Hard Bound Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  10/1/2003

Running Time: 81 min.

Production Date: 5 / 30 / 1999

Director: Bob Chinn

Cast: Nina Hartley, Tina Tyler, T. J. Hart, Dale DaBone, James Bonn, and Edith

Initial Expectations: Bob Chinn has been very hit or miss for me, and despite the cast here I’m kind of expecting this to be another miss.

Initial Reaction: It’s a surprisingly great couples movie.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting something soft, romantic, and erotic

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting something that feels unique

Audio /Video Quality: The audio is clear and well balanced for the most part, but a couple areas seem a bit off. The video has a bit of grain, and is normally well lit. There are a few shadows that interfere, but for the most part they enhance the scene rather than detracting from it.

Music: The music is pretty typical porn music, but is balanced very nicely with the rest of the audio.

Menus: The menus leave more than a little to be desired, but this DVD was also an early release for Adam & Eve before they decided to start competing with the other companies out there. The main menu is unanimated and the chapter menu lets you choose a scene from a scene number and a still from each scene.

The Feature: While on her way to her sister T. J. Hart’s birthday party, Nina Hartley’s car breaks down on the edge of the desert. After waiting for quite a while, cowboy Dale DaBone stops by to help her out. She finally quits looking down her nose at him long enough to let him try to fix her car. When his truck doesn’t start when he tries to get her the part she needs, she reluctantly joins him on a cross country walk to try and beat the coming storm and get some help.

Tina Tyler and T. J. Hart start things out reading a sex toy catalogue in bed. Tina kisses her way across T. J. while stripping her down, and takes her time when she gets to T. J.’s twat. T. J reciprocates, giving Tina some great eyes as she licks and rubs her nub. Finally, they collapse in each others arms kissing passionately.

This is a very nice scene. It’s extremely soft, gentle, and romantic, and is overflowing with chemistry. For what appears to be a couples feature, I’m really surprised to see it start out with a lesbian scene. The chemistry and romantic feel is hot enough, however, that I can see many women enjoying this scene as much as the men.

Nina Hartley fantasizes about getting it on with Dale DaBone in the second scene. She has him pose for some nude photos before taking a more hands on approach, as well as mouth on. Nina sucks and strokes Dale on her knees before taking a minor pop on her chin.

This is another nicely done scene, and one that I think will really appeal to the ladies. The camera really eats up Dale in this scene, and captures him very erotically. Once Nina gets down it focuses nicely on her head and Dale’s cock, but unfortunately doesn’t show any distance shots where you can see both Dale’s face and Nina blowing him. It’s still a very nice and very erotic scene, and fits great in a couples movie like this.

Dale fantasizes about Nina in the third scene. He kisses his way across her body as she lays on the black ground in front of a black background. Dale tenderly rubs, fingers, and licks Nina’s pussy, as well as softly rimming her. He never fucks her, but works her up to an orgasm and then comes up to kiss her while holding himself above her.

This is another winner of a scene, and overflows with emotion. It’s just as soft and tender as the previous scene with Nina and Dale, and mirrors it wonderfully. As with the previous scene, it’s completely one sided, and although it’s something that would normally irk me a little, here I’m more than happy with it. Dale and Nina continue their excellent chemistry, and make this another great oral scene.

T. J. Hart takes on James Bonn in the penultimate scene. She gets right down to business, helping him strip down and then sucking his cock as he lays back on a noisy leather couch (at least, I hope it’s the leather making all that noise). Tina Tyler walks in on them, and after she finishes eating the chicken drumstick she has, diddles herself while watching them. James moves on to fuck T. J. from behind before Tina joins them by holding a toy on T. J.’s clit. Finally, James pulls out and sprays down T. J.’s stomach and tits.

This is a great scene, and one of the few where you can both chuckle a little and get turned on! T. J. looks great, and drives the scene extremely well. Tina is just as good, and her reactions to finding T. J. and James fucking are excellent! It’s a tough call, but this just might be my favorite scene in the movie.

Dale DaBone and Nina Hartley finish things up with a roll in the hay, and yes, there’s a blanket there since this is a porno. They start things off with quite a bit of kissing before Dale slowly undresses Nina and kisses his way across her chest while she playfully giggles. Nina follows suite before slowly sucking Dale’s cock and looking like she enjoys every second of it. Luckily for Dale, Nina has a couple condoms handy, since she was going on a date, so he can fuck her. They only fuck missionary style, and Dale finishes things off by blowing his ball butter on Nina’s chest.

This is a very romantic and fun scene that isn’t the type one is used to finding in porn movies any more. There’s a great spirit of fun and lovingness throughout the scene, and both Nina and Dale look like they’re having a fantastic time. It makes the perfect ending for the movie, and feels extremely natural after the rest of the movie.

Hard Bound is a very nicely done couples movie. It keeps things simple for the cast, but gives pretty much everybody the chance they need to show what they can do. T. J. Hart and Tina Tyler do a great job playing off and with each other, while Nina Hartley and Dale DaBone show that they can act just as well as they can fuck. Every scene here is a winner, but only three of the five are close to typical porno scenes. The other two are oral scenes, and nicely focus on Nina and Dale treating each other. This would sound like overkill to me if I was reading about it, and would probably help me steer clear of the movie, but here it worked great. It does an excellent job of showing the progression of feelings between Nina and Dale, and makes the final scene all the more powerful. Hard Bound shows that couples movies can be soft and still sexy and romantic.

For another perspective on this DVD, please check out the always excellent YogaGrrl’s review.

Extras: Bios are included for Nina Hartley, Tina Tyler, Dale DaBone, and T. J. Hart. Each bio includes a photo of the star and some decent personal information. The photo gallery includes about a dozen and a half decent looking snapshots. There’s also trailers for Fire & Ice, Turquoise Blue, Infinite Bliss, Touch, Naked Truth, Serenade, Search for the Snow Leopard, A Slave to Fashion, which are readily available on DVD and The Ultimate Xperience and The Ultimate Xperience 2, which never seem to have found their way onto DVD.

Themes: Straight, lesbian, rimming (male > female), voyeurism, masturbation, toys, and group

Condoms Usage: 100%, but there are only two standard straight scenes

Raincoat Factor: Medium

Overall: Currently, Adam & Eve DVDs can be found online for between $7 and $25, with this line of DVDs often being available for around $10. If you’re looking for something erotic rather than nasty, this is one heck of a bargain. The movie is nicely done and extremely sexy. The technical aspects are good, but there isn’t much for extras.

Note to Adam & Eve: It’s great to see how far you’ve come since releases like this.

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

Other reviews by Astroknight