Running Time: 89 min.

Production Date: 11 / 15 / 2001

Director: Michael Raven

Cast: Asia Carrera, April, Jassie. Monique, Jade, Flick Shagwell, Dale DaBone, Evan Stone, Steven St. Croix, Dillion Day, and Chuck Martino in sexual roles and George Fozzi Kaplan, Erin Sky, Dic Tracy, Johnny Cockring, Mickey Ray, Sammy Slater, Mr. A, Rio DGenero, and Buck Satan in non-sex roles

Initial Expectations: In my opinion, Michael Raven is one of the best adult film makers out there today. After watching features like Watchers, Beast, Adrenaline, and one of my all time favorites, Underworld, I cant help but go in with extremely high expectations.

Initial Reaction: Its a little softer than some of Ravens other features, but still very well done.

Who Should Watch It : Couples and anybody who thinks that adult films should be able to hold their own as a movie as well as adult entertainment

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody looking for nastier sex or who doesnt want a plot

Audio /Video Quality: The audio is very well balanced, and I didnt notice any problems with background noises. Once again, Michael Raven uses a widescreen format for his feature. Unfortunately, its a non-anamorphic transfer, but it does look very good. The lightings even and the colors stand out vividly when they should for the most part, although some of it has a slightly yellowish orange tint that might have been intentional. Theres a little bit of grain, but Raven shot Flash on film, so a little grain is almost impossible to avoid. Thankfully Sin City treated the film right so it looks almost as clear as video.

Music: The music has a soft feel to it thats very suited to couples features. Its normally very quiet in the background, and barely noticeable in many circumstances. The level goes up and down as needed, but never really interferes with the scenes.

Menus: The main menu is nicely animated and gives a very good first impression. The chapter menu is fairly standard, letting you choose a scene based on a small clip of the scene and a scene number. When you select the scene, youre given a second menu that lets you jump to a specific position or act in the scene. Its a nice little improvement on Sin Citys menus in the Signature Collection DVD of Evolution, which offered this but not nearly as conveniently as here.

The Feature: Asia Carrera plays the title role in Flash as a car thief whos been straight for a couple years after serving time. She has to get back into the business to pay for an operation for her mother. In order to do it, she joins Dale DaBone and a crew of car thieves to steal cars. The only problem is they have to steal what would normally take two weeks in one night. If it sounds familiar it should, as its a slight twist on the mainstream movie Gone in 60 Seconds.

Asia Carrera stops stealing a car after Dale DaBone gives her the appropriate amount of begging. They move over to a conveniently located pile of crates with a bedspread on them, something every reputable warehouse has, so Asia can lay back and let Dale tongue her twat. Hes already plenty warmed up, so they dont waste any time with a blowjob and get right to the boning, while still mostly dressed. They move around so Asia can get in the drivers seat with a little cowgirl action, and finish things up with Dale in back while Asia moans away on all fours. Dale leaves Asia fully loaded, so theres not even a visible pop shot. Theres some nice chemistry here that drives the scene well, but surprisingly, its a softcore scene. The only nudity you see is Asias great tits and some of her butt, which gives you a little crack and no hole. Its a very well done softcore scene, but I have to admit to being a little disappointed at it being just that.

Jade, a cute and natural girl with small tits and a little ethnicity to her, gets busy on the bed with Dillion Day next. They take a little time kissing and stripping down before Dillion slides his tongue around Jades snatch. She returns the favor with a long slow blowjob with very little hand motion before sliding her snatch down on Dillions rod. They both put some nice energy into it as she rides Dillion, but he really pours on the energy as well as some good aggression when he starts fucking her from behind. He pulls her hair a bit, slaps her ass with his cock, and spanks her a little, all of which seems to get Jade going all the more. They finish things up with a bit of spooning and some missionary work before Dale empties his fluid on Jades stomach. Happily, my worries about Flash being a softcore movie well by the side of the road almost right away here. Theres plenty of penetration shown, and its done with Ravens normal excellent eye. Theres a few shots that seem limited by the widescreen format, but he also frames many others to capture the action extremely well. I have a feeling that Ive seen Jade before, although Im not quite sure where, but if she keeps giving performances like this she should get a bit of notice. She has great chemistry with Dillion throughout the scene, and they seem to urge each other on as it goes on which gives it great heat as well as nice chemistry.

April, a hot blonde with a great natural body and a few piercings, starts out the next scene getting boned by Evan Stone from behind. She looks extremely hot here with her hair done in what some might refer to as little girl braids, and as usual, the two of them put some nice energy into doin the dirty deed. April has a grind thats almost second to none, and with the way she rotates her lower body against Evans cock I wouldnt be that surprised if she could turn her upper body at a hundred eighty degrees at her waist. She keeps on going as she rides Evan cowgirls style and barely even slows down as he fucks her missionary style. She gets her face right down there as Evan pops, and has him worked over to the point that neither of them has to do any real work to get Evan to pop. Its a hot scene that, needless to say, has some great chemistry and energy. From what Ive seen in the past, April has been a very consistent performer and she doesnt break her streak here.

Jassie, a cute brunette with a natural body and currently one of Sin Citys contract girls, hooks up with Monique, a nice looking and natural blonde, for the enjoyment of Steven St. Croix in the next scene. Jassie starts out receiving, and then reciprocates nicely by licking Moniques pussy and sucking on her clit. Both girls are very soft with their approach, and appeal nicely into it. Theres no toys involved, and yet they dont seem to need it. Theyre there for gangster Steven St. Croixs enjoyment, and it makes me understand why so many of them seem to get out of jail only to go back to what they were doing before. With perks like this, the jails probably worth it, especially if youre an anal sex fan.

Steven St. Croix gets another professional perk next with Asia Carrera. He starts out making her feel at home by warming her up orally before Asia puts her widely admired oral skills to work on him with some frequent smiles and great eyes. Steven starts fucking Asia from behind, and they work in some nice playfulness with a little kissing and quite a bit of smiling. As usual, Asia looks like this is what she was made for, and Id have a hard time arguing against it. She puts a lot of energy into fucking Steven, both as he fucks her from behind and when shes laying back in a chair. Asia finishes things up taking Stevens joy juice on her stomach, and looks every bit as happy as if she were on fire and he was the fireman hosing her down. Scenes like this are why Ive been a huge Asia fan for so long. She hasnt taken it in the ass for years, yet she shows so much enthusiasm that its almost impossible to not like it and her. Theres no need for extreme sex acts, or anything like it to make it worthwhile.

Finally, Tony Martino gets a little head from Flick Shagwell in his car. Its a good blowjob, mostly since Flick seems to be nicely into it. She puts some good energy into it, some decent hand motions, a little spit, and a few smiles before Chuck sprays himself down and she licks up the remnants.

Once again, Michael Raven scores another well made couples feature with Flash. It nicely transfers a plot similar to Gone in 60 Seconds into an adult film without making it seem like too much of a rip-off or too cheesy. Asia Carrera and Dale DaBone do a great job of leading the cast, and theyre nicely supported by people like April and Steven St. Croix in sexual roles and George Kaplan in non sex roles. Dale does have a throwback or two to the Nicholas Cage role in Gone in 60 Seconds, which also add a little humor to it. The sex is a little on the tame side, but its obvious from the start that this isnt going to be one of Ravens darker features like Beast. Instead its light and fun and appears designed to be the adult equivalent of the mainstream popcorn movie. Its something a guy can bring out with a loved one, or just a lusted after one, and get in the mood without worrying about whether hes going to offend her too bad. Yes, theres a lesbian scene, but its fairly small. Its the only thing that might make some women uneasy if this is their first feature. Theres no anal and no group sex, and even the lesbian scene is somewhat downplayed and fits very well into the plot. Flash is a very nice piece of fluff porn, which is just what it looks like it set out to be.

Extras: Many of the standard DVD extras are included here, as well as a few others. As usual, phone sex commercials and internet information are included. Trailers are included for Watchers, Underworld, Erotica, Tango, The Game, Sin Twins, and Evolution. Bios are included for Asia Carrera, Chuck Martino, Dale DaBone, Evan Stone, Jassie, and Monique. Unlike most bios, there isnt a photo of the star, but it does state what scenes the star is in during the feature. It also gives a little personal information and often names a few of the other Sin City features you can find the star in.

The slide show is nicely arranged by chapter, so you can move right to photos of stars you want to see, or just go through them scene by scene to get a feel for the feature. Its a little bit of an odd photo gallery. The first and last chapter are done so you can either move at your own speed or have it done as an automated slide show, while the rest of the scenes are done as automated slide shows running between about a minute and a minute and a half. The photo quality also varies quite a bit. Many of the photos are extremely clear, such as those in the first chapter. The middle chapters vary a bit more, with some very clear and some a bit fuzzy, but the final chapter leaves a lot to be desired. Theres a lot of heavy pixelation and grain that dang near made me cringe. I could understand wanting to distort things if somebody like the appropriately named Dick Nasty was in the scene, but the case here looked pretty good.

The behind the scenes featurette lasts about ten minutes. Dale DaBone gives a great little speech on what an honor it is to be in one of Michael Ravens features, and how different they are from other features. Jassie, Jade, and Asia Carrera also talk a little for the camera, and as they talk, small clips normally appear at the bottom of the screen to show their scene being shot. Theres also other clips of the scenes being shot, as well as the cast preparing for their scenes and just screwing around in general. Its a pretty good behind the scenes that does a pretty good job of blending things together. Surprisingly, Michael Raven doesnt really appear during this featurette, and never says one word to the camera. Michaels a very creative, interesting, and friendly guy from my past experience, so I always look forward to what he has to say. I have to admit to being a little let down when he wasnt in here.

The blooper reel lasts about two minutes. Theres a few flubbed lines and scenes, a few laughs, and Evan practicing. It adds a little to the overall package, but not a whole lot. It does a nice job of relieving some stress from the movie, but thats about it.

The directors commentary with Michael Raven lasts about twelve and a half minutes. Unfortunately, its a bit of a letdown. Its mostly Michael Raven sitting on a stool in front of a blue screen while talking about what happens in each of the plot scenes. Theres nothing here new that really adds to anything. The plot was pretty straightforward here, unlike some of Ravens features, so I dont think this really adds anything for anybody who actually watched all of the movie. When Michael Raven didnt appear in the behind the scenes featurette, I thought he probably stayed out of there since most of what hed have to say would be said here instead. Needless to say, this was another letdown.

Themes: Straight, spanking, lesbian, and oral

Raincoat Factor: Medium

Overall: Currently, Flash can be found online for between $19 and $24 with a few stores offering it near the low end. If youre looking for a feature with some softer sex that can still maintain heat as well as showing that porn can be done with plots, this ones going to be well worth your money. The transfer is also very good and theres some well done extras to round out the package.

Note to Sin City: Its great to see you supporting the widescreen format, but in the future it would be great if youd take your support all the way to anamorphic widescreen.

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

Other reviews by Astroknight