Highway (Wicked) Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  10/10/2004

The Little Details

Running Time: 97 min.

Production Date: 3 / 9 / 2004

Director: Michael Raven

Cast: Stormy, Bobbi Eden, Jessica Drake, Silky Thumper, Evan Stone, Pat Myne, Cheyne Collins, Eric Masterson, and Rick Cuban in sexual roles and Michael Raven and a few others in non-sex roles

The Short Story

Initial Expectations: Michael Raven rarely fails to impress me. I can’t go into one of his movies without high expectations, and putting Stormy and Jessica Drake in the lead here only gives me more hope.

Initial Reaction: The sex varies a bit, but the movie’s still enjoyable.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting a nicely acted and written adult movie

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting an adult movie with very strong sex scenes

The Technical Stuff

Audio /Video Quality: The audio is pretty good. As usual, it’s clear and well balanced as well as free of background noises. The video, however, lacks a bit. It’s presented in the widescreen aspect ratio, but unfortunately it’s non-anamorphic rather than utilizing the anamorphic format. It’s free of grain and nicely lit, but it has a halo effect that definitely interferes with things. It’s extremely noticeable, and makes this what might be the worst looking DVD I’ve seen from Wicked.

Music: The music varies throughout the movie. It keeps a nice balance with the rest of the audio, and varies from typical porno music to what sounds like a radio going in the background. It’s nicely done and definitely adds to the sex in the movie.

Menus: The menus are nicely done. There’s just enough animation for the main menu to give a good first impression, and it continues as the menus change. The chapter menu has a nice style, but as usual I’m disappointed by Wicked just giving a small clip and chapter number for the viewer to make their selection from.

The Feature

Michael Raven is well known for taking familiar stories and tweaking them for adult audiences. This time around he’s going after movies with Thelma and Louise. When Stormy’s fugitive convict boyfriend lets Stormy know where the loot is and gets nabbed by the cops, she takes off to find it with Jessica, who’s just murdered her cheating boyfriend.

Scene 1 - Stormy and Pat Myne

Waitress Stormy starts things out getting it on with customer (and real life hubby) Pat after she gets off from work. They kiss passionately and roll around on the bed as Pat strips her down and kisses his way up and down her body before going to work on her pussy with his tongue and fingers. Stormy lets Pat fuck her face a little before she takes a bit more control, but there’s absolutely no hesitation from Stormy in taking Pat’s pole down her throat repeatedly. She climbs up to ride Pat in reverse cowgirl before letting him spoon her and take her missionary style. Finally, Pat pulls out and decorates Stormy’s bush with a nice dose of creamy cock cream.

This is a pretty hot scene. Stormy and Pat have very nice chemistry, and keep things moving along nicely. There’s something that seemed just a little off here, and although I’m not quite sure what, I think it might have been some of the camera work. It seems a little off at times, and there was one point where I wondered if it was actually trying to show as much as possibly of both Stormy and Pat as possible without actually showing their faces. It’s hot, but something just seemed a little off.

Scene 2 - Silky Thumper and Rick Cuban

Silky, a nice looking brunette with a bald beaver, nicely natural tits, a tight little body, and a name I think she’ll come to regret, starts out the second scene going down on Rick’s rod. She gives him plenty of eyes and a fair amount of tongue, and then lays back on the couch for Rick to give her a bit of tongue in return. Silky lets Rick take her from behind and on her back before sucking him to an okay pop that she takes with bright eyes and a smile as she licks it up.

This is a pretty good scene. Silky and Rick do a decent job together, and have nice chemistry and energy. Once again the camera work felt a little off to me, and I think it was because whoever was behind the camera was shooting for a full screen ration rather than a widescreen ratio. It often feels restrained and there’s quite a bit that looks to be cut off by the “evil black bars”.

Scene 3 - Jessica Drake and Cheyne Collins

When Stormy goes to fill up with gas, Jessica takes on cowboy Cheyne in the restroom. They kiss passionately before Jessica drops down to mouth his meat. She works him over with her mouth as well as her eyes, and even gets in a bit of stroking while working Cheyne over. Finally, Jessica takes Cheyne’s spooge all over her face before leaving him exhausted in the bathroom.

I’m not normally one for oral scenes, but this one works more than a little well. The camera does a great job of capturing the action, and Jessica does such a great job that she had to make it easy on them. She does a fantastic job, and Cheyne sounds like it’s all he can do to maintain control. This is a great oral scene.

Scene 4 - Bobbi Eden and Eric Masterson

Before he fixes Stormy and Jessica’s car, he gets it on with gum smacking beautiful blonde Bobbi. He goes after Bobbi’s beautiful boobies first, and then reminds her that his dick won’t suck itself. Bobbi drops down to suck him, but not before giving him her gum for safekeeping. Bobbi gives Eric some great eyes and smiles as she works on him, and then lays back for a little missionary work. Bobbi lets Eric take her from behind on the hood next before letting her get down to take a nice wide-eyed facial. Finally, Eric hands Bobbi her gum back.

This is a great scene. The camera work is a little better, but still a little problematic at times. There’s good chemistry and energy, but the thing that really makes this one great is Eric Masterson. Eric has been standing out to me as one of the best guys in feature work for quite a while, and he really shines here as Todd, the white trash mechanic who can’t help but speak of himself in the third person. I couldn’t help but laugh at him throughout the scene, and at the same time he was delivering his corny lines he was putting out a great scene with Bobbi. Bobbi also does a great job, and shows just how important a pair of eyes are. Bobbi’s eyes take her performance from good to great and kick up the entire scene sexually just as much as Eric’s acting does for the non-sex aspect of the scene. This is a hot and extremely fun scene.

Scene 5 - Jessica Drake and Evan Stone

Jessica dreams of real-life hubby Evan in the penultimate scene. She starts out sucking his cock before letting him grope her. They go right to fucking and shortly after Jessica wakes up.

This seems like a waste of a scene. It’s short and choppy, and although there’s nice chemistry it’s so short and choppy that it ends up as a tease that just ticks you off. It’s got a nice artistic feel and all, but in the end I just felt disappointed.

Scene 6 - Stormy and Jessica Drake

Finally, Jessica and Stormy get it on in the hotel room. Stormy goes right after Jessica’s tits before working her way further south to tongue Jessica’s pussy. After Stormy gives Jessica a good going over, the girls trade places so that Jessica can tongue Stormy’s twat. Finally the girls come up and finish things with a sensual kiss.

This is a very nice scene. It’s fairly limited, but the girls have such great chemistry that I couldn’t help but like it. There’s plenty of very nice eye contact and a fun feeling that made this a great scene to end the sex with. It still leaves a bit to be desired due to its limitations, but while I wanted more I was still happy with the scene.

Highway is a pretty good couples movie. The story’s familiar, but not so much that you always knew what was going to happen. Stormy shows that her talents lie not just on her chest, but between here ears as well since the movie flows nicely and doesn’t have nearly as many plot holes as the normal adult film. The main thing that made the movie work was the great chemistry between Stormy and Jessica. They played off each other very well, and the supporting cast (most notably Eric Masterson) does just as well. Sexually, however, the movie lacks a bit. There’s nice chemistry in the scenes, but they feel a little limited. The camera work also hurts things as it often felt like it was being shot for the full screen format rather than the widescreen format. I was frequently frustrated by the camera angle, and often wanted things tweaked slightly. Highway ends up a nicely acted adult film with varying sex.

The Extra Stuff

Trailers are included for Highway, Space Nuts, Stiletto, Beautiful, Improper Conduct, and Wicked Sorceress. Star stats are included for each of the girls, each of which includes a little personal information, a few photos, a listing of the star’s other Wicked movies, and a link to the star’s scene. There’s also star galleries included for each of the ladies that last about two minutes each as well as a three and a half minute photo gallery for the feature with about eight seconds per good looking snapshot or full screen photo. Finally, there’s two bonus scenes, a behind the scenes featurette, promotional materials, and DVD-ROM material.

The behind the scenes featurette lasts over a half hour. As usual with Wicked’s behind the scenes featurettes, everybody’s nicely identified as they take the screen. You get a nice mix of the scenes being shot, Michael Raven talking to the camera and working with the cast, interviews, and the cast prepping and screwing around between takes. Since Evan Stone’s on the set you know there’s going to be plenty of humor as he covers everything from hard boiled eggs to the technical aspects of making movies. As usual, it’s a very nice behind the scenes featurette and well worth checking out if you enjoyed the movie or the people in it.

Bonus Scene 1 - Stormy and Randy Spears

Stormy gets it on with Randy Spears in a scene from Heat for the first bonus scene. She licks and sucks his cock before laying back for him to kiss her kitty. Stormy takes a little control back by riding Randy reverse cowgirl and letting him fuck her from behind. Finally, Stormy takes a nice creamy finish from Randy across her face.

This is a very good scene. Stormy and Randy put together great energy as well as chemistry, and make this another great scene. Once again, it’s easy to see why Wicked signed a relatively new performer (at the time) like Stormy to a contract!

Bonus Scene 2 - Jessica Drake and Chris Cannon

Jessica and Chris’ pairing comes from Suspicious Minds. When Officer Chris shows up at Jessica’s door, she can’t help but draw him in to see how big his gun is. They kiss and grope each other a little on the couch before Jessica slides down and goes to work sucking and stroking his nightstick. Jessica goes directly to riding Chris cowgirl style so she can put that fantastic ass of hers on display, and no, I’m not talking about Evan Stone (evan though he does put a smile on my face much of the time too, just in a completely different and completely heterosexual way). Jessica lets Chris take her bald beaver missionary style next while sucking on her toes before turning around and letting him have another great view while fucking her from behind. Finally, Jessica turns around to take Chris’ cock cream all over her tongue, chin, and tits before sucking out the last few drops.

This is a pretty hot scene. Jessica looks absolutely fantastic, and puts some nice energy into the scene as well. She and Chris have nice chemistry, and although the scene is fairly short it also works very well. This is a very nice scene and does a great job of showing that some women only improve as they get a few more years on them rather than going downhill after they can legally drink.

The Down -n- Dirty Sex Stuff

Themes: Straight, rimming (male > female), spanking, and lesbian

Raincoat Factor: Medium

Condom Usage: 100%

The Bottom Line:

Currently, many of Wicked’s DVDs can be found online for between $15 and $30 with many stores offering them for around $21. You might want to aim at the low end for this one. The sex varies a bit but the non-sex portions are very well done. The technical aspects lack due to a halo effect in the video, but the extras are nicely done.

Note to Wicked: Please do something to fix your video here! You have a long standing (and well deserved) reputation of putting more care into your DVDs. Whatever corner was cut here is definitely noticeable and something that’s going to lose you a few customers if you don’t fix it. Also, it’s great to see you using the widescreen aspect ratio, but in the future if you’re going to go widescreen please take your support all the way to the anamorphic format.

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

Other reviews by Astroknight