Adam & Eve Signature Series 1: Asia Carrera Review

Running Time: 120 min.

Production Date: 12 / 9 / 1999

Director: Bud Lee

Cast: Asia Carrera, Steve Hatcher, Michael J. Cox, Nina Hartley, Jeanna Fine, Mark Davis, Shayla LaVeaux, Alex Sanders, John Decker, Alexandra Silk, Temptress, Taylor St. Claire, Ashton Moore, Jennifer Lee, Herschel Savage, Gerry Pike, Christina Angel, and Cali

Initial Expectations: It’s a compilation DVD which normally means it’s low quality and poorly done. Adam & Eve has been really improving their quality and listening to the public lately, so there’s some hope here. At the very least it should be two hours of Asia, and that can’t be all bad.

Initial Reaction: It’s a great compilation of Asia’s scenes, but it the technical aspects could have been done a little better.

Audio /Video Quality: Both vary, as it’s, you guessed it, a compilation DVD. There’s some grain to several of the scenes, which is to be expected, but it’s still pretty average. Thankfully, some of the scenes are also very clear. Overall the audio is pretty well balanced. There’s some wind noise during the interviews and some of the dialogue is kind of muffled, but most of it can be understood.

Music: The music varies from classical to typical porn music to no music. It’s normally pretty balanced, but there are a couple scenes where it’s a little overpowering.

Review: Well, I guess it had to happen sometime. The compilation DVDs, I mean. Normally they seem to be thought of as mere wanking material and nothing else. Yeah, a lot of times there’s a new scene, but we all know that it’s just a marketing ploy. Of course, porn fans are also very loyal to their favorite stars, so it’s a good marketing ploy and one that most fans don’t mind, as long as the rest of the compilation is done well.

That said, Signature Series Vol. 1: Asia Carrera is pretty well done. As with most compilation DVDs, that quality of the scene depends on the quality of the feature it came from originally. Almost all of the scenes in Signature Series Vol. 1: Asia Carrera come from pretty decent movies, or at least movies with pretty decent Asia Carrera scenes. Many of the features have already been released by Adam and Eve, such as My 2nd Love , Always... Lily White , Search for the Snow Leopard, Last Tango, and The Dinner Party, but several others have yet to reach DVD such as Corporate Assets 2, The Garden Party, and perhaps most notable, Appassionata, Asia’s classical piano movie and the movie she holds closest to her heart.

The scene from Corporate Assets 2 won an AVN award for ‘Best Boy / Girl Sex Scene’ with Steve Hatcher. This is a little trivial, as the scene is an orgy which also involves Mark Davis, Nina Hartley, Jeanna Fine, Michael J. Cox, Shayla LaVeaux, Alex Sanders, and a couple other people (one of whom I think might have been Alexandra Silk). It’s a done well for an orgy scene, but it isn’t any longer than any other orgy scene so you don’t really see much of Asia and Steve.

The scene from The Garden Party has Asia joining Christina Angel and Cali for a threesome. There’s a little toy usage and quite a bit of light masturbation. The scene starts with Asia and Christina and has Cali walking in on them. Cali touches herself through and under her clothes quite a bit before she joins Asia. There’s a little action between all of the girls, but Christina soon steps out to pleasure her asshole with a vibrator. This is a really good scene and I really want to see the rest of The Garden Party if it’s anywhere as good as this scene

Finally, there’s Asia’s final scene with Mark Davis dressed as Mozart from Appassionata . I was pretty excited when I saw that a scene was included from Appassionata as Asia has mentioned some of the great things that she’s doing for it’s upcoming DVD release on her website. It sounds like it might be the best adult DVD released so far. This is a great scene and there’s a lot of chemistry between Mark and Asia. It’s also a very artistic scene with Asia being whisked away by Mozart to an elegant 18th century bedroom. It’s a beautiful scene and I can’t wait to see the rest of the movie.

Finally, there’s the bonus scene with Steve Hatcher. It’s a pretty good scene that’s half normal and half gonzo. Several shots in the scene are done while either Steve or Asia holds the camera while ‘working’. Steve and Asia have great chemistry together and it really helps the scene. There’s nothing really special about the scene, it’s just kind of fun and a great Asia scene. Unfortunately, the technical quality could have used a little work. The picture is normally pretty good, as is the audio, but it did lack in places.

In between scenes, Steve Hatcher interviews Asia. They start out at the Dry Gulch Ranch in Malibu Hills and cover the basics, such as how long she’s been in the business, why she chose porno, and other aspects of her career. They also go over things such as how she’s seen the business change as well as fun things like who she’d pick for president if she could pick anybody. Steve also goes through Asia’s house, which is beautiful. Of course, when things get to her computer area, they talk about things such as her website, which is considered the best free adult website on the internet (next to Adult DVD Talk, of course ;). These scenes really flesh out Asia as a person and raise the feature above other compilation DVDs. The only problem is, once again, some of the technical aspects. There’s a lot of wind noise in the outdoor interviews and the picture is slightly grainy. There’s also a few spots where it’s kind of hard to understand Asia and Steve’s conversation. Those of you watching for a wank will want to skip these parts, but real Asia fans will not want to miss them.

Extras: As usual there’s a web link, phone sex commercial, and trailers. On this DVD trailers are included for Caribbean Undercover, Devoured, Perfectly Flawless, Taboo of Tarot, Teasers, and The Collector .

Of course, there’s bios. This DVD includes bios for Asia, Alexandra Silk, T. T. Boy, and Chloe. Each bio is about one screen long and doesn’t give much information about the star. Interestingly, neither T. T. Boy nor Chloe appear on this DVD.

Finally, there’s more Signature Girls, and lovely Signature Girls they are. Johnni Black, Alexandra Silk, and Cheyenne Silver round out the Signature Girls quite nicely. There isn’t any information on each girl, but there is one complete scene for each girl.

Themes: Straight, lesbian, anal (with a toy), group, orgy, spanking, tit-fucking, and toys

Raincoat Factor: Asia fans are going to have a hard time finding something better to watch while wanking.

Overall: Currently, Signature Series Vol. 1: Asia Carrera can be found online for between $16 and $23 with most stores offering it for under $20. If you’re a fan of Asia, or even just curious about her, pick this DVD up. It’s well worth the $20. It’s a compilation DVD, so the audio and video quality varies, but there’s quite a few extras for this type of DVD. It’s definitely good enough that I’m going to want to check out the rest of the Signature Series .

Note to Adam & Eve: Great job on this compilation DVD. The only thing I’d add to it would be a full set of credits at the end where people can see all of the people in the scenes. It should go without saying that the technical aspects of the interviews and other things in between the scenes needs to be improved.

If you have any questions or comments, please e- mail me .