White Lightning (VCA) Review

Running Time: 130 min.

Production Date: October 1999

Director: Veronica Hart

Cast: Ginger Lynn, Chloe, Sindee Coxx, Nina Hartley, T. J. Hart, Kylie Ireland, Angelica Sin, Salena Del Rey, Keisha, Cherry Mirage, Midori, Anita Cannibal, Syren, Brooke Hunter, Marlene, Michael J. Coxx, Mickey G., Brad Armstrong, Billy Glide, and Dale DaBone

Initial Expectations: I’ve heard great things about Veronica Hart’s movies, although this is the first one I’ve watched (that I know of) with her behind the camera. VCA normally does a great job with their DVDs, so I’ve got fairly high expectations for this DVD.

Initial Reaction: Wow. Once again VCA shows how amazing a well made DVD can be, especially when combined with an excellent movie.

Audio /Video Quality: Both are excellent. The picture is crystal clear with no faults that I saw. The same can be said for the sound.

Music: The music in the movie is the closest thing to come to average on this DVD. Even that is above average as it is well done and balanced extremely well with the movie. I didn’t notice one time where I thought it was too loud.

Disc Problems: The menus are extremely slow in changing. I don’t know if this is the fault of my player or not, but it normally took about 10 seconds.

Review: Watching White Lightning I couldn’t help but think of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction . No, Ginger doesn’t go on a bloody rampage while talking about fast food in other countries or debating the merits of tipping waitresses, it’s the style of the movie. Much like the aforementioned movies, White Lightning doesn’t follow a linear style. Each character has their own story, and White Lightning gives it to you. Just not always in the order things happen. Also like some of Tarantino’s movies, when I first watched White Lightning it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be, but I liked it just the same. You also can’t go into much detail about the movie without giving away some good surprises.

Ginger Lynn plays Gabby White, a mild woman with a good heart. Deep down she suspects her fiancé Michael Pierce (Michael J. Cox) is cheating on her, but she doesn’t have the guts to do anything about it. Michael is a cop who’s into something not too kosher. He has a lot of late night dealings with his boss, Sandy Porter (Chloe), which Gabby doesn’t like. Sandy is very domineering and is involved with Michael as well as Kevin Porter (Mickey G.). Kevin is kind of a wimp and the ex-boyfriend of Joyce McDaniels (Kylie Ireland), a lawyer and Gabby’s best friend. Throughout White Lightning , the secrets of each of the characters come forward as they go through their day. Of course, there’s sex relating many of the characters also. I’m not going to cover every scene as I want those who watch White Lightning later to be able to enjoy and figure things out on their own rather than have some ideas put into their head by me. It’s too good of a movie with too much going on for that.

Ginger and Michael have sex in their bedroom to start things off. This is a pretty tame scene which I at first didn’t care much for. This is the first scene I know of that I’ve watched with Ginger and I had high hopes for some great raw sex. Instead it’s quite tame and Ginger seems very withdrawn. Looking back on this scene and then thinking of later scenes in the movie, the more I think about it the better I like Ginger as an actress. The scene sets up Ginger’s passive personality very well during a very good couples scene. You have the option of watching this scene as a normal scene or watching it as FANTASEX, which I’ll cover during the Extras.

Michael is also involved with Sandy. At the strip club where Dale is getting his bachelor party, Sandy fucks Michael at the table while everybody else is around but not paying them any attention. It’s a very hot scene and Chloe perfect for Sandy’s role. If anybody other that Chloe would have been used in this scene it wouldn’t have been nearly as good. The audience around them is a who’s who of porn. If you read the credits (yes, there’s real credits here) you’ll be amazed at all of the people in the audience.

Sandy is also involved with Kevin. To put it bluntly, Kevin is a wimp. Sandy fucks him at home and uses Kevin’s submission for her pleasure. It gives her an excuse to break out the nice whip she’s been wanting to use. Once again, we see why Chloe was such a great choice to play Sandy, in addition to Mickey doing a great job as Kevin.

My favorite scene is probably between Joyce and Kevin. Joyce knows she shouldn’t fuck Kevin, but really needs a good toe-sucking and fucking (and not just in her pussy). It’s a very hot scene, which is to be expected with Kylie and Mickey, but the little details really make this scene shine. The scene takes place during a thunderstorm, and the lightning enhances the sexuality of the scene very well. Most of the scene is illuminated by the lightning, and unlike many scenes, the shadows build the heat rather than detract from the scene.

Nina Hartley has a non-sex role as Gabby’s shrink and is outstanding. She convinces Gabby to share many of her sexual fantasies, such as taking on two cops (Billy Glide and Dale DaBone) at once, having sex with Joyce and a waitress (Keisha) at a restaurant they frequent, as well as her fantasy about Kevin. Nina uses Gabby’s fantasies to get her to open up more sexually and masturbate as she watches and talks Gabby through things. The entire sequence is very well developed and the scenes do a great job of showing many of Gabby’s sexual sides, and more importantly, why Ginger is still one of the top adult film actresses out there.

As is VCA’s current policy, condoms are used in every scene. Unlike many other pornos, White Lightning actually works them into the plot in several scenes. In the scene between Michael and Ginger, she doesn’t want him to use a condom, but he insists because he doesn’t want any kids yet. When Chloe is about to let Mickey fuck her, she refuses to let him until he sheaths his sword, working the dominant personality. Although I’d rather watch adult films without condoms, I understand why many companies are going to mandatory condom usage and many stars are refusing to work without them. I also respect their decision. It’s really nice to see the writers work the condoms into the plot as they are still very controversial.

Extras: Perhaps the most noticeable extra on White Lightning is the FANTASEX with Ginger Lynn. I assume this is what VCA meant by "True Multiple Angles" on the cover. FANTASEX is VCA’s virtual sex, which most people know from Chasing Stacy . Unlike Chasing Stacy , virtual sex is worked into the movie itself (or on its own if you prefer). It’s only for one scene, but it’s a great idea. FANTASEX doesn’t give you as many options here as it did in Chasing Stacy , but they’re easily lost choices (location, music, and heat) and they would interfere with the scene. The best thing with this FANTASEX is that it all takes place in a real bed. It doesn’t use the annoying blue screen like Chasing Stacy did. On the bad side, any time you try to do anything it takes forever to change. I timed it and it took almost fifteen seconds. This seems like an unreasonable amount of time. I hope it’s just my machine, as everything including the menus took forever to load, but I don’t know for sure. For those of you who enjoy multiple angles, this is the only scene with multiple angles.

The commentary by Veronica Hart is okay. She talks a lot about what is actually happening in the movie, but doesn’t talk much about any of the behind the scenes stuff. She also talks a lot about what she personally likes, both watching and doing or having done. Of course, this means that there’s some sex tips also. I was a little disappointed by Ms. Hart’s commentary since Ms. Hart has been around the adult film industry before I even cared about the dirty video tapes my parents hid, and so I expected a lot from her commentary. With how long she’s been in the adult film industry, she’s got a lot of knowledge about it and, from what I’ve heard, a lot of well earned respect. I expected more out of her about the behind the scenes aspect as well as maybe some stuff about how the adult film industry has changed over the years. It would seem like a great feature to do it with, as Ginger is one of the great comeback girls. Although I was disappointed, I still don’t feel that I wasted my time listening to the commentary.

The interview with Ginger Lynn is fairly short, lasting about three minutes. It looks like it’s probably shot while Ginger is filming New Wave Hookers 6 as she’s in a lime green top with kinked hair. Very 80s. She talks about why she liked Gabby’s character and how Gabby relates to real life. She also talks about how she’s grown comfortable with herself over the last few years, also relating it a little to Gabby.

The behind the scenes featurette lasts about seven and a half minutes. It covers almost every scene in the movie as well as talking with many of the stars. There’s a lot of fun on the set. A lot of work also, but it’s obvious that everybody is enjoying what they do. I always enjoy watching the behind the scenes features of adult movies as it gives a little better taste of the stars as people. Adult film stars aren’t in the media’s eye like mainstream stars are. At least they aren’t in Minnesota.

One really different extra on the White Lightning DVD is a storyline option. Veronica Hart does a short interview explaining the three options. Option #1 is consecutive storylines. This is the way White Lightning was originally released on VHS. Option #2 is a linear storyline. This option lets you view the movie in the order things happened during Gabby’s day. The final option is to watch individual stories. This lets you follow one of the characters through their day. This is a really different option and a great idea with the cut-up way the movie lays out.

Of course, there’s the standard extras also. A photo gallery, trailers, web site info, and bios. The photo gallery is automated and lasts about two and a half minutes with seven seconds per still. As usual, VCA has some high quality still pictures here. The only trailer is for Torn , but it does last about five minutes. Audio bios are for Ginger, Kylie, Chloe, and Keisha. As usual, they include a link to the star’s scene, a feature I really like.

Themes: Straight, lesbian, group, anal, DP (with a toy), light bondage, foot worship, toe-ing, toys, spanking, rimming (male > female), public sex, masturbation, and voyeurism

Raincoat Factor: Fairly high. The sex fits the plot great but can easily be enjoyed after quickly skipping the plot.

Overall: Currently, White Lightning can be found online for between $22 and $28 with most stores offering it for under $25. For $25 this one is hard to beat. The movie is excellent, as is the transfer. VCA has done a great job with extras also. Don’t pass White Lightning up.

Note to VCA: Wow. The job you’ve done on White Lightning is like a dream come true. I wish all DVDs showed as much thought, effort, and caring about what the consumer wants as this does. Thank you.

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