Crystal Dreams Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  5/28/2001

Running Time: 121 min.

Production Date: 07 / 1999 (cover) 6 / 14 / 2000 (DVD)

Director: Nick Orleans

Cast: Chloe, Mariah, Ava Vincent, Aurora Snow, Tina Tyler, Lena Romane, Ginger Paige, Lexington Steele, Chris Cannon, Alec Metro, Mickey G., and Lee Stone

Initial Expectations: I’ve really liked a lot of Nick Orleans’ movies, such as The Garden Party and Serenade. With Tina Tyler and Chloe in the cast I hope this one will be just as good.

Initial Reaction: It’s another great Nick Orleans feature with really hot sex and not much plot.

Who Should Watch It : Couples and fans of porn without much plot.

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody looking for extremely hardcore sex.

Audio /Video Quality: The audio is very clear and well balanced. There is a little dubbing, but it isn’t too noticeable. You can hear everything just like you think you should. The video is also very clear with very little pixelation.

Music: The music has a kind of “dreamy” feel to it in many places and fits the feature very well. It’s great music for a couples feature.

Disc Problems / Complaints: It’s a very well done DVD but a lot of the features load quite slow. If you’re an extremely impatient person you might want to take a little medication or have a beer or two before you start this DVD. It’s a very minor complaint and I only mention it because I know there are many people out there who expect everything to load in a split second.

A note appears at the bottom of the screen to let you know when you can do jump from the movie scene to the behind the scenes. Turning off the subtitles doesn’t turn off the note. Also, there isn’t a way that I found to jump back to the feature.

When I tried watching Crystal Dreams on my DVD-ROM with PowerDVD, the movie froze at the end of each chapter. It would automatically pause and then I’d have to go to the next track manually with the scan button. It’s really annoying and definitely interfered with the movie. I didn’t have this problem with my standalone DVD player.

Menus: The menus are fairly basic but do have a little animation. A few of them are very slow to load.

The Feature: As with most of Nick Orleans’ other features, Crystal Dreams uses a very loose plot as an excuse to have a lot of sex. Although is a fairly worn out formula, Nick Orleans knows how to make a great sex scene which normally saves his features from being forgotten. This time the feature revolves around crystals and a missing husband. Chloe’s husband, Mickey G., disappeared shortly after he brought a crystal back from Mexico. Chloe’s friends have now gotten together to comfort her some as well as talk about sex and crystals. It’s a fairly lame plot, but like I said before, Nick Orleans knows how to make a great sex scene which once again saves the day.

Mickey G. starts his day right by getting a little nookie (which has to be in the top five fun words to say out loud) from Chloe after watching her take her morning swim nude. Chloe starts by giving Mickey a little head and then they go straight to fucking. As one would expect from these two, it’s a pretty good scene complete with Chloe’s wild orgasms and some good ass fucking. They also have pretty good chemistry, which also helps things out. Mickey finishes by blowing his load across Chloe’s chest. It’s a nice scene to start things off with.

Ava Vincent tells of her experience with Alec Metro, Lena Romane, and a bunch of precious stones. Alec is the dealer and Ava is the customer. She’s curious if the necklace she like’s is enough to seduce somebody with. Ava and Lena then work each other over while Alec watches and jerks off. Of course he gets to join in later, but Ava and Lena do a great job of teasing him beforehand as he jerks off. I have to admit that before this scene I was a little bewildered as to why Ava is considered one of the top starlets out there. This scene made it all clear to me. She had great energy, chemistry, and just overall sexuality that really drove this scene. She takes it from Alec in her pussy and then has Alec stretch out Lena’s brown eye. It’s an extremely hot scene and a really great group scene. It’s a little nasty, but not too bad.

Mariah and Doctor Chris Cannon do a little “chemistry” experiment. Mariah noticed something weird studying a crystal the night before. She shows Chris and tells him that it kept her up all night. Due to this, she wants Chris to take out his cock so she can work it over. Mariah’s a fairly attractive Latino with a nicely realistic body, and she’s wearing a nice bit of vinyl here with a garter belt, panties, and bra. Although her acting is really bad in the plot sequences (she’s borderline monotone throughout them), she sure knows what to do with a cock. She gives Chris a great handjob and blowjob before moaning away as he eats her pussy. Chris fucks her pussy and ass in a few positions and she’s pretty vocal, although not a screamer, through it all. She finishes it off by jacking Chris off all over her chest. It’s a pretty hot scene and shows some of why Mariah is on the cover.

Ginger Paige, looking very hot in a red vinyl dress with red fishnet stockings, takes a break in the kitchen to relieve some pressure from her pussy. Lee Stone walks in on her fingering herself and they both decide it’s time for a snack. Ginger works over Lee’s cock with both hands as well as her mouth. Man is that guy hung! Although he looks like a white guy, with a cock that size I’ve got my doubts. She doesn’t take all of Lee’s cock in her mouth, but I’m sure this is because she’d rather have it working in and out of her pussy form the other end. Ginger, who has a great natural body that we finally get to see all of, hops back up on the kitchen counter for Lee to fuck her pussy. It’s a really good scene but the cum shot felt a little weak. Lee had a decent pop, but due to the angle you could barely see it as he let go on Ginger’s ass.

Aurora Snow, who seems to be getting a lot of notice lately and for good reason, gets some sensual healing from Tina Tyler, one of the hottest and most talented women in porn. Aurora has a great natural body with as close to perfect tits as I’ve seen in a long time and some really different tan lines for porn. At first I thought she was one of the only women in porn with tan lines from a one-piece bathing suit but instead it looks like a tube-top bikini. This is a very soft and sensual scene. It isn’t hot driving sex but instead is extremely erotic. Tina works over Aurora with her tongue, fingers, and a glass dildo as Aurora softly plays with her tits. Tina, being the giver she’s known to be, never receives in this scene but seems to satisfy Aurora completely. It’s a great scene but, as always, I would have really liked to have seen more of Tina.

After a bit of crystal stuff, Chloe breaks out Lexington Steele’s cock to see just how much of it she can take. Surprisingly, she doesn’t take much of it down her throat, but she does use her hand to make sure that all of it gets some attention. Unlike most scenes, they also change positions during the blowjob so Chloe can play with herself a little better. Also unlike most scenes, you actually get to see Lex put the condom on. It isn’t anything fancy, like Chloe putting it on with her mouth, he just pulls it on. It’s something that’s almost unheard of in today’s porn but very nice to see. Not many people seem to like the magically appearing condom and it’s a great way to get the safe sex message across. It’s a very hot scene and Chloe’s a lot more aggressive here than she was in the opening scene with Mickey G. She’s extremely vocal, both trash talking as well as sounds of passion, and has some great, hard orgasms. Lex and Chloe have great chemistry here and it really pays off with Chloe finishing off by jacking him off with her hand as she straddles him to blow his load on her stomach.

As Mickey returns, everybody’s filled with sexual energy from the crystal. Thankfully, this means we get to see more of most of the cast. Of course Mickey and Chloe pair up, as Aurora gives Lee a very nice blowjob while working his cock over with gloved hands and Tina and Ava try each other on for size. Mariah is left by herself, but that doesn’t seem to bother her too much. Sadly Aurora’s gloves, which I think are extremely sexy, don’t last too long but this doesn’t mean that Lee’s blowjob stops there. She keeps blowing him followed by Lee going straight to fucking her. Tina and Ava work each others’ pussy over a little before Ava bends over for a spanking from Tina. The multiple angles really pay off in this scene but sadly aren’t available for the entire scene. The alternate angle almost always focused on a different couple which really adds to the scene. It’s very hot as is, but to get this much more really adds to it. Surprisingly, Chloe and Mickey are slightly ignored and Mariah is almost completely ignored. Most of the focus here is on Aurora and Lee and Ava and Tina. It does switch back to Mickey and Chloe as he gives it to her in the Hershey Highway, and the multiple angles are available here so you get to completely focus on Chloe. It’s a great orgy but there isn’t much interaction between the couples, which I also really like. Lee and Aurora finish things off by Lee jerking himself off (for what seemed way too long) onto Aurora’s chest, and Chloe took Mickey’s blast on her ass.

Crystal Dreams has some very nice touches that most fans want. In the closing credits, each performer is shown with a cut from their scene so you know who everybody is. It’s a great touch that I’ve never heard anybody make a negative comment about. Also, there are a lot of chapters. In this case, there are 92 chapters so if you want to skip a position or act all you have to do is hit the scan forward button. Although this seems a little like overkill to me, I’d much rather have eight or ten chapters per scene than one chapter per scene (including the plot sequence). You can also jump to the behind the scenes sequence on each scene during the scene (which, as I pointed out earlier, sadly can’t be shut off). There are a lot of nice touches to the feature that show a lot of caring towards the customer. It’s care like this that makes Adam & Eve one of my favorite companies out there.

Once again Nick Orleans succeeds with a great porno without much plot. Lately Mr. Orleans seems to have a thing for crystals and the religion around them. I admit that this is kind of a turn off for me, but thankfully he doesn’t get too preachy with it. What he does do great with is the sex. The sex varies nicely from soft erotic sex to hard driving steamy hot sex with a nice range in between. It’s what one comes to expect from Nick Orleans and once again, he’s met those expectations very nicely.

Extras: The cast information shows Chloe, Mariah, Ava Vincent, Tina Tyler, and Aurora Snow. It allows you to choose a cast member and then shows their scene or some personal information. It’s a great idea but it took forever to load. The photo gallery also took forever to change but contains about 80 pictures. It’s mostly snapshots but there are a few full screen shots thrown in as well and they range from average to very good. There are also real multiple angles (as opposed to Vivid style multiple angles), an all sex option which allows you to watch just the sex, and the trailer to Crystal Dreams .

The most impressive extra is Nick Orleans’ behind the scenes feature which lasts about forty five minutes. It’s a great mix of serious behind the scenes with a lot of fun. The camera’s a little shakey, but that’s expected for a behind the scenes featurette. Other than that it’s very clear and the audio’s pretty good. Nick Orleans’ opening title sequence that had me rolling on the floor. I’ve heard about Nick Orleans’ sense of humor before, but this sequence really did it for me! After a little eye-opener, Nick gives a tour of some of the sets and shows some of the cast getting ready. It’s a lot of fun and Ava really has fun with her interview, as well as Chloe. He also interviews Aurora, who at the time was extremely new to the adult film business (she’s been around a little over a month), as well as showing some of her photo shoot. Some of it’s done twice, but she’s cute enough that I doubt most guys (at least) won’t care. He also interviews some of the cast in between shoots that’s a lot of fun, such as interviewing Ava Vincent about her experiences working in an adult bookstore and Alec Metro about his experiences in an adult bookstore. Nick has a lot of fun with the cast during some of the scenes to the point that I’m not sure how they actually managed to get more than one scene done in a day. Nick’s tour of the medical set where Mariah and Chris Cannon’s scene is definitely something you don’t see in every porno. Mariah gives a great interview and talks about Ed Powers quite a bit as well as how she got into the business and her favorite fucks. The behind the scenes on the orgy scene is a serious and straight ahead behind the scenes that’s fairly interesting. Well, it would have been completely serious if not for some of Nick’s captions. Overall it gave me a lot of appreciation for the work the editor does to get rid of all of the background noises as well as realizing how much extra there is going on during a scene. You also get a little bit of extra sex that wasn’t seen in the feature.

Themes: Straight, group, rimming (female > female and male > female), anal, masturbation, lesbian, toys, spanking, and inter-racial

Raincoat Factor: Medium high

Overall: Currently, Crystal Dreams can be found online for between $17 and $25 with all but two stores offering for over $21. For under $20 this is a great buy. The sex is hot, the transfer very good, and the extras, especially the behind the scenes featurette, excellent.

Note to Adam & Eve: The biggest problem about this DVD was not automatically advancing when watched on DVD-ROM. Having to manually advance from one chapter to the next got old really quick! The extras here showed a lot of care about the watcher but would have been a little better if they would have loaded quicker. If not for some of the minor annoyances with this DVD I would have been very tempted to give this a 4.5 because of the hot sex, great extras, and great transfer. With some of the minor problems and annoyances I couldn’t bring myself to give it that high of a rating.

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

Other reviews by Astroknight