Sirocco Review

Reviewed by carlash  on  7/24/2001

Sirocco/Desertion

Note: this review is of Sirocco- The Director's Cut

Most men are not fans of softcore porn, and it seems gay men are especially thus. Still, the occasional softcore porn flick is worthwhile, sometimes as a change of pace, sometimes because you want to watch it with someone to "set the mood," sometimes because softcore porn is free to do more "artsy" stuff, and sometimes because there are hot guys who will simulate gay sex but will not actually have it. And sometimes these guys are hotter than the regular porn stars. Sirocco, from Pacific Media, fits all of these reasons, and it does so superbly.

First off, the men in this movie are simply beautiful. Every single guy is gorgeous, and while you never see a hard cock in the entire flick, several of the men are obviously well- endowed. I have always been more of a butt person, myself, so not seeing hard dicks was no great loss. While I have been spoiled by other movies with casts approaching and exceeding twenty, the eight men in this film are worth more than dozens of other stars.

Given that this is softcore, however, and that the movie is shorter than most, the flick isn't worth the, say, fifty bucks for most high- end porn DVDs. I would say it is worth about half that, which is conveniently the cost at most places. Regardless, I watched this movie and just felt good about it- hard to explain, but I think others would share that feeling. I never got "warm fuzzies" after watching most other porn (the exception is a company I named too many times already in another review, and they don't make DVDs).

The video quality is perfect, and the scenes are broken up differently from most porn vids. Basically, the first third of the movie is just the guys meeting each other, and the scene goes from couple to couple before anything overtly sexual happens. By the way, no one ever talks in the movie, but the music is excellent, and sets the mood with precision that dialogue could not approach. There are various shots and pans of the desert in between segments as well- it makes you almost want to move to the desert even if there weren't all the hot naked men having sex there!

The second third of the movie is where the sex starts- or I should say, the simulated sex starts. The film is intensely erotic at this point, and even though I don't believe the models were actually having sex, it was easy to suspend belief. Regardless, everything is still done beautifully, almost as if the fact that the men on screen are supposed to be having sex irrelevant. As I said, this is an "artsy" piece. The music here is perhaps the greatest contributor to the sexual mood though- it has a nice bass rhythm reminiscent of the thrusting that is supposed to happen in porn. The scenes switch between couples here as well.

The last third of the movie is where the guys all come together and basically switch off pairs. Everyone wakes from their sex-induced exhaustion, and most of the characters come to a central camp. You also see a new pair frolicking in the waves (desert beach, I guess [by the way, why is it that you only frolic in water? Can you, say, frolic in the office, or at home?]). More simulated sex with them and the switched crew, then everybody goes to the water to frolic some more.

Plot: Not much of one, really- each of the first pairings has some "theme" to it- an artist and his imaginary model, a photographer and his model, and an army brat and his commanding officer (who helps him shave [face only]), but there is not much else.

Extras: A photo gallery, with some of the pics from the box and a couple dozen others. Nice, but nothing that you haven't seen in a DVD before.

Ratings: The only bad thing I can really say about this movie is that, well, it isn't hardcore. And that doesn't seem like enough to tank it. Oh, and it is only about an hour long, much shorter than most movies. I would say it is a 5 overall for a softcore movie, but only a 4 overall compared to hardcore movies. Still, a pretty high score.

Overall: if you have ever been curious about softcore movies, then I would recommend Sirocco to you (the Boy series is good, too, but that is another review). This is one of those movies that, should a friend come across while digging through your stuff, you wouldn't be embarrassed to own. It is at least my favorite softcore movie, and though it doesn't go through my "cycle" of movies all that often, it is still worthy j/o material. As I said before, though, softcore doesn't have to be about getting off, and by those standards I heartily recommend Sirocco.