A Fish Called Wanda is fascinating because it blends the charm of Ealing Studios classics with a zany Monty Python-esque sensibility. Originally released nearly 30 years in ago in 1988, the film was a critical and commercial success. In the film, sexy femme fatale Wanda Jamie Lee Curtis, sublimely stupid sadist Otto (Kevin Kline, who won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance), and stuttering icthyophile Ken (Michael Palin) all plan to double-cross each other after a jewel heist in London. To get the upper hand, Wanda schemes to seduce Archie (John Cleese, who also scripted), a bumbling barrister whom she believes can lead her to the loot that has somehow gone missing.
Here’s the film’s original trailer:
The movie has just been released on Blu-ray in a new collector’s edition from Arrow Films that includes the following special features:
• Brand-new 4K restoration from the original negative, produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original English mono audio (uncompressed LPCM)
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Commentary by writer and star John Cleese
• Brand-new appreciation by Vic Pratt of the BFI National Archive
• Brand-new interviews with composer John Du Prez, production designer Roger Murray-Leach, executive producer Steve Abbott and makeup supervisor Paul Engelen
• John Cleese’s Final Farewell Performance, a 1988 documentary on the making of A Fish Called Wanda featuring interviews with actors Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline and director Charles Crichton
• Something Fishy, a 15th anniversary retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Cleese, Curtis, Kline and Palin, executive producer Steve Abbott and director of photography Alan Hume
• Fish You Were Here, a documentary on the film’s locations hosted by Robert Powell
• 24 deleted/alternative scenes with introductions by Cleese
• A Message from John Cleese, a tongue-in-cheek introduction recorded for the film’s original release
• Gallery
• Trivia track
• Theatrical trailer
For fans of the film, this new release is the definitive presentation of the film. And if you somehow have never seen it before, here’s the perfect opportunity to check out the most buoyant comedy of the 1980s.