Private Gold 72: Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island Review

Distributor: Private Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Foreign, Feature Film Run Time: 106 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2005 Director: Max Bellocchio (as Alessandro Del Mar) Written by: Max Bellocchio (as Alessandro Del Mar) Cast: George Uhl, Silvia Saint, Angel Dark, Francesco Malcom, Horst Baron, Nicki Blond (as Nikki Blond), Philippe Dean (as Philip Dean), Don Fearney (as Donald Ferrey), Valentina Velasques, Jennifer Stone (as Jennifer S.), Evelyn Lory (as Evelyn Strafford), Jocasta (as YoKasta), Lauro Giotto, Niki Rider (as Nikki Rider), Kevin Long, Simone Style (as Yvonne Peach), Thalia, Lucy Love, Max Bellocchio Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (dubbed), French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (dubbed), German Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (dubbed), Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (dubbed), Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (dubbed) Subtitles: Dutch, Portuguese, Italian Video: Widescreen, 1.78:1 (anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 2

Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe is an interesting choice for an adult movie company to take on. The original novel was a Puritan novel, which means that sex is the furthest thing from the source material. Not that Alessandro Del Mar adheres at all to Defoe's novel in Private's take on Robinson Crusoe. This version of the novel seems more fascinated by the mistaken concept that Robinson Crusoe was based on the real life of Alexander Selkirk, who is renamed as Robinson Crusoe in the movie.

In this version, Daniel Defoe (Don Fearney) receives the diary of Robinson Crusoe from Jacope (Alessandro Del Mar) in the hopes that it could be turned into a novel. Defoe reads the accounts of Robinson Crusoe (George Uhl), who was attacked by a mysterious assassin and ultimately kills him in London in 1705. Crusoe flees London on a merchant vessel headed to New York City, but the ship is wrecked off the Brazilian coast and Crusoe, the lone survivor, washes ashore on a deserted island.

It seems like Del Mar hasn't actually read Robinson Crusoe since his film feels more like he skimmed the Wikipedia page and not the novel. And Del Mar was tasked with turning a Puritan novel into an adult movie. Interestingly, many aspects from the beginning of the novel that could have actually been manipulated to work were discarded and Crusoe is dumped on the island as fast as possible. Once there, all the beginning sex scenes are shown from Crusoe's memory of the past and his dreams of his desires.

Then Sunday (Jocasta) gets brought into the mix when she escapes from pirates, allowing for sex scenes with her and Crusoe along with sex scenes with the pirates, who are both male and female to finish out the movie. As is often the case with movies from Private, Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island looks glossy and nice. Excellent locations have been picked for shooting and the camera work is visually appealing. The sex scenes are rather average. For some reason, sex scenes from Private all resemble each other. Sadly, with all the money spent on getting the cast to the great locations, as is also often the case with Private's movies, the plot is a loss. The movie does keep the aspect where much of it is narrated by Crusoe from the book but ultimately the plot exists here just to move from sex scene to sex scene instead of working congruently with the sex scenes to create an actual feature movie.

If you like the style of feature movies that Private cranks out, Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island should be right up your alley. The locations are great, the costumes are well done, and the finished product looks glossy. However, if you like the plot in a feature movie to be more than just an afterthought, Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island is apt to be a disappointment.

Private has done a great job with their standard release of Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island. Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island is presented in the anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 480i. The transfer for the movie looks good without any noticeable defects, a nice crisp picture, and vibrant colors.

Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island is presented with a dubbed English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo audio track. The audio track works for the material being presented. Like with all of Private's productions that I have come across, the audio track appears to be dubbed. There are no noticeable issues with the audio and dialog is clear and can be heard at all times. Private has also included dubbed French, German, Spanish, and Italian Dolby Digital Stereo audio tracks as well as Dutch, Portuguese, and Greek subtitles.

Private has loaded this two DVD release with extras. The first DVD contains just the movie and on the second DVD are all the extras. There is an “Exclusive Extra Scene,” which runs for 18 minutes and starts out as a behind the scenes of the shooting of a sex scene hosted by Francesco Malcom that becomes a sex scene with him and Niki Rider. There is a 24 minute piece called “Robinson Crusoe: The Making of,” which is a behind the scenes piece on the movie. “Shooting Diaries” is another behind the scenes piece that runs for 56 minutes. There is a “Cast Interviews” piece that lasts for 23 minutes. A five minute “Director's Interview.”

The extras keep coming too. There is a six minute “Inside the Editing Room” piece. A 25 minute piece called &dlquo;Robinson Crusoe: The Costumes” on all the costumes used. “Director's Comments” which lasts 23 minutes. There are text production notes with the most basic of information about the movie. The trailer for the movie is on the disc. There is a backstage photo gallery and a movie photo gallery. There are also Private filmographies for the female cast included on the disc.

Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island is what we have all come to expect from Private. A glossy very nice looking production, with great locations and elaborate costumes, but with no real story to the movie with formulaic sex scenes. If you are a fan of the features that Private produces, you will love Robinson Crusoe on Sin Island. If you want more substance to your adult entertainment, you will find the movie to be a let down. Private has done an excellent job with this release with a nice transfer and a ton of extras.

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