Breathless (Wicked) Review

Distributor: Wicked Pictures Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film Run Time: 101 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2003 Director: Michael Raven Written by: Michael Raven, D. Cypher (as Devon Saphirre) Cast: Devinn Lane, Sydnee Steele, April Flowers (as April), Holly Halston, Venus, Steven St. Croix, Mike Horner, Evan Stone, Anthony Skordi (as Anthony Scordi), Gino Greco (as Gino Greeco), Troy Halston, Michael Raven, Frank Bukkwyd (as Frank Buckwyd), Dic Tracy (as Dick Tracy), Jonny Agoura, Dino Bravo, Raoul Duke, Thomas Priest, Sammy Slater Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.78:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Disc: DVD 9 (SS, DL) Special Features: Audio Commentary, All Access: The Making of Breathless, Bloopers, Photo Galleries, Interviews, Audio Bios, Promotional Materials, Trailers DVD-ROM Special Features: Web Link, Wicked Casino, Awards

Synopsis:
After being let down by men all of her life, bar maid Alex (Devinn Lane) meets criminal Dallas (Evan Stone), who excites her and draws her into his life of crime. Cop Cain (Steven St. Croix) is after Dallas since at one of his lethal robberies, he shot Cain's girlfriend/prostitute Jade (Sydnee Steele).

Audio/Video:
Breathless is presented with your choice of audio tracks. There is an English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track available on the disc that sounds great and compliments the movie. There is also an English 2.0 Stereo track available on the disc for viewers who don't have the equipment required to enjoy the 5.1 track. Both tracks sound good, the music seems to be at a higher volume on the surround track than the stereo track but either makes for a good experience. The dialog is clear and can be heard at all times during the movie. Wicked has also included an English 2.0 Commentary track but hasn't included any foreign language tracks or any subtitle options for the feature movie.

Breathless is presented in the non-anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1, which appears to be the original aspect ratio for the feature movie. It's great to see Wicked releasing more widescreen discs, but it would be far better if they went the final step and made the discs anamorphic. As per Wicked's norm, the picture quality exhibited on the disc is absolutely beautiful. The picture is a little soft, but I think that is was shot to look that way and that it isn't due to a poor master. There are no artifacts, blemishes or glitches present anywhere on the disc and the color levels are correctly set.

Special Features:
As per their norm, Wicked has packed this disc full of extras. There is a feature length audio commentary track with Michael Raven and Devinn Lane. There is All Access: The Making of Breathless, which is a 25 minute in depth making of featurette. There is a three-and-a-half minute blooper reel with flubs, fuck-ups and out takes. There is an Interview with Michael Raven that was taped after the awards show and lasts for four minutes. There is an Interview with Devinn Lane that was taped after the awards show and lasts for seven-and-a-half minutes. There is also a eleven minute Interview with Steven St. Croix and another three-and-a-half minute Interview with Devinn Lane.

There is a wealth of photo galleries included on the disc. There is a snapshot gallery, with 24 stills, a behind the scenes gallery with 30 stills, and star galleries for Holly Halston, Sydnee Steele, Venus, Devinn Lane and April. There are audio bios, which include audio and text information, pictures, a Wicked filmography and a link to their scene, for Devinn Lane, Sydnee Steele, April, Steven St. Croix and Evan Stone. There are the promotional reels from 1998 through 2000 and the Essential Elements reel and last there are trailers for Conquest, Dream Quest, Double Feature!, and Euphoria.

DVD-ROM Special Features:
Wicked has included their standard DVD-ROM extras on the disc. There is the Wicked Web, which is a gateway link to Wicked's website, which also includes a link to Wicked Awards - Winners and Nominations, which is now stored on Wicked's website instead of on the disc. Also included is the Wicked Casino, which is a free casino program that you have to install on your computer that allows you to play casino style games online against opponents for Wicked Cash or just by yourself for fun. The available casino games are Black Jack, Roulette, Baccarat, Slots, and Poker.

Design/Navigation:
The disc is designed with very aesthetically pleasing more complex animated menus with background music. There are five chapters available from the chapter menu and six chapter stops within the feature film itself. The chapters are identified by a video clip. There is a time code for the feature film encoded on the disc.

General Review:
Breathless is a nicely done adult film from Michael Raven that has a nice B-movie mainstream feel to it, which helps and hurts the film at the same time. The problem with the film though is the mainstream feel isn't continuous through the entire film. The non-sex portions of the film are shot with a nice soft look to them which resembles a shot on film production. The fact that the movie is presented in widescreen helps with the mainstream-like look of the movie. The sex portions are shot with a picture that looks much sharper, giving a conflicting feel to the sex scene and pulling the viewer out of the movie and into reality. The colors in the sex scenes seem to be slightly more vivid as well.

The filming style changes with the sex scene. The non-sex portions are shot with a more mainstream style to them whereas the sex scenes have a definite adult film style to the way they were shot and edited together. Cheesy sounding adult film music also starts in at the beginning of each of the sex scenes as well, announcing their beginning loud and clear. The end result of these styles is the look of the work of two different directors merged together for one final product. Which is too bad since it doesn't allow the viewer to become completely immersed in the movie. None of it ruins the film though, it just could have been better.

Other than this issue, Breathless is a very enjoyable adult movie. The plot, which feels slightly borrowed from Bonnie & Clyde, does far more than connect the sex scenes and although it is far less developed than your average mainstream production, as far as adult films go, it's rather developed. It has a darker theme to it than is often seen in adult films, which is a nice change. Instead of everything being a nice and happy, there is far more emotion showed here and some of the darker aspects of humanity show through. The acting is rather good for an adult production as well.

The cast looks great and the sex scenes are well done. As per the norm for a Wicked Pictures production, the sex scenes are tame. This means that couples viewers shouldn't have any issues with them. This is a case where tame doesn't mean that the scenes lack originality or heat as I found the scenes here to be very erotic. The sexual themes in the film are vaginal sex with pussy eating, blow jobs, lesbianism, pussy fingering, and anilingus. For viewers that care about condom use, there are condoms used in all of the scenes in the movie.

Scene Synopsis:
The first scene brings us Devinn Lane and April and the scene starts out with April working over Devinn a little before she starts eating out Devinn's pussy. They switch and Devinn eats out April's pussy for a little. Then they go into a 69 so they are pleasuring each other. Once in the 69, April starts fingering Devinn as well. The second scene features Sydnee Steele and Steven St. Croix and the scene starts out with Steven eating out Sydnee's pussy and fingering it a little. Then Sydnee takes him into her mouth for a blow job. Then they go into the vaginal sex. To end the scene, Steven cums on her belly.

The third scene brings us Troy Halston and Holly Halston and the scene begins with Holly giving Troy a blow job before he reciprocates and eats her pussy for a little while. Then they go into the vaginal sex. To end the scene, Troy cums in her mouth. The fourth scene features April and Steven St. Croix and the scene begins with April giving Steven a blow job. He, in turn, eats out her pussy. After he's had his fill, they move into the vaginal sex. To end the scene, he cums on her inner thigh.

The fifth and final scene gives us Evan Stone, Devinn Lane and Venus. The scene begins with Devinn working over Venus's body a little before she buries her face in Venus's pussy. Devinn and Evan finger Venus while Devinn continues to eat her out. Venus gives Evan a blow job while Devinn continues to eat her pussy and ass while fingering her. They reposition and Evan enters Venus's pussy while Venus eats out Devinn. To end the scene, Evan cums all over Venus's face.

Parting Thoughts:
Although Breathless isn't without its problems, it is still a very enjoyable plot-based adult film. The sex is tame so viewers that don't like nasty sex will find this movie to be to their liking. The plot is also rather well developed for an adult film, so there is more substance to the film than just the sex scenes. If the movie sounds good to you, you should definitely give it a rental or just purchase it.

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