Barely Legal 36 Review

Distributor: Hustler Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: All Sex, Vignette, Barely Legal Run Time: 84 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2003 Director: Clive McLean Written by: Clive McLean Cast: Carmen, Vivian Jixxer (as Ashley), Nick Manning, Ander Page (as Ander), Billy Glide (as Billy), Rachel Rotten (as Rachel), Rob Rotten (as Bob), Cindy Crawford (as Cindy), Jazz Duro (as Jazz), Ashley Long (as Ashley), Mark Ashley (as Mark) Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Disc: DVD 5 (SS, SL) Special Features: Slide Show, Previews, Cast List, Clive McLean Profile DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
This is the thirty-sixth entry in Hustler's long running series where fictional letters to Hustler's Barely Legal magazine involving the sexual encounters of women who have just turned eighteen are acted out in vignette form.

Audio/Video:
Barely Legal 36 is presented with an English 2.0 Stereo track which works well for the material being presented in the movie. The audio has a slight tinny sound to it, as I have found with most Hustler titles. Not enough to disrupt the viewing experience though, it just doesn't sound quite right. Other than that there are no issues with the audio and the dialog can be heard at all times during the film. Hustler hasn't included any foreign language tracks or subtitle options for the feature film.

Barely Legal 36 is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which is the original aspect ratio for the feature films. As with the other discs from the Barely Legal series the video presentation is excellent sporting a beautiful crisp and clear picture. The colors are vibrant and the flesh tones look natural and there is nary a blemish, artifact or glitch to be seen in the course of the movie.

Special Features:
Hustler has included the standard set of Barely Legal special features on this disc. There is a slide show with 20 stills on a track. There is a cast list by scene, which unfortunately doesn't list any of the cast members standard names. There is the standard Clive McLean profile, which is commonly used on the Barely Legal discs although on earlier discs it was called Director's Profile, which runs for five minutes and talks about the director's craft. There are also previews for Asian Fever 9, Young Sluts 8, Hot Showers 6, Young Girls' Fantasies, Real College Girls, and Young Latin Girls 2.

Disc Design/Navigation:
The menus are composed of nice looking animated menus with the standard Barely Legal series music in the background. There are five chapters available from the chapter menu, each one identified by a video clip and the name of the scene. There are 24 chapter stops within the feature film itself. There is a time code for the feature film encoded on the disc.

General Review:
Barely Legal 36 continues the Barely Legal tradition of hot women and some nice tame sex. The last few volumes that I have seen had left me wondering if the series had run out of steam and was starting to plummet downhill. Although this entry isn't as good as the first entries, thankfully I'm happy to say that it is far better than the last few entries that I have seen. The problems that I think plagued the last few problems the most is the stories have been waning and the production values have been headed in a downward spiral. This volume indicates that the series may be starting to go back on the upswing featuring much better stories to the vignettes and better sets. There are still some disappointing vignettes present in this volume, but the ratio has more improved vignettes to disappointing ones.

The first vignette, “South of the Border,” features a couple vacationing in Mexico that stop at a watering hole. The set-up for the vignette is decent and the set is excellent. Most importantly the sex was fun to watch making this one a good overall scene. The second vignette, “Upstairs Downstairs,” features a female who watches her father's friend jerk off every night and decides one night that she wants to join in. This is probably the best vignette present in the movie. The vignette features a fun story, great sets and some excellent sex.

The third vignette, “Fiery Fantasy,” features a girl who goes to a rock concert and lusts after the fire breather. She hunts him down to get to know him intimately. This is by far the weakest vignette in the movie in my opinion. The set is horrible, the story isn't too well developed. Rob, who is tattooed everywhere, including his penis, sporting a multitude of piercings and spiked hair did nothing for me. The worst part is by placing this vignette right in the middle of the movie, it brings down the second half.

The fourth vignette, “Star Treatment,” features a pampered star who gets turned on by her make-up artist. The story is weak for this vignette but the sets are decent. The sex is good and enjoyable though making this an overall average scene. The fifth and last vignette to appear in the movie, “Cabin Fever,” features a boyfriend who bangs his girlfriend in a Colorado ski lodge. This is the second weakest vignette in the movie featuring a lack of a story to the vignette and a rather poor set, although no where near as bad as the one for “Fiery Fantasy.” The sex in this vignette is decent though so it doesn't get completely horrible scoring.

In between each vignette is a short interlude featuring a lady at Barely Legal opening each of the letters. I don't remember this being present in past volumes of the series, although my memory could be failing me at the time. At any rate, I liked the presence of the interludes as they helped the scenes flow together making a much better overall movie than just a series of vignettes side-by-side.

The sex scenes, as is the norm for this series, are tame but are well done. This is a case where tame doesn't necessarily mean boring and formulaic, making this a great movie for viewers that like tamer sex. The sex scenes highlight people coming together and having a good time with sex without the presence of circus acts, roughness or degradation. Viewers that enjoy the normal inclusion of a peeing scene in the series may be disappointed to note that this entry doesn't feature it. Viewers also may be happy or disappointed to note that the standard girl/girl scene is missing from this volume as well. The sexual themes in the film are vaginal sex with blow jobs, pussy eating (male to female and female to female), P2M, male masturbation, and pussy fingering. For viewers that care about condom use, there are no condoms used in the film.

Scene Synopsis:
The first scene, titled “South of the Border,” brings us Carmen, Ashley and Nick Manning. The scene starts out with Ashley blowing Nick before Carmen joins in so they are both working his tool. Nick switches over for some vaginal sex from Carmen and Ashley positions herself so she can get some oral attention from Carmen. After a little, Ashley alternates between working over Carmen and giving Nick quick blow jobs as when he pulls out of Carmen for a minute. They change positions again so that Carmen and Nick are still having vaginal sex and Ashley is getting oral attention from Carmen again. They switch again so that Ashley and Nick are having vaginal sex and Carmen is working over Ashley. The scene ends with Nick cumming just above Carmen's pubic area.

The second scene, titled “Upstairs, Downstairs,” features Ander Page and Billy Glide and starts out with Billy masturbating and Ander watching and rubbing herself through her panties. Then she starts giving him a blow job before they switch and Billy starts fingering her pussy while she gives him a quick hand job. Billy then gives Ander some oral attention before they go into the vaginal sex. The scene ends with Billy cumming on Ander's face.

The third scene, titled “Fiery Fantasy,” gives us Rachel Rotten and Rob Rotten and starts out with Rachel giving Rob a blow job. Then Rob reciprocates the favor and eats her pussy for a while. Then they go into the vaginal sex. To end the scene, Rachel gives Rob some quick oral attention and he cums in her mouth and on her face.

The fourth scene, titled “Star Treatment,” presents us with Cindy Crawford and Jazz Duro. Jazz starts out by going at her pussy through her underwear and Cindy reciprocates with a blow job. Jazz returns to giving her pussy attention, this time sans panties. After they are both worked up they get into the vaginal sex. Jazz ends the scene by cumming in her mouth and on her face.

The fifth and final scene, titled “Cabin Fever,” brings us Ashley Long and Mark Ashley. Ashley starts out by sucking Mark's dick while he fingers her pussy. Then they go into a 69 position so they can both have fun. The scene then goes into the vaginal sex and the scene ends with Mark cumming in Ashley's mouth.

Parting Thoughts:
After slowly headed down a downward spiral quality wise, followers of the Barely Legal series will be happy to know that this volume stops the spiral and starts heading back up the ladder on the quality. Although this entry isn't as good as the first entries it is definitely better than some of the more recent entries in the series. Viewers who like tamer sex with a small bit of a story in their adult films might want to check this volume out. If you've been finding the series disappointing recently you might want to rent before purchasing but if you've enjoyed the last few volumes you can skip the rental and just purchase this one.

Screenshots:

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