Island Fever (Digital Playground) Review

Studio
Digital Playground

Genre
Artsy All-Sex

Director
Joone

Starring
Tera Patrick, Briana Banks, Julia Ann, Devin Wolf, and Bobby Vitale

Running Time
1:22

DVD Format
Single Sided, Single Layer

Aspect Ratio
1.33:1 (full frame)

Special Features
Full motion video main menu, animated & FMV menu transitions, FMV chapter selection menu, audio commentary track with Tera Patrick and director Joone, 21-picture photo gallery with slide show option, and 9.5-minute making-of video

Typical Watchers
Tera Patrick Fan Club members, artsy eye-can porn watchers

Typical Haters
Anyone who wants a plot, dialogue, nasty sex, straightforward videography, or thinks Tera is no big deal

Replay Value
Low

Themes
Artsy & softer sex, outdoor sex, sex in exotic locations


If You Liked This DVD, You Should Enjoy
Any Tera Patrick tropics feature, such as Caribbean Undercover or Sex Island

Okay, I know that I'm going to be charred to a crisp by flamers and Tera Patrick supporters, but I just can't join the throng of reviewers who just love this movie.  As it is, I feel totally suckered after reading the glowing reviews and promotions of Island Fever and trading away a good title in order to check this DVD out.  Perhaps this is my epiphany that I should trust my instinct and rent first.  Anyway, in case you haven't figured out where this review is headed, it left my collection in record time.

The premise of this video is that there isn't one -- it's a bunch of unrelated sex and T&A scenes shot outdoors on the Hawaiian island of Maui.  The videography is very love-it-or-hate-it:  soft focused, dimly lit, and with circular vignetting at the corners (obviously due to a filter on the camera lens).  I dislike -- check that, hate -- the look of this DVD.  I know some people are ga-ga over the rich colors and Playboy video feel, but it just drove me nuts.  It wouldn't have been so bad if it didn't feel like I was watching porn through a pinhole camera.  And the dunes location looks downright fake, and if I didn't hear them describe the adventure of eluding the park ranger during the shoot, I would have sworn that they chroma-keyed Tera and Bobby over a stock video background.

In terms of sex, it's pretty vanilla in nature, obviously relying on the natural beauty of Maui and the eye candy of Tera Patrick to carry it through.  I found myself yearning for the variety of seeing someone other than Devin Wolf (who's not one of my preferred male performers) boning the girls.  Bobby V. does much better, but I guess they were on a budget and could afford to fly more than two studs from the mainland.  As for the girls, it's a total juxtaposition to have Julia Ann and Briana Banks having sex in such a natural location since their boobs are anything but real.

From the commentary, it's pretty darn clear that Tera has a pretty high opinion of herself, imparting tons of unsolicited sex tips.  Okay, Dr. Ruth!  But strangely it's a lot more entertaining to watch the feature with the commentary turned on since the banter is probably equally as entertaining as the sex itself.  And as a bonus, there's no dialogue to miss while listening to the commentary since there is none.

Being a fan of the artistic eye-candy variety of porn (I like directors Andrew Blake and Michael Ninn), I can honestly say that it's not because I don't appreciate the genre that I'm so down on Island Fever.  It has very little sexual substance and questionable style.  Get it if you worship Tera or if you're looking for a nice, safe couples film (no girl-girl, no anal, no gyno shots) to play as background video.  Now, if you're so inclined, please flame away at the e-mail address below...

- Saki (saki@sakivision.com)