Morning Star Review

Distributor: Vivid Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film, Couples Run Time: 75 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2001 Director: David Stanley Written by: David Stanley Cast: Dasha, Felicia Fox, Tabitha Stern (as Tabatha Stern), Chennin Blanc, Brittaney Star (as Brittany Star), Dale DaBone (as Dale DeBone), Cheyne Collins, Marty Romano, Jonathan Stern (as John Stern), Tony Tedeschi Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Disc: DVD 5 (SS, SL) Special Features: Multiple Angles, Fetish Rooms, Photo Gallery, Help Menu, Bonus Rooms, The Web, Trailers DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
Nancy (Dasha) leaves her husband Bob (Cheyne Collins) and goes to visit her friend to straighten out what is in her head. After fucking up her friend's marriage, she runs off to Texas to find Cletus (Dale DaBone), a man she met along the road.

Video/Audio:
Morning Star is presented in the full screen aspect ratio, 1.33:1, which I believe is the original aspect ratio for the film. The color level is good, but the picture is soft with occasional video glitches. Given the age of the film, the picture quality should be much better.

The available audio track is a 2.0 English Stereo track, which is all the film requires. Given the nature of the audio, and apparent budget of the film, anything better would be a waste of time and would make the film sound odd. The only major problem with the audio track is that the sound level varies at times. No other language tracks and no subtitle options are available.

Chapters/Time Code:
There are eight chapters available from the main menu for Morning Star. They are identified by a video clip from the scene and a name for the scene, similar to mainstream discs. The chapters provide decent navigation though the film. There is a time code for the feature film, so time searching is available.

Special Features:
As per the norm for a disc from Vivid, very few of the special features have anything to do with the feature film. As for the film specific features, first up are the multiple angles. Thankfully there is an option in the main menu to allow you to turn off the multiple angle indicator in the film. There are three angles available during portions of the sex scenes. The multiple angles here appear to be cut portions of the sex scene since they don't quite match up with the audio, which Vivid is infamous for. As Vivid has been doing recently they have added what they call fetish rooms, which are links to instances of certain fetishes in the feature film. Available fetishes on this disc are pussy eating, blowjobs, doggy, spoon, missionary and cowgirl. The final film specific extra on the disc is a photo gallery that contains 17 stills from the film on a track. The camera pans and scans over some of the photos as Vivid has also been doing recently.

Now for the non feature specific extras on the disc. First up is the help menu. A feature designed for the idiots among us that can't figure out how to navigate around the disc. This feature was obviously created by idiots as well since it is buried inside the navigational system and by the time the viewer finds it, chances are they have, at least, figured out the basics to the navigational system of this extraordinarily complex disc. There are what Vivid calls bonus rooms, which contain extra scenes from other films in a similar category. Under the category facials are scenes from Blondage, Sex Raiders, The Black Room, and Into the Night. Under the category girls only are scenes from Flipside, Vagablonde, Night Breed, and Kelly Close-Up. The web is a short advert for Vivid Video's Internet presence. Also on the disc are previews for the Vivid titles Daytime Drama, Deep Inside Chloe, Devon: The Lost Footage, and Prisoner.

Review:
Morning Star is a rather poor release from Vivid Video. To begin with, the plot is bad. Not only is it uninteresting and boring, but it is also completely ridiculous in nature. Now I know that plots in porn aren't usually all that great, but this one is bad even for porn. During Nancy's trip of self finding, we are apparently supposed to believe that Nancy can find inner spirituality through having sex with a complete stranger, Cletus sage of the road. During the film you never find yourself neither caring about or even somewhat interested in any character nor what happens to them.

To add onto the disappointment, the acting is horrible. You can find better acting at any junior high school produced play. The sets are poor and obviously quickly designed. As a helpful bit of advice on how to try and get some enjoyment out of this film, if you find yourself watching it, during the continental breakfast scene with Cletus and Nancy, you can have fun watching the hotel room number on the door switch around during the scene.

So, now we get to the most important part of any adult film, how the cast looks and how good the sex is. The casts' looks, for the most part, are average for both the males and the females. Nobody looks so bad that you will find yourself throwing rocks at your television. Inversely, no one is so hot that you will find yourself creaming your pants from just the sight of them. The sex is average at best. The sex is very formulaic causing the scenes to start becoming monotonous, no not monogamous — there is none of that in this film, after a while. The sex is tame making this film more for the couple's viewers instead of viewers who like nastier sex. For viewers who care about rubber dick sheaths, condoms are used in all the scenes. The sexual themes in the film are oral and vaginal sex with female masturbation, titty fucking, lesbian and toys.

The Money Shot:
Morning Star is definitely a bad movie, there is no doubt about it, but at least they tried to make a decent film. Couples stand the greatest chance of getting some enjoyment out of this film whereas viewers who like nasty sex or hate a plot stand the least chance of finding enjoyment here. If you are still interested in this film, I recommend renting before purchasing.

Past Reviews Interviews