Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  12/6/2006

The Little Details

Running Time: 249 min. (90 min. on DVD 1 and 158 min. on DVD 2)

Production Date: 9 / 16 / 2006

Director: John “Buttman” Stagliano

Cast: Adrianna Nicole, Annette Schwartz, Belladonna, Caroline Pierce, Dunya, Flower Tucci, Gianna Michaels, Jenna Haze, Jewell Marceau, Judith Fox, Katsumi, Lia Baren, Marie Luv, Melissa Lauren, Nicole Sheridan, Oona, Peg, Sandra Romain, Sasha Grey, Sintia Stone, Vanessa Hill, Chris Charming, Christian XXX, Constantine, Erik Everhard, Jazz Duro, Jean Valjean, Manuel Ferrara, Mark Davis, Mr. Pete, Nacho Vidal, Rocco Siffredi, Steve Holmes, and Voodoo in sexual roles and Nici Sterling and many more in non-sex roles

The Short Story

Initial Expectations: The Fashionistas is arguably one of the best adult films ever made. Although part of me fears a little sequelitis, I can't help but have very high expectations here.

Initial Reaction: It doesn't come close to the original, but it also feels like it's only half of the sequel (which it is).

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting a feature that knows how to merge sex with story and who isn't afraid of rougher sex or fetish action

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody who wants a lot of plot or who doesn't like heavy fetish

The Technical Stuff

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects are very nicely done. The audio is clear and well balanced, and has the same mainstream balance as feel as the original. The video is mostly presented in non-anamorphic widescreen with a couple short flashes of full screen thrown in. This is easily the biggest problem with the entire release technically. Yes, there's some dark segments and a couple sections where the camera moves a little fast, but roughly 98% of the movie (under 5 of the 250 minutes) is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen, and it does give the movie a cheaper feel. I understand why it was done with the rush to get movies edited and out for the award cutoff, but it also took me from a sigh of pleasure as I hit the play button to a sigh of regret as I saw the non-anamorphic transfer.

Music: The music is done extremely well. It's blended masterfully with the rest of the audio and has a few variations in its style. The music really helps to give much of the movie a mainstream type of a feel.

Menus: The main menu nicely blends a little animation with a bit of the movie in a style that's very nice and also a little different from the typical Evil Angel main menu. The chapter menu also stands a bit apart, and lets you choose a scene based on a small clip of each scene and a slight description of the scene.

The Feature

Sometimes its easier to get to the top than to stay here. Rocco's learning that as the Fashionistas reaches the top of the fashion world as Safado, led by Katsumi and Nacho Vidal, start gunning for him. To make matters worse, things aren't as smooth as they might be between him and Bella, his lead designer as well as his lover.

Scene 1 – Gianna Michaels, Jenna Haze, and Rocco Siffredi

As the Fashioniasts stage show plays behind them, Rocco starts to get it on with Jenna. They kiss and check each other out, with Rocco breaking out her tits and Jenna stroking his cock and sucking his fingers. Gianna moves in to join them and lets Rocco admire her fantastic funbags as she kisses Jenna behind her. She even gives Rocco a bit of titty fucking before things move back to the show.

This is a nice little opening tease. The titty fucking and handjob are easily the hardest action in the scene, and there's no pop. For that reason I can see the scene not working for some people, but at the same time it worked pretty well for me. It works as a bit of a setup, and I really like how well the action is blended with the footage of the Fashionistas stage show. This is a nice little opening to the sex and a great opening to the movie.

Scene 2 - Adrianna Nicole, Caroline Pierce, Flower Tucci, Gianna Michaels, Jenna Haze, Lia Baren, Marie Luv, Nicole Sheridan, Sandra Romain, Sasha Grey, Chris Charming, Christian XXX, Erik Everhard, Jean Valjean, Mark Davis, Mr. Pete, Rocco Siffredi, and Voodoo

At a house after the show, Rocco moves around to check out some of the fetish models. He starts on a blonde's tits before moving over to admire Sasha's ass. Jean Valjean, Christian, Erik Everhard, and Voodoo quickly join in to start admiring the girls, and get in plenty of face sitting with some of the girls eagerly getting it on with each other as well. As the party goes, more and more people join in and Rocco gets some nice attention from Sasha and Flower. When Manuel and BellaDonna arrive Bella is none too happy about Rocco enjoying the cast, and they have a little talk that gets cut short by the party and reporter Melissa Lauren. The interview is interrupted by the arrival of Jenna and Gianna, with the rest of the party continuing in the fourth scene.

This is the start of a great orgy. There's really some top notch talent here, and as it's done it works almost as a tease once again. There's plenty of potential here with lots of deep throating, spanking, and even a little fucking, and I love some of the little touches like Caroline Pierce inviting Manuel to play with her again as he tries to make it across the room. This may be just the start of the orgy, but it's a very nice start.

Scene 3 – Gianna Michaels, Jenna Haze, and Rocco Siffredi

When Jenna and Gianna come over to talk with Rocco at the party as he's interviewed by Melissa, he has them get it on with each other as Melissa snaps pictures. He throws them around a bit and gives them plenty of spanking as well as eating Gianna from behind and letting Jenna check out Gianna's ass from behind as he sucks her tits. They move to a private bedroom where Rocco dominates the women, giving Gianna plenty of spanking and pulling Jenna's face into her red ass as Melissa continues to question him before she leaves them alone. Rocco moves over to eat Jenna's ass before letting Gianna try it, and moves around to eat Gianna's ass as well. The girls team up on Rocco orally with Gianna throwing in a little more titty fucking before he pushes her back so Jenna can work on her pussy while Rocco fucks and sits on her face. Rocco lets Gianna have the first fuck missionary style as Jenna strips out of her outfit and moves up to ride Gianna's tongue. She keeps eating Jenna as Rocco works her around fucking her, and takes a nice break to work him over orally. Rocco moves over to eat Jenna's holes from behind with a little help from Gianna, and even plays with her ass before finally fucking it slowly from behind. Jenna lets him know that he's the biggest cock she's ever attempted and that she's getting a little pain, so she gapes for him and has them spit in her asshole for a bit more lube. Jenna rolls around to ride Rocco reverse cowgirl style as Gianna plays with her pussy, and takes a couple nice tastes of her ass before turning around for the anal cowgirl ride. She sucks Rocco clean again and lets him eat her ass from behind before fucking it in doggie and missionary. She lets Gianna have a little action in missionary and doggie as well with Jenna lending a little oral help. Finally, Rocco pops on Gianna's fantastic rack and lets Jenna lick it up.

This is a smoking hot scene! There's a very nice balance between Gianna and Jenna, with Gianna doing great putting her tits and pussy to work while Jenna works her ass better than she might ever have before. There's a part of me that's a little unsure about leaving the comment about Rocco being the biggest dick she's ever taken in her ass in for the simple reason that it has a very “behind the scenes” type feel to it. Still, after she takes it a little she seems to get very used to it and really puts out a great assfuck. The only problem with this scene is that there are plenty of places with very little interaction between the girls as Rocco fucks them, with Gianna seeming a little more standoffish. Still, this scene has plenty of hot fucking and worked very well for me as is. This is a great scene to finish off the first DVD with.

Scene 4 – Annette Schwartz, Dunya, Judith Fox, Oona, Peg, Sintia Stone, Vanessa Hill, Constantine, Jazz Duro, and Steve Holmes

Rocco finds plenty of fetishes as he explores the Safado website Mark Davis shows him. He checks out the site which features plenty of heavy fetish and the Safado designs. There's things such as Judith Fox in a full fetish setup and a room where a blonde is suspended upside down wearing a jeweled buttplug as a heavily pierced and tattooed chick with a bald head walks around her slapping her with her crop and bare hand and giving her a few kisses. The excessively tattooed woman returns to fuck a bald guy up the ass with a strap-on after he checks out a chick in a feathery tail buttplug before Jazz Duro appears to take over for a hot black chick spanking another in a shower. A second guy, who's wearing a gas mask, comes with Jazz to take the black chick away for her shower and spanking leaving Jazz to spank his chick and have her suck his cock. Annette Schwartz and a brunette are next in the “Tit Towers” where they're tits are pulled up by clamps before a masked Jazz arrives to give them a little freedom and worship their asses. His gas mask-clad cohort Steve arrives soon after to admire Annette's ass before letting her down so she can get on her knees and suck his cock. Jazz continues to eat the brunette before they each fuck their girl from behind.

This is a very interesting scene. It's more about fetish than showing sex, and does a great job moving around. It works in much the same way as the interactive DVD scene did in the original The Fashionistas while giving it a nice little twist. As stroke material I just can't see this working for people who aren't pretty heavy fetishists, but it works very well for the movie and it is very interesting due to the styles and fetishes. This scene isn't too hot due to its heavy fetish aspect and short segments, but it does play into the overall movie very well.

Scene 5 – Adrianna Nicole, BellaDonna, Caroline Pierce, Flower Tucci, Lia Baren, Marie Luv, Melissa Lauren, Nicole Sheridan, Sandra Romain, Sasha Grey, Chris Charming, Christian XXX, Erik Everhard, Jean Valjean, Mark Davis, Mr. Pete, and Voodoo

Things return to the party as somebody gets spanked and Adrianna puts her mouth to work on Christian's cock. BellaDonna watches a bit before moving in to get in on the action little by little, with Sandra taking the first double penetration as well as appearing to let go with the first squirt. From there on it's pretty much anything goes, with Bella getting in some hot action with the help of a horsey plug with Nicole that Melissa joins in later. When Manuel arrives, he takes BellaDonna away and Melissa tags along with everybody else continuing on without missing a beat. Mark Davis gives Sasha quite a bit of throat fucking and the pops are nicely spread out through the sex after everybody fucks a while rather than seeing how close together all of the pops can be crammed. Sasha and Adrianna bring things to a close with their facials and a little more oral action.

I'm not a big fan of orgies, but this one is pretty well done. There's a ton of action going on so there were many times when it seemed hard to keep up. There's a fair amount of partner swapping and most everything one could hope for sexually. That's both a blessing and a curse, and like usual for orgies with me, every time I seem to like what I'm seeing things change around. Most of the time it's moving to something that's just as hot but as always there's a few times where I wished it would go back to where it was. The bigger problem for this scene was the lighting and feel of the scene. In the original the big orgy scene had a purpose with Rocco really getting into the fetish, but here it's sex for the sake of sex and the plot seemed inserted into the sex here and there rather than having them see how far they can merge like before. The bigger problem for me was the lighting, which often seemed quite low and seemed to get darker all the time. I'm not somebody who has to have bright lights all the time, but here the scene seemed overly dark. I've seen scenes done in dungeons where you could see the action better than you could sometimes here. The sex is good for an orgy here, but the scene had plenty working against it for me.

Scene 6 – BellaDonna, Melissa Lauren, and Manuel Ferrara

When Manuel draws BellaDonna away from the party, Melissa tags along. The girls kiss and slap each other a bit before Bella gives Melissa a little dance around a pole as Manuel plays with her pussy and holds her back. Manuel moves in so they can eat her ass before moving back out. Bella buries her face in Melissa's ass before letting Manuel eat her from behind as Melissa works over her tits. Melissa moves on to choke Bella several times as Manuel watches before running off as Bella asks her to stay.

This is a pretty hot scene. It's just beyond an all girl scene, but there's some great passion between the girls. Manuel is halfway between a participant and an observer in the scene, and that really works for him. The sharp ending of Melissa running off also works well for the plot and adds a little more tension to the mix. This is a short scene, but it works very well.

Scene 7 – Katsumi and Nacho Vidal

Katsumi, who looks mighty fine in a purple fetishwear outfit, works Nacho's cock out of his pants and into her mouth as he watches with his video camera. She repeatedly tries to take him all the way down, and comes very close time and again. She gives him some nice eyes and mixes up the speed as well as giving his ass a good tonguing. Nacho rewards Katsumi by playing with her pussy, spanking her, and eating her ass before she begs him to cum while stroking his cock. He pops in the air for her before letting her clean it up, and then has her take him all the way down.

This is a hot oral scene. Katsumi does a very nice job working Nacho over, and the domination aspect works very well through the scene. I also really like how Nacho plays with Katsumi a little in return and has her work in a bit of rimming for him. I'm not a big fan of oral scenes, but this one worked very well for me.

Scene 8 – Katsumi, Sintia Stone, Jazz Duro, and Nacho Vidal

Katsumi makes her way to blonde Sintia, who's nicely decked out in some black fetishwear, and pumps up her inflatable breasts before adding a flight helmet while Nacho works Sintia over from behind and gives her plenty of spankings. Katsumi fixes a few dildos around Sintia's body and gives them a few sucks to test them out before Nacho lets them know that he has a present for them and gestures to Jazz lying back in a chair. Katsumi gives Jazz a face dance before moving back to remove Sintia's helmet and having her sit on Jazz's face as she sucks his cock. They let Sintia up so Jazz can check out her tits and so she can suck his cock while they spank her and Katsumi plays with her from behind. The girls trade places a bit for Katsumi to get in the middle and continue to work Jazz over orally before sitting down and letting Jazz work them over from behind with his tongue and fingers. He even lets each of them have a metal toy before spearing Katsumi's shitpussy from behind while Sintia watches and works on her own with a glass toy. When Sintia returns to sit next to Katsumi Jazz works the toy between their asses and lets them each have a good taste of it before fucking her ass from behind when they move to a long bench. Katsumi gets offers up some nice oral help sucking Nacho's cock clean and licking Sintia's pussy before they team up on Jazz to work him to a nice pop.

I've enjoyed much of what I've seen from Jazz Duro's Ass Jazz series, so I was really looking forward to seeing what he could do in front of the camera of John Stagliano. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. He gets some great smothering in here and shows the same love of ass here as he shows so well in his own series. There's also some very nice chemistry between him and the girls, and they keep things moving quite nicely. This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

Scene 9 – BellaDonna and Rocco Siffredi

When Bella's worried about Rocco's possible trip to Berlin, he tries to show his love for her. He slides a hand into her jeans to play with her pussy while holding her close and kissing her. He works over her tits before eating her from behind as she bends over his desk. He doesn't waste any time and goes right to fucking her ass from behind, and only gets in a few strokes before Bella sucks his cock down her throat. They keep going back and forth between Rocco fucking Bella's ass and her sucking him clean before Bella tells him to go to Berlin and that she can't do it anymore.

This is a very good final scene. I love the emotion that comes across between Rocco and Bella, and you can see the fight Bella's having with herself come through the sex. The scene is short, but like Bella's earlier scene with Manuel and Melissa, the emotion drives the scene to the point that it holds its own against the longer scenes in the movie. This is a great scene to end the movie with sexually and does a great job of playing into the story as well.

Sequels never seem like easy things to do, especially when they're to really great movies. For ever Empire Strikes Back or Godfather 2 you have plenty more Batman and Robin and Dumb and Dumberer's. Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge, however, falls in between for the main reason that it feels like it's only half of the story even after four and a quarter hours. For that reason, it's kind of hard to judge too much as the original Fashionistas was such a complete story unto itself. Stagliano lets his characters grow a little here, and keeps some nice touches from the original. Some of those touches work, while others don't. I really like how he worked the website aspect of Safado, as it worked a little like a throwback to the DVD that first attracted him to Bella before. I also like the depth the viewer's taken into the fetish world after having the original focused as much in the fashion world as the fetish world. The orgy didn't work nearly as well for me as it was overly dark and didn't fit into the plot too well for the time it took in the movie. Surprisingly, the sex often came off as the biggest problem in the movie here as Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge didn't have the balance between sex and story that the original did and seemed to care more about the sex than the story. Once again, however, this is just the first half of the story and in the past Stagliano has weighted his two part movies heavier on sex in one part and heavier on plot in the other. I can only hope that happens here, as there wasn't as much to make me care about the characters and make me want to really come back for Fashionistas Safado: Berlin if I hadn't seen the original Fashionistas. Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge is quite a bit weaker than the original Fashionistas, but I can't get down on it too hard because it also feels like it's there more than anything to set up the upcoming Fashionistas Safado: Berlin. Even with lots of sex, there aren't many movies where you walk out in the middle and go away thinking it's a really great movie, and Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge is no different.

The Extra Stuff

Trailers are included for the original The Fashionistas release as well as the upcoming Fashionistas Safado: Berlin. There's also commercials and a cast listing by scene on the first DVD.

The second DVD includes filmographies for Adrianna Nicole, Annette Schwartz, BellaDonna, Flower Tucci, Gianna, Jenna Haze, Jewell Marceau, Judith Fox, Katsumi, Marie Luv, Melissa Lauren, Nicole Sheridan, Sandra Romain, Sasha Grey, Sintia Stone, and Vanessa Hill, and all include a nice photo of the star so you know who's who. Two photo galleries are also included. The behind the scenes gallery includes about seventy five great looking snapshots while the production gallery contains about eighty snapshots that look just as good. There's also website information.

The Down -n- Dirty Sex Stuff

Themes: Straight, tease, fetishwear, B&D, group, titty fucking, lesbian, rimming (male > female, female > female, and female > male), oral, anal, ass to mouth, balling, interracial, DP, and toys

Raincoat Factor: High

Condom Usage: None

The Bottom Line:

Currently, Fashionistas: Safado can be found online for between about $25 and $40 with very few stores offering it for under $30. Rent this one before you buy it, or consider waiting for the box set that will be coming out when the final part is released. The movie isn't bad, but is much more focused on sex and heavy fetish than the original. The technical aspects also seem a little weak due to some low lighting and a non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, and there's no extras worth mentioning. The movie seems like a good start and feels like the middle of the story, but the DVD as a whole just can't compare to the original The Fashionistas release.

Note to Evil Angel / John Stagliano: I hope with the time pressure off for the final segment you give it the anamorphic transfer it deserves.

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

Other reviews by Astroknight