Rawhide (Adam & Eve Limited Edition) Review

Distributor: Adam & Eve Edition Details: Limited Edition DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film, Western Run Time: 162 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 2003 Director: Nicholas Steele Written by: Colette Manjou (writer & concept), Nicholas Steele (writer & concept), Kay Stanley (as Kay Stanely) (concept) Cast: Carmen Luvana, Kaylani Lei, Evan Stone, Steven St. Croix, Cheyne Collins, Brooke Ballentyne (as Brooke Balentine), Taylor Rain, Randy Spears, Jesse V, Olivia del Rio, Natalia Wood, Joey Ray, Velvet Rose, Julian, Dale DaBone, Matt Bixel Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.85:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD/CD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 2 DVD, 1 CD Disc: 2 DVD 9 (SS, DL), 1 Linear PCM Audio CD Special Features: Feature Length Commentary Track, Bloopers, Carmen Luvana Interview, Behind the Scenes, Behind the Scenes with The Evan Stone Show, Bonus Scenes, Photo Gallery, Booklet, Soundtrack CD, Previews DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
Bionca (Carmen Luvana) inherits her father's ranch when he dies. She's spent most of her life in the city and she arrives at the ranch with intent to sell it to J.R. (Randy Spears). Ranch hand Devan (Steven St. Croix) tries to think of a way to drive her off to save the ranch where as ranch hand Lee (Evan Stone) tries to make her fall in love with it.

Audio/Video:
Rawhide is presented with an English 2.0 Stereo track, which sounds nice. The dialog is clear and the music sounds nice. The film cries out for a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track though, especially for the music used in the film. Given how much work went into this film it would have been nice if Adam & Eve had gone all the way with the surround track. There is also an English 2.0 Commentary track included on the disc but Adam & Eve hasn't included any foreign language tracks or subtitle options for the feature film.

Rawhide is presented in the widescreen aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1. I'm not sure what the original aspect ratio for the film is since there is a notice at the beginning of the film saying that it has been formatted to fit your screen. Unfortunately Adam & Eve fell a little short of the mark and didn't make the disc anamorphic. Presenting the film in widescreen is nice, but I wish they had gone all the way and made the title anamorphic as well. The presentation isn't perfect either. There is fine grain throughout the feature, but some portions are grainier than others. There are also some color glitches in some places which are very noticeable when they happen. Other than that the video presentation is fine.

Special Features:
Adam & Eve has loaded this disc set with extras, most of which have to do with the feature film. Included in the set is a booklet that contains a bunch of stills from the film. There is an excellent behind the scenes piece that runs for twenty seven minutes that focuses on the cast members and some of the filming. Behind the Scenes with the Evan Stone Show is another great featurette which runs for 16 minutes and is Evan Stone's look at the director and the shooting of the film. There are two bonus scenes on the disc and neither one is a cut scene from the film. The first one with Carmen Luvana, which is shot in widescreen and is in English and Spanish, starts out with an advert and then becomes a masturbation scene. The scene lasts for almost 12 minutes. The other bonus scene features Steven St. Croix and Olivia del Rio and is shot in full screen and lasts for almost eight minutes. This scene is rather grainy.

There is a feature length audio commentary track for the film with Nicholas Steele, the director, and John Noz Muka, the director of photography. There is a photo gallery with 32 stills. Each one is on it's own chapter and the player moves though the stills automatically. There are nine minutes of non-sex bloopers presented in widescreen. There is a Carmen Luvana interview available in English or Spanish shot in widescreen. They are two separate interviews so neither one is dubbed, the English one runs for eleven minutes and the Spanish one runs for almost eight minutes. There are also previews included on the disc for Behind the Mask, Sweet Sounds, and Hot Rods. There is also a soundtrack CD included in the set with 13 tracks that runs for 62 minutes.

Disc Design/Navigation:
This disc set is beautifully designed and comes in a custom three disc holder. The disc has nice animated menus with music. There are 10 chapters available from the chapter menu. Each one is identified by a video clip. There are 21 chapter stops within the feature film itself. The end credits are on a separate track from the film and are in full screen for some reason. There is a time code encoded on the disc but it doesn't function as normal. Resume functions work and the time is displayed on the player but you can't search the disc by time.

General Review:
Rawhide is a plot based epic length adult film from Adam & Eve done with a western theme, which isn't done too often these days unfortunately. The plot for the film is well done however, the film is longer than it needs to be. There are several sequences that could have been shortened without loss to the quality of the film, allowing to have a shorter and more digestible run time. This isn't to say that Rawhide isn't a quality film as Adam & Eve has obviously put a lot of work into the film.

Rawhide has a real mainstream feel to it which works in its favor and it includes an original song by Lance Erickson and Colette Manjou at one point. The movie, which is shot in HD 24P in Piru California shows the viewer, right from the start, that it is going to be a beautifully shot film. It opens with Carmen Luvana and Kaylani Lei riding through the hills in a carriage interlaced with shots of Evan Stone riding a horse herding cows. All the locations that are picked are excellent and the filming and editing are top notch.

The sex scenes in the film are tame, yet good, but viewers looking for rough or nasty sex will be disappointed in the sex shown here. One aspect of the sex scenes that I don't like is they have the common porn disappearing cloths problem. The cast members strip down to a certain extent, but at a point whatever they were still wearing disappears. This happens in most of the sex scenes in the film. However, on the positive side, the girl/girl scene in the film seems more complete than normal due to the kissing at the end instead of the normal cut away that often occurs in girl/girl scenes. The sexual themes in the film are vaginal and anal sex with blow jobs, pussy fingering, anilingus, pussy eating, lesbianism, feet and hand jobs. For viewers that care about condom use, there are condoms used in some scenes and not others. The condoms when used are very unobtrusive though.

The technical aspects for the film are good and there has obviously been some care taken to make the time period look right. There are some time based problems with the film. Most notable is that there are plastic ear tags on some of the cows. Also utility poles can sometimes be seen in the background. The original music from Lance Erickson is great however, some viewers my not like the fact that the music continues through the sex scenes and is louder than the cast during them. The blue filter that is used for the morning riding scene with Evan Stone and Carmen Luvana looks odd. The end result is the scene appears to take place more at dusk than during the daybreak. Other than these details the technical aspects are fine.

Scene Synopsis:
Scene 1: Brooke Balentine and Steven St. Croix
The first scene brings us Brooke Balentine and Steven St. Croix and the scene starts out with Brooke giving Steven a blow job. Then the two go into the vaginal sex. The they go into the anal sex while Brooke also fingers herself. Steven cums on her ass at the end of the scene.

Scene 2: Taylor Rain and Evan Stone
The second scene brings us Taylor Rain and Evan Stone. Evan starts the scene out by fingering Taylor's pussy. Then Taylor gives Evan a blow job. Then Evan eats her pussy and ass while fingering her. Then they go into the vaginal sex. The two then go into some anal sex briefly until Evan cums on her pussy.

Scene 3: Brooke Balentine and Joey Ray
The third scene features Brooke Balentine and Joey Ray and the scene starts out with Joey eating Brooke's pussy. Then Brooke sucks on his dick before the two go into the vaginal sex. Then they go into some anal sex. Then Joey cums on Brooke's pussy and thigh to end the scene.

Scene 4: Carmen Luvana and Kaylani Lei
The fourth scene features Carmen Luvana and Kaylani Lei. Carmen starts the scene out by eating Kaylani's pussy while she fingers it. Then Kaylani eats out Carmen. Then she fingers Carmen and gives her feet a little attention. Then the two grind their pussies into each other. The scene ends with them kissing.

Scene 5: Olivia del Rio and Randy Spears
The fifth scene gives us Olivia del Rio and Randy Spears. The scene starts out with Olivia giving Randy a blow job. Then Randy eats her pussy. Then they go into the vaginal sex. Randy cums on her face and mouth to end the scene.

Scene 6: Kaylani Lei and Cheyne Collins
The sixth scene gives us Kaylani Lei and Cheyne Collins and the scene starts out with Kaylani giving Cheyne a blow job. Then Cheyne eats out Kaylani. Then they go into some vaginal sex. Kaylani then jerks off Cheyne until he cums above her pubic area.

Scene 7: Jesse V and Julian
The seventh scene brings us Jesse V and Julian. Julian starts out by eating Jesse's pussy. Then Jesse gives Julian a blow job. Then the two go into the vaginal sex and Julian cums on her back to end the scene.

Scene 8: Velvet Rose and Dale DaBone
The eighth scene brings us Velvet Rose and Dale DaBone. Velvet starts the scene out by giving Dale a blow job. Then Dale eats Velvet's pussy. Then the two go into the vaginal sex. Dale cums in Velvet's mouth to end the scene.

Scene 9: Natalia Wood and Steven St. Croix
The ninth scene features Natalia Wood and Steven St. Croix and the scene starts out with Steven eating Natalia's pussy. Then Natalia gives him a blow job while he continues to eat her out. Then Natalia climbs on Steven for some vaginal sex. Steven cums on her face and chest at the end of the scene.

Scene 10: Carmen Luvana and Evan Stone
The tenth and final scene features Carmen Luvana and Evan Stone and the scene starts out with Carmen giving Evan a blow job. Then Evan eats out Carmen's pussy. Then they go into the vaginal sex. Evan cums on the small of Carmen's back to end the scene.

Parting Thoughts:
Despite its shortcomings Rawhide is an excellent western theme adult film. The film has excellent locations and photography and features a decent story. Viewers who don't like a plot with their adult film or hate tame sex will want to pass on this title. If you like feature films this one is definitely worth watching if not just purchasing.

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