Sunset Stripped Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  12/31/2002

Running Time: 140 min.

Production Date: 2 / 2002

Director: Veronica Hart

Cast: Ginger Lynn, Ashlyn Gere, Chennin Blanc, Nikita Denise, Sharon Kate, Alex Foxe, Cherie, Sondra Hall, Kelly Fire, Hamilton Steel, Randy Spears, Tyce Bune, Mickey G., Cheyne Collins, JT Cannon, JD Coxxx, and Jamie Gillis in sexual roles and George Kaplan, Wit Maverick, and many others in non-sex roles

Initial Expectations: This one has me really interested, and I can’t nail it down to one or two things.

Initial Reaction: Wow. Movies and DVDs like this are why VCA is considered one of the top studios around. This is one of the few adult films that as soon as I finished watching it I wanted to go back and watch it again.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting an adult film rather than just a porno

Who Should Avoid It: Raincoaters

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects are excellent and varied throughout the movie. The audio is clear and well balanced, while the video is normally clear of grain and has shadows only where they should be. There are a few variations, since some of the movie is supposed to be older movies. In those cases, there’s a little extra noise and a little pixelation to give the movie the feel of an eighties porno movie. It’s all very well done and helps give the feature a great feel.

Music: The music varies in style throughout the entire movie. Some of the non-sex portions have music which makes it feel just like a well done mainstream movie. The music in the sex scenes varies depending on the type of scene. Some of it is fairly typical porno music, while the older sex scenes have older styled music. It’s very well balanced with the rest of the audio, and helps out the entire movie.

Menus: The main menu is the standard VCA main menu with the same music you’ve heard a million times before. It’s a shot of the cover with some of the action going on in a box in the corner. With main menus like this I can see why some companies try to hide them by going straight to the movie when the DVD starts. The chapter menu, on the other hand, shows some nice thought and care. You can choose a scene based on the leading lady in the scene and a small clip of the scene, and jump right to a specific point in the scene thanks to a list of choices alongside the clip.

The Feature: When down on the luck writer Ginger Lynn has her car repossessed / stolen, she finds herself at the home of aging porn star Jamie Gillis to use the phone. When he finds out Ginger’s a writer, he hires her to help him write his book. Things aren’t quite what she expects them to be, as Jamie insists she stay with him to write the book, and makes her watch his movies every night. He, and his maid Sharon Kane, are the jealous and worrisome kind, and don’t want her to have any contact with anybody in her life before she came to them. It’s not something that Ginger likes, and she isn’t always content to play by their rules despite the possible consequences.

In an attempt to keep her car from repo man Tyce Bune, Ginger Lynn dresses up like a cheerleader with her hair in pigtails for “Coach” Tyce in the back of a convertible. They start off with a bit of kissing before Ginger lays back and lets Tyce tongue her twat and ass. She reciprocates nicely by sucking Tyce’s schlong and then lays back against the front seat so he can fuck her. He feeds her pussy his cock repeatedly, and then fucks her from behind while thumbing her ass. Finally, he pulls out and deposits his dick droppings on Ginger’s great ass. It’s a very good scene with great chemistry. I’ll admit that I was laughing when I saw the clip of Ginger in a cheerleader outfit during the opening credits, but the way Veronica Hart worked it into this scene makes it work great! This is a fun scene and a very good start to the movie.

Mickey G., playing a young Jamie Gillis, takes on Nikita Denise and Sondra Hall in the second scene. It’s a cop scene, with Mickey seeing how badly the girls want to stay out of jail. Sondra quickly lies on her back for Nikita and Mickey to work her over before the girls team up to suck Mickey’s cock. Sondra gets fucked first, with Mickey pumping her from behind as she eats Nikita. Nikita takes her turn next, laying back for Mickey to fuck her holes while Sondra rides her face and fingers her. Mickey finally ends things popping on Sondra’s tits, and then kisses Nikita after she licks it up. It’s a great scene that does a great job of capturing a lot of the feel of eighties porn. It has much of the style, both in clothing as well as camera work, yet still has some of the nastiness of modern porn with Nikita’s ass getting pummeled.

Randy Spears gets busy with Ashlyn Gere after Ginger goes to Ashlyn for advice on her book. Ashlyn all but tears Randy’s clothes off before devouring his cock, and doesn’t even need to bother with him warming her up. After Randy fumbles with his rubber a little, since they don’t want any babies yet, he fucks Ashlyn missionary style on her desk. Ashlyn also has Randy fuck her from behind before decorating her amazing ass. It’s an extremely hot scene where everything his absolutely right. Ashlyn has an animalistic drive that makes the scene almost feel nasty, yet there’s absolutely nothing nasty about it. It’s intense, it’s energetic, and it’s all around damn hot! I know a lot of people think only women who look like they shouldn’t be driving should fuck on camera, but they must not have seen Ashlyn here.

After getting back to Jamie’s place, Ginger lays back on her bed and diddles herself. She starts out rubbing her nub before delving another finger into her ass. She’s soon found by Sharon Kane, who threatens to have Jamie throw her out if she doesn’t satisfy her. Sharon has Ginger strip down and then polish her shoes before kissing her way up her legs and sucking her tits. Ginger dives into Sharon’s pussy, easily at first and then building into a fury before Sharon pushes Ginger back on the bed to show her appreciation for the excellent job Ginger did. It’s another extremely hot scene with great chemistry and energy. It’s a little darker scene, but Sharon plays it so well that it’s impossible not to like it.

Mickey G. takes on Sharon Kane, in a scene she and “Jamie” did long ago. Sharon, wearing a long blonde wig, starts out sucking Mickey on her knees before he gives her a mustache ride. They move on through doggie and reverse cowgirl before Sharon hops off and Mickey blows on her leg. It’s another very good scene that keeps the feel of eighties porn, but didn’t work quite as well as in some of the other scenes. The main thing that did it for me was the condom donut was extremely noticeable here. I don’t have a problem with people wanting safe sex, but I don’t think it would have taken much time to trim off the donut to make the condom a lot less noticeable for a scene that’s supposed to look like it was made in a time when condom usage in porn was unheard of.

Ginger, dressed as if she just came out of one of Jamie’s movies, makes her way back to Ashlyn’s office to work out a few details about the scene in her book. Luckily the scene in her book is a sex scene, which makes things all the easier to get things where any red blooded American boy would want them to be. Ginger helps Ashlyn remove her pants before kissing her way around her thighs, playing with her, and finally licking her pussy. Ginger makes Ashlyn close her eyes as she works her over with a vibrator before making Ashlyn work over her ass. Ginger has Ashlyn lick it, whip it with her horsey buttplug, and then help her insert the plug. Ashlyn heads back to Ginger’s bag to retrieve a double dong that they share, which brings Ashlyn to a rocking orgasm. They finally finish things up with a very passionate kiss. It’s an extremely hot scene that’s proves that good things come to those who wait. I was in awe throughout this entire scene, and would recommend that anybody who’s a fan of either of these ladies watch this scene with a couple boxes of Kleenex handy, some lube, or even your favorite toy.

An orgy at Jamie’s house involving Cheyne Collins, Chennin Blanc, Kelly and Hamilton Steele, Cherie, Alex Foxe, J.T. Cannon, and J. D. Coxxx makes up the penultimate scene. Jamie plays the thoughtful host by passing out condoms to everybody, as well as getting in on the action a little himself. Cheyne lets go with the first pop shot, but doesn’t let that slow him down at all. He returns to fucking Chennin after Jamie inspects the jiz on her ass. Hamilton Steele gives Kelly a good working over as well, as Kelly devours everybody around her she can. Kelly takes it in each of her holes, and finishes things up with a great facial. Cherie, who also takes it in the ass, and Alex Foxe also do great jobs, although they’re not seen as much as the others. The girls finish it up taking some nice pop shots, with Kelly really shining here as she takes a double facial from Hamilton and another guy. It’s a very short scene, which disappointed me a little since I would have liked to have seen a lot more from everybody here, but it also felt a little different from the rest of the movie with an open orgy and people switching back and forth. On the other hand, the scene adds a little to the movie with Jamie trying to relive his glory days, which makes it fit well into the movie. I’m a little torn about this scene, but it isn’t different enough to hurt the overall amazing sex in the movie.

Finally, Ginger Lynn and Randy Spears hook up in her bedroom at Jamie’s. After a little kissing and reassuring from Ginger, she drops down to suck Randy’s cock. Randy removes Ginger’s panties and slides himself into her as she lays back on the bed without any other warmup. They move through a couple more positions, including doggie, before Randy decorates Ginger’s great ass. It’s a great closing to the sexual part of the movie, with Randy and Ginger doing every bit as good of a job as you could dream they would. Everything feels incredibly natural, rather than feeling like Ginger and Randy are trying to let the camera get a specific angle. The positions feel real, the pacing feels real, and the emotions feel real. This is a perfect scene to watch with a loved one.

Sunset Stripped is one hell of an adult movie. The plot is so well written and acted that I consider it a porno only in the loosest meaning. Yes, there’s sex, but it’s a part of the overall movie, and it’s captured amazingly well. It isn’t filled with close-ups, but there’s enough of them to let you know what’s going on. Instead it focuses on distance shots that are just far enough away that you can see the action happening as well as seeing that the performers are so incredibly into it. Ginger Lynn and Ashlyn Gere show that you don’t have to be young to know how to fuck, and in fact, shows that experience is a good thing. They smoke in each of their scenes, and team up for a scene that’s worth the purchase price of the entire DVD. Their skills are equally met by Randy Spears and Jamie Gillis, and although Jamie doesn’t fuck anybody in the movie, he plays his entire role so well that I can’t think of a single person who’d come close to doing as good of a job. The also shows the care of working in safe sex extremely well. Veronica Hart works the condoms in with comments about not wanting babies and as a safety aspect with the orgy scene, which made all the difference for condom usage here. If everybody else could work them in as well as she did here, I doubt there would be so much discussion about their usage or lack thereof. Sunset Stripped hits on every cylinder, and is a must have DVD for all fans of couples films.

Extras: Multiple angles are available for some parts of the scenes, and in all cases appear to be true multiple angles. Audio bios are included for Ginger Lynn, Ashlyn Gere, Sharon Kane, and Nikita Denise. Each bio includes a link to the star’s scene, a list of VCA credits, and a few photos of the star. The photo gallery lasts about two and a half minutes with about seven seconds per nice looking full screen photo. There’s also ten 3-D stereoscopic images that also look good for those who can see them. Rounding out the photo galleries is twenty one great looking behind the scenes photos. Trailers are included for Dangerous Games, Crime & Passion, and Taken. There’s also internet and contact information, bonus scenes, a behind the scenes featurette, and a few different options for viewing the feature.

There are several options on how you want to watch the movie. First is the wall to wall option, which gets rid of all the fast forward fodder and leaves you with only sex. You can also watch the movie with two classic Jamie Gillis scenes put into the feature (which are available otherwise as bonus scenes) rather than seeing Mickey G. portraying a young Jamie. Finally, there’s an alternate ending to the feature. You can’t watch just the ending alone, but with how many chapter breaks VCA puts in their movies, it’s not too hard to get to it. It’s not a big difference, and I do think the original ending worked much better. The different options to watching the movie is a great extra, and shows a lot of care from VCA.

Veronica Hart and Ginger Lynn also team up to give an audio commentary, which is one of the best commentaries I’ve ever heard. I have no doubt that Ginger and Veronica have been friends for a long time, and it shows very well throughout the entire commentary. They talk about everything that comes to mind, from sex to the people in the movies to going on vacation as the movie goes, and laugh throughout much of it. Whatever hits their mind seems to come out as the movie rolls, and there’s barely ever a quiet moment. It’s fun and natural, and every bit as enjoyable to listen to as the actual movie.

The first bonus scene comes from Alex deRenzy’s 1983 classic Girlfriends and features Jamie Gillis taking on Genoa and another women. Jamie strokes it as the girls get themselves started without him, and then joins in after a few moments. He works a little ass play in for Genoa as well as just vaginal, and the two girls work well with each other throughout the scene. They finish things up kissing as Jamie gives them a jism baptism. It’s a pretty standard classic porn scene, with the performers looking like they’re really enjoying themselves.

Jamie Gillis is also featured in the second bonus scene, where he’s paired with Sharon Kane in Henri Pachard’s Diaries of Fire and Ice. Jamie starts out patiently eating Sharon’s pussy and ass before she sucks his cock. She starts out slowly and then builds up speed and intensity until Jamie takes control back, making her beg for it and fucking her face. Jamie teases Sharon a bit before fucking her doggie style, then turns around, sits on her ass, and jerks off on her ripped stockings as she spreads her cheeks. It’s a different scene, with Jamie Gillis turning me off a little as he always seems to. Sharon, on the other hand, looked darn hot and gave a great, although subdued, performance.

Finally, the behind the scenes featurette lasts about fifteen minutes. Since the behind the scenes crew arrived a little late, one of the guys on the crew catches everybody up on things like the President stopping by and encouraging everybody on the set. Veronica Hart talks a little about the feel of the movie before Ashlyn Gere talks about her scene, a dream sequence with Veronica Hart, and this probably being her last scene. There’s also a great bit with Randy Spears talking about Ashlyn, as well as a little interaction between them. Ginger Lynn also talks about working with Randy and what the movie’s about. It’s fairly limited, since you don’t get to see Veronica working with the stars or any of the scenes being shot, but it’s a lot of fun to watch and gives you a nice feel for Ginger Lynn, Ashlyn Gere, Randy Spears, and Veronica Hart as people.

Themes: Straight, rimming (male > female), group, lesbian, anal, masturbation, lesbian, B&D, shoe worship, rimming (female > female), and toys

Raincoat Factor: Medium

Overall: Currently, Sunset Stripped can be found online for between $19 and $30 with most stores offering it for around $20. This is more than fair for what you get, and I wouldn’t even complain about it at the top end. The movie, technical aspects, and extras are all excellent, and show a lot of creativity and care. Don’t bother renting this one. Just go out and buy it.

Note to VCA: You’ve shown some amazing creativity with this DVD. I’ll admit that every now and then I start to question your reputation as one of the top studios around, but you’ve proven it here amazingly well. This DVD really had me in awe of your care and innovativeness. The only thing I’d change, outside of my normal bitch about your menus, would be to allow the viewer to watch the alternate ending by itself rather than only allowing them to watch it as part of the movie.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

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