Ultimate Fear of Speed, The Review

Distributor: A55 Films / Image Entertainment Edition Details: Shameless Edition DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Softcore, Feature Film, Action, Comedy Also known as: Tachophobia: The Fear of Speed, The Fear of Speed Run Time: 78 minutes Rated: not Release Year: 2001 Director: Jeff Centauri Written by: William Joseph Hill (as Nigel Rocketts), Jeff Centauri Cast: Dale DaBone (as Dale Rutter), Noname Jane (as Ada Mae Johnson), Voodoo (as Alex Torre), Mike Horner (as Don Hart), George Meyers (as Rick Rhodes), Andre McCoy (as Chyna McCoy), Larnell Stovall, Ross Marshall, Jo Eric Mercado, Herschel Savage (as Van Ayasit), Miko Lee, Nicole Sheridan, Aurora Snow (as Aurora), Stevie (as Isla), Edwin Villa, David Brett, Kenny Kelley (as Ken Kelley), Joe Long Beach, Abe Ubaldo, Alex Red, Tawny Roberts (as Tawny), Rick Patrick (as Ricky), Chris Lozano Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, English DTS 5.1 Surround Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 1 (U.S. & Canada) Number of discs: 1 Disc: DVD 9 (SS, DL) Special Features: Commentary, Battle of the Imports Game, Behind the Fear of Speed, The Modified Auto Featurette, Storyboards, Slide Shows, Music Video, Behind the Music Video, Cast & Crew Interviews, Biographies, Fear of Speed Bloopers, Voice Over Bloopers, Trailers, Easter Egg DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
Max Spears (Dale DaBone) is a race driver who's greatest rival is Rico Martino (Voodoo). Rico's father Hornero Martino (Mike Horner), due to exposure to nuclear materials, ejaculates cum that has explosive properties. Rico uses his father's jizz to try to win the big race against Max.

Audio/Video:
The Ultimate Fear of Speed is presented with two main audio tracks. There is an English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track and an English 5.1 DTS Surround track. The audio for the film sounds good with clear dialog and the background effects are at a good volume as well. There is also an English 2.0 Commentary track included on the disc. Image hasn't included any foreign language tracks or subtitle options for the feature film.

The Ultimate Fear of Speed is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The video for the film looks good as well featuring no pixels, artifacts, blemishes or glitches in the print. The color levels are correctly set for a natural looking picture. In a few scenes where there is a lot of fast action it looks like the frame rate may have been reduced as objects seem to skip ahead. There isn't pixels present so it isn't a bit rate problem but it may have been done to prevent pixels. It doesn't ruin the viewing experience though and is only present in a few places, mostly driving scenes. Other than that I have no problems with the video presentation at all.

Special Features:
Image and A55 have loaded this disc with extras and although some of them fall flat the others more than make up for it. Almost all the extras on the disc relate to the feature film so they complement the film very well. There is a feature length commentary track for the film with mostly Jeff Centauri but also features Edy Ong, Chyna McCoy, and Ryan. There is the Battle of the Imports Game, which is a cheesy game where you try and pick which car will win from a selection of two different cars. The game gets old fast, but if you pick three races in a row correctly you get a clip from A55 Films latest film Attack of the Virgin Mummies. “Behind The Fear of Speed” are three featurettes. There is the Behind the Speed featurette, which runs for nine minutes and focuses on the driving in the film. There is the Behind the Stunts featurette, which runs for seven minutes and focuses on the stunt work in the film. The last one is the Bike Trix featurette which runs for two minutes and features Dale DaBone playing on a motorcycle. The Modified Auto Featurette runs for seven minutes and the piece focuses on the cars used in the film and the real owners of them. Storyboards runs for four-and-a-half minutes and shows the conceptual art for a scene next to the finished scene.

There are several slide shows included on the disc. The Artwork slide show contains nine stills of posters and home video art. Behind the Scenes contains 36 stills involving the production of the film. Cast & Crew holds 20 stills featuring, as the title indicates, the cast and crew. Crazy Stunts contains 17 stills of the stunt work performed in the film. Fast Cars contains 21 stills of the various cars in the film and Hot Girls contains 32 stills of the women in the feature film. All the slide shows are on a track and have good timing between picture changes. Music Video holds the music video for the title song to The Fear of Speed performed by Andre McCoy and Edwin Villa. Behind the Music Video is an eleven minute piece showing the making of the music video for the title song.

Cast & Crew Interviews feature interviews mostly with cast members of which some are interesting but others are rather useless. There are interviews with Dale DaBone, Violet Blue, Voodoo, Andre McCoy, Rick Rhodes and Christopher Xavier Lozano of Total Look included on the disc. There are biographies, which are composed of basic and in depth text information with a picture, for Dale DaBone, Violet Blue, Andre McCoy, Edy Ong, and Jeff Centauri. There are three minutes of Fear of Speed Bloopers featuring flubs and fuck-ups. This feature is repeated from the end of the film which also contains the same three minute reel. There are also two-and-a-half minutes of Voice over Bloopers, which features fun with voice overs. There are also trailers included on the disc for The Fear of Speed, Import Honeyz, Sex Drive, Attack of the Virgin Mummies, and Snuff. There is also an Easter Egg included on the disc which shows a two-and-a-half minute demo reel for Jeff Centauri's Kamakaze Stunts.

Disc Design/Navigation:
The disc is designed with incredibly well done animated menus with background music. The menus look more like the lead in to a video game than a DVD. There are 16 chapters available from the chapter menu for the feature film. Each one is identified by a scene name and a video clip from the scene. There are 33 chapter stops within the feature film itself. There is a time code encoded on the disc for the feature film.

General Review:
The Fear of Speed is available in three different versions with varying content. The original, and as of yet unreleased, hardcore version of the film is called Tachophobia: The Fear of Speed. Tachophobia is the XXX version of the film and will be released soon by Excellence Entertainment, the sister company of A55 Films. The next version is called The Fear of Speed and is what would be considered the cable cut of the film. The hardcore footage has been removed but the film isn't tame enough for the rental market. The Fear of Speed is distributed by A55 Films. The last version of the film is called The Ultimate Fear of Speed, which is the equivalent of an R-rated cut of the film. This is the version that is carried by most major rental outlets. The Ultimate Fear of Speed is distributed by Image Entertainment. This review solely focuses on The Ultimate Fear of Speed version of the film.

The Ultimate Fear of Speed is a combination of an action film, a comedy and an erotic film. The plot is fun and reminds me of the cheesy comedies of the late 80s like Vice Academy. The film never takes itself seriously, which helps it out. Considering that much of the film focuses around the uses of Hornero Martino's super jizz, the plot when you think of it in realistic terms is absolutely ridiculous. However, the way it is presented, it works for the film. The Ultimate Fear of Speed isn't a slapstick style comedy but instead is more of a subtle comedy. My only real complaint with the film is the opening to the film isn't explained too well. The viewer is pretty much thrown into the film and then the details are sorted out for you later in the film. A few extra minutes of footage to explain the rivalry between Max Spears and Rico Martino would have helped the opening to the film considerably.

As far as the sex goes, almost everything has been removed from this film. You can see where most of the sex scenes will be in the full version, but very little of them are left. All that remains here is the beginning of the scenes with some boob shots and a little leg licking. That's the downfall of this version is that so much of the sex scenes have been removed. Supposedly there is still quite a bit of sexual footage in version titled The Fear of Speed it isn't hardcore footage though. I haven't seen that version yet so I can't attest to how much is in that version though. Based on this version it looks like the sex scene parings will be Violet Blue with Dale DaBone, Stevie with Mike Horner, Miko Lee with Dale DaBone, Aurora Snow with Herschel Savage, Nicole Sheridan and Voodoo and Violet Blue with Dale DaBone. There also may be a scene with Tawny Roberts and Rick Roberts in the full version as there is a Tawny and Ricky billed in this film that I didn't notice actually appearing in the film.

The action scenes in the film are amazing. I never expected them to be this good in an independent adult production. The fight choreographer Andre McCoy (billed in the film as Chyna McCoy) has done an excellent job, which is no big surprise considering that his stunt filmography includes The Time Machine and The Matrix. The acting in the film is a mixed bag, some of the cast members do an alright job and others are running on borderline bad. However, Mike Horner gives an amusing over the top performance as Hornero Martino which makes the character. Voodoo also gives a great over the top performance as Hornero's son Rico. Dale DaBone surprised me here by giving a good straight forward performance as driver Max Spears, which was a nice flip-side to Voodoo's character.

In short, I'm really looking forward to the release of Tachophobia: The Fear of Speed as it looks like it is going to be a great feature film with a nice mix of comedy, action and erotica. I think I'm going to have to check out The Fear of Speed as well as it could be a great softcore title depending on what is present from the sex scenes in that version. As far as the comedy and action goes, this film provides, but it falls way short on the erotica end due to most of the sex being completely cut from the film and I expect most viewers that are looking for a softcore erotic film will end up being disappointed with this version as well due to the same reason.

Parting Thoughts:
The Ultimate Fear of Speed is a fun movie for those who like cheesy adult comedies, but I can't see why you would want to pick up this version since so much has been removed from it. If you enjoy softcore movies I'd suggest trying the version titled The Fear of Speed released by A55 Films. If softcore movies don't wet your whistle and you like plot-based adult movies I'd definitely recommend trying the hardcore version Tachophobia when it gets released; if it is presented as it is in The Ultimate Fear of Speed with hardcore sex scenes it will end up right up there with other recent adult movies such as Rush and Hercules.

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