Taxi Girls (Arrow) Review

Distributor: Arrow Film and Video Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic (1970s Shot on Film), Feature Film Run Time: 78 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1979 Director: Jaacov Jaacovi, Bob Chinn Written by: Jaacov Jaacovi, Bob Oakwood, Svetlana Director of Photography: Lazlo Goldman Cast: John Holmes, Nancy Suiter, Mike Ranger (as Mike Wrangler), Ric Lutz (as Rick Lutz), R.J. Reynolds (as Randy Roetman), George Mitchell, Stacy Goldman, Chris Landau (as Amika Giortano), Bob Wise (as Bob Arkin), Aubrey Nichols (as Adele Lambert), John Seeman (as John Jeman), Hillary Summers (as Heather Gordon), Pat Manning, Nancy Hoffman, Celest, Karen Marshall (as Karen Mitchell), Nicole Scent (as Penny Cash), Jan Ledgerwood, Candida Royalle (as Candida Royal), Jolanda Borkhust, Mitch Morrill, Jamie Gillis (as Jaimi Gillis), Serena, Alan Colberg, Bill Stanley, Rhonda Jo Petty, Svetlana, Turk Lyon Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Disc: DVD 5 (SS, SL) Special Features: Trailers DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
After being arrested yet again, a group of prostitutes comes up with a novel idea to stay out of jail. To avoid being busted they start up a taxi company where the customers get some unique benefits for choosing their cabs.

Audio/Video:
Taxi Girls is presented with an English 2.0 Mono track, which appears to be the original audio track for the film. For the most part, there are no real problems with the audio. For some reason, a word is cut from the dialog at the 26 minute mark of the film. As I don't know what was originally said here I don't know why the word was cut. The dubbing during the opening is very bad too. I don't know if this was how the film was originally or not, but it sounds poor. Arrow hasn't included any foreign language tracks or subtitle options on this disc.

Taxi Girls is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which could be the original aspect ratio for the film. If the picture has been cropped, there is no evidence of it in the print. The print itself is in good shape considering it's age. There are occasional artifacts present along with a glitch or two, but other than that the picture looks good. The colors are somewhat light in some places, but this doesn't ruin the viewing experience.

Cut Warning:
The original version of Taxi Girls ran for 82 minutes and the version that is on this disc only runs for 78 minutes, meaning that four minutes of footage is missing from the original film. As for what has been cut, the portion of the jail scene with Nancy Hoffman and Hillary Summers has been completely cut, you only see them on the side every once and a while. If you are looking, you can see where the cut was made, but it doesn't stand out horribly and won't bother anyone that isn't looking for where it was cut. There also may have been some cuts made in the rape scene at the end, but I'm not sure on that one. If there have been any cuts made here, you can't tell from watching the film.

Special Features:
The only extra available on the disc are trailers for Come Under My Spell, Deep Throat: The Quest Begins, Deep Throat the Quest Continues: Jailbreak, and Deep Throat the Quest Continues: School's Out. After seeing the nice extras given to Candy Stripers, I wish that Arrow had given this film something at least slightly relevant to the film as an extra.

Navigation:
There are eight chapters available from the main menu for Taxi Girls. They are identified by a still shot from where the chapter goes to. Given the style of the film, there should have been more chapters made available, but what is given is acceptable. There is a time code encoded on the disc for the feature film.

General Review:
Although Taxi Girls comes from the Golden Age, my favorite porn period, this film is not the best that the period has to offer. The sets are well done in the film with a police precinct set present even. As with many other adult films from the time, the sets add the feeling of reality to the film and make it more believable.

The biggest problem with the film, and what ultimately brings the film down, is the tone of the plot. In the beginning, the film is a fun lighthearted film but towards the end the film turns dark and destroys the light mood. I'm not quite sure why the filmmakers chose to change the feel of the film the way they did, but it didn't work for them. The end of the film is a giant coercion scene that doesn't fit with the rest of the film.

The film is cheesy and the acting is horrible, but it adds to the fun in the beginning. Viewers who will enjoy this film the most are the ones who enjoy cheesy B-movies. Except for the ending, the film is amusing and fun and gives the viewer some unique scenes unlike any others I have seen before. There is an amusing scene in the beginning with the police desk Sargent and a prostitute and another excellent scene involving a male taxi passenger and a blow up doll, which must be seen to be believed.

As far as the sex scenes go, viewers will either like them or hate them. As is the case with most of the Golden Age films, the women and men are much hairier than those of today. Along with the standard sex scenes, which are rather short in length are several tease scenes as well. Viewers that don't like group scenes will probably not find much in this film to their interest as five of the nine sex scenes are group scenes. The sexual themes in the film are vaginal sex with blow jobs, pussy eating, coercion, toys, lesbianism, pussy fingering, female masturbation, and orgies. For viewers that care about condom use, there are not condoms used in the film.

The Scenes:
For most of the scenes here I only have partial identifications for the performers in the scenes collected from other sources. For the scenes that I know who was in them they are listed, but for the most part there are more than just the listed people in the scenes. This is also just a listing of the full sex scenes, there are also several tease scenes in the film that aren't listed here.

The first three scenes in the film are interlaced together. The first scene is a group scene with several females, including Candida Royalle and Pat Manning, and one male. In the course of the scene there is a blow job and vaginal sex. The second scene features Nancy Hoffman and Hillary Summers for some pussy eating action. The third scene has an unknown female and an unknown male for some vaginal sex and a blow job.

The fourth scene is another group scene with several females, including Nancy Suiter, Aubrey Nichols, Serena, and Mike Ranger. The scene includes a blow job, pussy eating and vaginal sex. The fifth scene is another group scene featuring several females, including Nancy Suiter and Aubrey Nichols, and John Seeman. The scene includes a blow job and vaginal sex. The sixth scene is another group scene featuring several females, including R.J. Reynolds and Nancy Suiter, and an unknown male. The scene includes a blow job and vaginal sex.

The seventh scene features Nancy Suiter and John C. Holmes and includes some pussy eating, vaginal sex and a blow job. The eighth scene features two unknown females and an unknown male for a blow job. The ninth and final scene in the film features several males, including Jamie Gillis, Mike Ranger and Ric Lutz and two females, Nancy Suiter and Serena. This is a coercion scene that features a blow job and vaginal sex.

Parting Thoughts:
Although Taxi Girls has several elements going for it, the end result is less than perfect. Fans of one of the stars may want to pick up this title for that reason, but due to the coercion scene at the end of the film, which ruins the light hearted feel of the film I have trouble recommending this film to any particular group. Viewers that hate a porn with their plot, like one on one sex scenes or hate the style of earlier sex scenes will want to avoid this film. Viewers that like porn with a plot and don't have a problem with coercion might want to give this film a chance.

Screenshots:

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