Por Un Punado de Polvos Review

Distributor: X Canal Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Foreign, Feature Film, Western Also known as: A Fistful of Balls Run Time: 88 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 1998 Director: Antonio Marcos (as Anton Frames) Written by: Antonio Marcos (as Anton Frames) Cast: Nacho Vidal, Toni Ribas, Sophie Evans (as Sofie Evans), El Potrillo, Paola, Andy, Taia, Claudia, Susana Del Alba Release Specs: Audio: Spanish Linear PCM 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: PAL Format: DVD-R Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Por Un Puñado de Polvos is a Spanish adult western, of sorts, that bills itself as “El primer Spanish Western Porno.” Por Un Puñado de Polvos may be the first Spanish adult western, however, calling it a western is like calling Alex de Renzy's Powder Burns a western. The category fits only because there doesn't appear to be any other way to classify the movie, despite the fact that calling it a western doesn't seem appropriate either.

The plot, as this reviewer understood it, is that a computer programmer creates a program that transports him into his computer. After a sexual liaison there, the then transports himself into the middle of a western porno that is being filmed that he is then convinced to join. Note, this reviewer's Spanish language skills are rusty — okay very poor — so there may be discrepancies between what the actual plot is and what this reviewer understood the plot to be.

The resulting movie is odd in nature. The movie switches back and forth between the filming of the western porno, with the cast talking to the director, and the western porno itself seemingly already filmed and edited together. Then there are the computer programmer sections that are bookended on both sides of the movie. The resulting movie feels very uneven. Every time that the viewer gets into the western story, they get pulled out back to the filming of the movie story.

The sex scenes are, on average, well done. There is a nice variety with the settings where they take place including Nacho Vidal taking a woman right on the bar in the saloon and then a revenge sex scene while he is tied up with Toni Ribas and Sophie Evans. The sex scenes are nicely shot. The one big exception is the first sex scene with the computer programmer and the girl inside his computer. Horrible greenscreen and CGI work completely ruin that scene.

Which brings us to the technical side. The CGI work and greenscreen when the computer programmer is inside his computer is just awful. He, and his partner, are shown just kind of floating around these computer generated blocky items that are supposed to be computer cards. There is also an object that keeps getting caught by the camera on the left side of the screen that interferes with the greenscreen effect as well. The effect of the programmer transporting is also rather poorly done as well.

The western town set is, well, extremely well done. This reviewer has the feeling that it was built for another production and director Antonio Marcos managed to get permission to use it before it got razed as it seems rather elaborate for an adult movie. The western movie costuming is well done as well giving a good mood to that portion of the movie.

This reviewer wishes that the movie had stuck with just the western story and had skipped that of the shooting of the porno western and that of the computer programmer. Both of those portions just had too many problems and detracted heavily from the movie. The portions that worked the best were the actual western portions. The movie as it is, however, is hard to recommend due to all the flaws.

X Canal has done a good job with their DVD-R release of Por Un Puñado de Polvos. Por Un Puñado de Polvos appears to have been shot on film or high-quality video and either a film or a high-quality video master was used to master this release. Por Un Puñado de Polvos is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480p. The movie sports a decent image with grain present. There may be one or two glitches in the video, it was hard to tell if they were actual glitches or poor CGI effects. The colors in the movie look very nice. Either way, the movie is very watchable and looks nice.

Por Un Puñado de Polvos is presented with a Spanish Linear PCM Stereo audio track. There is a low hiss present in the audio throughout the movie. The dialog is clear and can be understood throughout the movie.

X Canal has included a few extras on the release. There are press clippings with news on Por Un Puñado de Polvos included on the disc. There is a photo gallery also included on the disc. There is a 42-minute behind the scenes featurette. The movie soundtrack, which is broken up into seven tracks, by Grass Natural is also included.

Por Un Puñado de Polvos is advertised as the first Spanish adult western, however, in all honesty, the movie isn't very much of a western. There is a western story but it is marred by another storyline that the movie shifts to involving a transporting computer programmer that, honestly, just gets in the way of the western. The sex scenes, with the exception of one, are well done but poor CGI and other effects along with the convoluted non-western storyline get in the way of the movie. Overall, Por Un Puñado de Polvos isn't recommended. X Canal has done a decent job with their DVD-R release of the movie with good image and audio along with a nice featurette as an extra.

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