Product Description

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 07/22/2003 Run time: 93 minutes Rating: Pg13

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73269 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2003-07-22
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Must For The Madonna Completist!
It's hard to believe that 21 years have passed since this Madonna-Sean Penn disaster was first released. And time has not worked any wonders on this clumsily plotted, awkwardly incompetent movie. What you get with this SPECIAL EDITION release is a beautifully remastered picture with 5.1 sound, a gaggle of special features which are quite funny (one of which I'm actually on--listen for me on the fans commentary, I'm the bitchy New Yorker in the room!). It's a movie only a dedicated Madonna fan could love, and if you are one, then you simply must upgrade!

This is a decent film- not sure why it's so hated.
As I sat down to watch this film, I was braced for the worst but instead found myself rather pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I'm not sure why this is considered such a terrible movie. My only real complaint is that none of the characters are particularly believable, but I'm not sure how seriously this film was ever meant to be taken. The plot, while a little weak at times, is interesting enough; the songs George Harrison wrote for the film are great; and I especially enjoyed Sean Penn's performance of Glendon Wasey. I loved the part at the end where he's making Gloria wave! I think Madonna was good too but I don't believe acting is her first talent and to be fair, she wasn't given as much to work with in this film as Sean was. All in all, it was a fairly enjoyable 93 minutes of my time.

Shanghai Surprise (1986)
Madonna has already made herself a star by releasing three albums, Madonna (1983), Like A Virgin (1984), and True Blue (1986), and starring in her first film, Desperately Seeking Susan. Sean Penn has already been a big hit with his roles of Mick O'Brien in Bad Boys, Brad Whitefield Jr in At Close Range, and his most memorable, Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times At Ridgemont High. The married couple star in this mediocre film about two different people who wind up falling in love.

Sean Penn plays Glendon Wasey, a miserable man trying to a get ticket back to the states. Madonna is Gloria Tatlock, a missionary nurse who seeks the curing powers of opium for her patients. The two find each other and are on a mission to find this opium. Doing all this, the two begin to fall in love.

The film was a total flop in the box office. It is not a great film, but isn't that bad. It started to heat up towards the end. It's sort of worth the money.