers under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck.

The narrative revolves around Sumuru, whose hell is bent on world dominance and enslaving men.

Content-wise, there are some elements in The Girl from Rio that have been ported over from The Million Eyes of Sumuru. With none more glaring, Sumuru’s main modus operandi once again is world dominance. That being said, despite the familiarity between these two films, After all, this is a Jess Franco film, and throughout, he injects his unique flourishes. Also, there is one slight upgrade in Sumuru’s quest for world dominance. This time around, she has two foes: an American playboy who also just happens to have secret agent-like skills, and a mobster named Masius.

When compared to its predecessor, The Girl from Rio takes on a distinctively different vibe. The look and feel of The Girl from Rio share the comic strip aesthetic that Jess Franco had previously used for Lucky, the Inscrutable. While The Million Eyes of Sumuru was more in line with action and adventure films Towers produced before his collaborations with Franco,

Another way that The Girl from Rio sets itself apart from its predecessor is that it amps up the eroticism, most notably its depiction of lesbianism in regards to the Sumuru character. And though there was a hint of S&M in The Million Eyes of Sumuru, it is relatively tame compared to The Girl from Rio.

When discussing the Jess Franco and Harry Allen Towers collaborations, there is one resource that was never lacking, and that is casting. Cast once again in the role of Sumuru is Shirley Eaton (Goldfinger), and this time around she exudes more confidence in the role. Other notable cast members include George Sanders (Psychomania) in the role of Masius, a ruthless mobster, and Maria Rohm (Venus in Furs, Eugenie) in the role of Lesley, one of Sumuru’s henchwomen. Ultimatley, The Girl from Rio is a very satisfying mix of erotica, kitsch, and mayhem.

The Girl from Rio is brought to 4K UHD by Blue Underground in an exceptional release that includes solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras; highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer