Bad Wives (Vivid) Review

Reviewed by andyblake  on  1/28/2001

There was an excellent film called "Bad Wives" directed by Paul Thomas for Vivid, and featuring the incredibly beautiful Dyanna Lauren and Melissa Hill. Unfortunately, that movie is not available on DVD. The DVD that Vivid is marketing under the name of "Bad Wives" has been cut to ribbons. It should really be called "Outtakes from Bad Wives." Comparing the VHS version with the DVD, I counted over 20 separate cuts, some of them lengthy. We're not talking just cutting out dialogue; sex scenes have been cut up, too, including some of the best parts. The best scene is between Jon Dough and Dyanna Lauren, taking place on a stairway. Large chunks of it have been excised. Even the final three-way between Steven St. Croix, Melissa Hill, and Dyanna Lauren, which should have been sacrosanct if no other scene was, had cuts in it. As presented in the DVD, the plot makes no sense whatsoever, whereas in the video version, the film has at least an adequate plot. I now know why other highly praised Vivid films I have seen only on DVD, such as "Bobby Sox" and "Beautiful", were choppy and made no plot sensel. I was beginning to wonder if Vivid had bought all the critics, but I now know that when you buy a Vivid DVD product, you are not going to see the whole movie, or even close to it. Vivid prides itself on its extras, mostly worthless bells and whistles like the abysmal "multiple angle" feature. But, far from adding value, the extras actually detract from the value of the DVD if they come at the expense of video or audio quality or, most basically, seeing the whole film as originally edited. The adult industry is known for rip-offs, but even so, this is shocking. It is just wrong.

As with all Paul Thomas films, the audio is simply dreadful. The audio on your home movies sounds better. The video quality is adequate, but certainly not what DVD video quality should be, that is, markedly superior to VHS picture quality. The female performers are exceptionally gorgeous, and what remains of their scenes is pleasing, but only a pale shadow of the original film.