In an era where hardcore pornography is constantly available and readily accessible, it’s hard to conceive of an erotic but non-explicit film making more than a momentary impression upon popular culture. But Emmanuelle changed cinema forever upon its release in 1974.

An adaptation of Emmanuelle Arsan’s bestseller of the same name, director Just Jaeckin’s film pushed the boundaries of mainstream cinema by skillfully merging provocative content with stunning imagery. It made an overnight star of actress Sylvia Kristel and launched the softcore genre that would become a staple of late-night cable channel programming for decades.

It also caused ripples in theaters – not to mention bedrooms – around the globe by presenting female Sєxuality with agency and empowerment virtually unseen on screen prior to the film’s release.

51 years later, its legacy is indisputable but also sadly underappreciated. Severin Films means to rekindle the series’ impact with Saga Erotica: The Emmanuelle Collection.

Emmanuelle Has Never Looked (Or Sounded) Like This

Saga Erotica is a deluxe, 11-disc box set featuring the first four films in this five-plus decade franchise, along with more than 15 hours of special features and 128 pages of essays, artwork, and more. Material exploring the first film alone covers three discs: a 4K UHD disc, and two Blu-rays featuring hours of interviews and featurettes, including a 2000 documentary directed by Repo Man filmmaker Alex Cox.

Two discs contain the feature and bonus materials for Emmanuelle 2 (also known in the U.S. as Emmanuelle, The Joys of a Woman), which include a commentary by film historian Elizabeth Purchell and filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat as well as interviews with director Francis Giacobetti, producer Yves Rousset-Rouard, and cinematographer Robert Fraisse. Accompanying the film is a CD of the score composed by Oscar-winner Francis Lai.

Completing Kristel’s tenure in the role, the set features François Leterrier’s 1977 film Goodbye Emmanuelle, featuring a score by French musical luminary Serge Gainsbourg. Even more excitingly, the set includes the rarely seen 1969 film I, Emmanuelle, officially the first feature bearing the name of Emmanuelle Arsan’s Sєxually liberated heroine. Not only is it accompanied by a CD of Gianni Ferrio’s hypnotic score, but a collection of archival interviews with director Cesare Canevari, lead actress Erika Blanc, and much more.

Further exploring the series’ impact and legacy is a 128-page booklet of artwork featuring Kristel and essays, including two by ScreenRant Movies and Music editor Todd Gilchrist. The box set will additionally be released in “The Softcore/Hardcover Bundle,” which includes Jeremy Richey’s 334-page coffee table book Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol.

Though their significance may have been diluted by dozens of spinoffs (there are at last count almost 100 movies bearing Emmanuelle’s name) and decades of imitators, enough cannot be said about the genuine beauty of the three Kristel films – a beauty that has been restored and enhanced in ultra-high definition for the very first time.

Saga Erotica: The Emmanuelle Collection is not simply a box of smut, delivered to moviegoers more intimately acquainted these days with pornography. Its careful restoration of these films, and their accompanying bonus features, delivers nothing short of a profound act of cultural archaeology, reminding audiences what Sєxy could look like, without rushing to show them explicit Sєx.

The tag line for the original 1974 Emmanuelle was “X was never like this.” This set showcases why it never would be again.

Pre-orders for Saga Erotica: The Emmanuelle Collection and The Softcore/Hardcover Bundle begin today at SeverinFilms.com.