Maxine Review

Distributor: Excalibur Films Edition Details: Manufacture on Demand DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Classic, Feature Film Run Time: 77 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 1987 Director: Joseph F. Robertson (as Adele Robbins) Written by: Steve Sayer, Arthur King Cast: Porsche Lynn, Sharon Mitchell, Joey Silvera, Tami White (as Demi White), Robert Bullock, Tara Blake, Buddy Love, Randy West, Wayne Stevens, William Margold Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD-MOD (DVD-R) Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Maxine is a mediocre shot on video adult movie from the late 80s, which never manages to rise to its potential. It's an adult take on Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future; following part of the story-line from the beginning of the British television film. Unlike the previous two films written by Arthur King, Maxine never rises above being just a standard adult movie for the time. The plot, reporter Allison Karter (Porsche Lynn) is investigating Network 30 XXX, who she suspects is putting Sexverts, subliminal sex messages, within their programs to raise ratings. Helena Rox (Sharon Mitchell), the owner of Network 30 XXX, and Blaze Packard (Robert Bullock) attempt to kill her but in the process her alter-ego Maxine Bedroom (Porsche Lynn) ends up in the network's computer. The end of the film promises a sequel, Maxine: Head Reporter — Part 2, that was never to come.

Arthur King's earlier scribed films, which were retakes on Star Wars and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, reworked the story to make them original. Maxine just takes the story from Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future, simplifying it for its adult incarnation and jammed in sex scenes whenever possible. The movie was obviously cheaply and quickly made, the boom microphone is even visible for part of a scene, relying on cheap video screen effects that were not impressive for the time and even less so now. The acting in the film seems forced. Joseph F. Robertson and the cast are capable of far better. The sex scenes aren't bad, but the blaring rock music over them may not be what most viewers are looking for. While the sex scenes aren't horrible, Maxine fails as feature film and is likely to disappoint those who have seen Arthur King's earlier two films.

For some reason, Excalibur Films has only released the few titles that they own via a manufacture on demand service instead of giving them a full release. As Excalibur Films is the owner of this title, I am considering these their official release. Maxine has been mastered from video and has an acceptable presentation. The film is presented in the full screen aspect ratio. The image looks softer than it should be, even for a shot on video movie, but the colors seem to stay true. Outdoor scenes seem to be over saturated, but that could be due to how they were originally shot. Maxine is presented with a Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural sound track, which works without issue for the presentation. Excalibur Films hasn't included any extras with this release.

While the concept of the film is ripe for a good adult version and writer Arthur King has proven in the past that he can write some incredibly good adult films, Maxine is a relatively standard 80s shot on video presentation never rising to where it could. That combined with Excalibur Films' poor distribution of the movie makes it an easy one to pass on.

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