Rawhide 01
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Description: California, 1875 On the sprawling plains of California lies Torres Ranch, where dazzling young Bianca (Carmen Luvana) explores the rustic life of rugged cowboys, gentle chambermaids, ruthless cattle kings and the torrid sexual spirit of the great wide open. Adam and Eve is proud to present this epic western overflowing with sun scorched outdoor sex, forbidden penetrations and unbridled lust. Raw Hide's erotic panorama captures the untamed carnality of the wild, wild west!
Performers | Director | Studio | Category | Duration (approximate) |
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Nicholas Steele | Adam & Eve | 164 minutes | ||
Date Added: | ||||
08/10/2004 | ||||
Production Year: | ||||
2003 | ||||
Format: | ||||
DVD |
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Industry Reviews (1)
Reviewed by astroknight 09/28/03 | Source: AdultDVDTalk | |
Running Time: 162 min. Production Date: 6 / 17 / 2003 Director: Nicholas Steele Cast: Carmen Luvana, Evan Stone, Brooke Balentyne, Taylor Rain, Olivia Del Rio, Natalia Wood, Velvet Rose, Kaylani Lei, Julian, Randy Spears, Cheyne Collins, Joey Ray, Dale DaBone, Steven St. Croix, and Jesse V Initial Expectations: Ive had high expectations since I first heard about this release. They only went higher when I actually had this one in my grubby little hands because I think its the best presentation Ive ever seen for a DVD. The set comes in a VHS-sized box with a slide off plastic cover to free a thick CD case sided package that resembles a leather pouch (complete with a silver button with leather tassels). The pouch folds open to reveal the three DVDs, a few photos for the feature, and a small booklet for the feature. Even if I hadnt had high expectations for this feature before looking at the case Id have high expectations before popping it into my player with packaging like this! Initial Reaction: Its beautiful and very nicely done, but not always that sexy. Who Should Watch It : Anybody wanting to see a merger of a romantic Hollywood film with a couples porno Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting energetic hardcore sex with a little story or who thinks porn should just be a bunch of mindless drivel Audio /Video Quality: The audio is clear and normally well balanced. There are very few background noises, and although much of the movie takes place outside, wind isnt a factor (which you learn is much to the credit of the editing team if you listen to the commentary). Theres also more than a few moments during the sex scenes where the audio is dubbed. Theres good news and bad news on the video. The good news is that the movie is presented in the widescreen format. The bad news is that its a non-anamorphic transfer. Thankfully the non-anamorphic transfer is about the worst thing about the video. The picture is very clear, and has a small amount of grain that nicely approximates well done film. Theres a few shadows, but most of them add to the artistic feeling of the feature. There are also slow motion sequences in each of the sex scenes which are used to varying degrees. I was very tempted to give the technical aspects of Rawhide a perfect 5, but the amount of dubbing and the non-anamorphic format held it back from getting there. If these things dont bother you, you can easily consider Rawhide worthy of a perfect audio and video rating. Music: Unlike many of Nicholas Steeles movies, the music is not provided by Saint. Instead its by Lance Erickson. As much as I love Saints music, I have to say that this is a great choice here. The music has a very mainstream feel and adds quite a bit to the overall movie. The only thing I really disliked about the music is that its often the only audio during the sex scenes or so loud that you can barely hear the talent going at it. It even makes it difficult to understand some of the dialogue, which is really annoying with the amount of non-sex scenes in the movie. Disc Complaints: Theres no time stamp for the feature. This always ticks me off, especially since there arent a lot of chapter stops through the feature. Normally this just annoys me because I like to jump back to specific points in movies, but here its even more annoying. If you stop the feature one night and plan on watching the remainder the next night, which I think is highly possible with a movie thats well over two and a half hours long, when you restart the movie youre at the start of the last chapter you started. This wouldnt be too bad if there were a ton of chapters, but as I stated earlier, there arent! Normally the sex is one chapter and the pop and the following non-sex portion of the movie are another chapter. This is more than a little annoying! Menus: The main menu is nicely done. It has a nice lead-in and gives a good impression blending a clip from the movie with a still photo of Carmen Luvana. The chapter menu is fairly standard, and lets you choose a scene based on a small clip of each scene. The Feature: After her father dies, Carmen Luvana returns to the family ranch. Shes been in the big city for many years now, and in the time since she left, the ranch has become the second largest cattle ranch in California. Shes strongly considering selling the ranch, thinking that shes moved above and beyond the life of a rancher. Although some of the hands are loyal to her, others dont want to see their way of life and all theyve worked for disappear. Brooke Balentyne and Steven St. Croix start out the sex. Brooke quickly goes to work sucking Stevens cock while he plays with her pussy and ass. She doesnt bother with Steven giving her any other warmup before letting him fuck her from behind. They move through a bit of cowgirl and missionary before Brooke takes it in the ass reverse cowgirl style. Brooke also takes a missionary ass pounding before Steven pops in her ass while pulling out. This scene leaves me with mixed feelings. On one hand, theres some nice energy and chemistry and Brooke takes it in the ass with the same ease as some people open a newspaper. The scene isnt quite romantic, but theres definitely a feel about it that feels right for the characters and the feeling of the movie. It also keeps a fairly mainstream movie feel about it, which I think is a big draw for Rawhide. On the other hand, the artistic lighting for the scene often left it a bit on the dark side where you couldnt see some of the action, and I think there was at least one position where you never even saw the penetration. I can definitely appreciate the attempt to merge mainstream movies and porn, but I think this scene went a little too far towards the mainstream end of things. Cowpoke Evan Stone takes on showgirl Taylor Rain in the great outdoors in the second scene. Taylor starts out giving Evan some energetic head with enough spit to create an oasis in the middle of the desert. Evan eats and fingers her as she props herself against him pile driver style before letting her climb up for a bit of reverse cowgirl action. He also gives it to her from behind before pile driving her ass. Finally, Evan pops on Taylors pussy. This is an okay scene that seemed way softer than it needed to be. I couldnt help but have the feeling that Mr. Steele was more concerned with shooting softcore footage than a hardcore movie due to the editing. I kept wanting to see both the penetration and a good look of Taylors face as shes getting fucked, and I dont think I ever saw it. I know there wasnt a shot like it during the anal, and most of the scene felt like a softcore scene with a few hardcore close-ups thrown in. Brooke Balentyne takes on Joey Ray in the third scene. They start things off with some nice oral loving, with Joey giving first and then letting Brooke reciprocate. Brooke climbs up for a bit of action reverse cowgirl style before turning around and sliding Joeys cock into her ass. She lets Joey spoon her ass before he finally pops on her stomach. This is a pretty good scene. Brooke and Joey put some good energy into it, but the chemistry is lacking a bit. The scene is basically supposed to be a fuck for fun, and with the energy they put into it I guess it works just as that. As usual I didnt care for the camera style, although you do get a few shots of both the penetration and Brookes reaction. Its a good scene, especially to keep with the more subdued couples feel, but far from great. Carmen Luvana and Kaylani Lei fill some of each others longings in the fourth scene. Carmen kisses her way between Kaylanis legs before letting her fingers work on Kaylanis pussy. Carmen climbs onto Kaylanis face to get some loving in return before laying back for Kaylani to lick her, finger her, and suck her toes. Finally they grind their pussies together. This is a nice scene. Carmen and Kaylani have nice chemistry together, but the music is overbearing enough that it stole quite a bit of the heat out of the scene for me. Almost all of the scene looks gorgeous, but it never seems to have any depth to it. Next, Olivia Del Rio and Randy Spears take a break from their carriage ride to make some sweet, sweet love. Olivia starts out giving Randy a little mouth action, sucking both his cock and fingers. Olivia rides Randy reverse cowgirl style in the back of the carriage before moving up front for some missionary and doggie action. Finally, Randy gives Olivia an impressive facial, and strokes him vigorously after he pops to make sure she gets every last drop. This is a pretty good scene. Randy and Olivia look to be nicely into each other, and put some nice energy into the scene as well. Theres some decent chemistry, and unlike many of the other scenes, there seems to be something to the scene. Something was still missing for me, but I was actually able to get into this scene a little. Kaylani Lei and Cheyne Collins take some time in the woods so Kaylani can try to show Cheyne how he makes her feel. Kaylani sucks Cheynes stick before he mouths her muff. Cheyne fucks Kaylani from behind before letting her ride him reverse cowgirl style. Finally, Cheyne pops all over Kaylanis stomach. This is another nicely done scene. Kaylani and Cheyne seem to have nice chemistry going between them and the energy level isnt too bad either. You cant hear them very well during the scene, which held things back for me, but theres enough going between them for the scene to work. Its a pretty good scene. Next up, Julian takes on Jesse V near a fire. Julian plays the gentleman by going down on Jesse first, and then stands up in his long underwear for her to suck his cock. Julian picks Jesse up to fuck her in mid-air before laying her back for a little missionary work. They work in a little cowgirl as well, which seems very appropriate in a western, as well as some doggie action, before Julian pops on Jesses ass. This is another good scene that feels a bit soft for my tastes. The fire is worked into view very nicely, but theres way too many distance shots for my tastes. There are also very few shots where you can see both Julian and Jesse clearly, which shouldnt have been a problem for a few of the positions. Theres nice chemistry between them, but I just didnt like the camera work. After Dale DaBone reads milkmaid Velvet Rose, who appears to be black with bleached hair, a little poetry, she lets him know just how his words affect her. She kisses him and lets Dale caress her chest a little before dropping down to take his cock into her throat. Dale lets Velvet lay back on the hay for him to bone her before she climbs up to ride him cowgirl style and reverse cowgirl style. They also work in a bit of doggie style before Dale decorates Velvets tongue. This is a pretty good scene. Theres nice chemistry between Velvet and Dale, and the camera work seems nicely balanced. The main thing that stuck out to me, however, was Dale keeping his long underwear on throughout the entire scene. It keeps his few tattoos covered, and I couldnt help but wonder why Dales, which actually have an Indian design, are covered up while we get to see Julians hideous tattoo of Jill Kelly on his stomach. Steven St. Croix and Natalia Wood, a nice looking and very realistic looking brunette, get it on in the penultimate scene by a creek where Natalia was washing clothes. Steven works his mouth from Natalias upper lips to her lower set before letting Natalia wrap each set around his cock (although not at the same time). Natalia rides Steven reverse cowgirl before laying back for a bit of missionary work. Finally, she gets right up close and personal for a nice facial, and sucks out every last drop she can. This is a pretty hot scene. There arent many artistic effects done with the camera work, so the scene feels much more straightforward. Theres also a nice balance between the camera shots. Most importantly, however, theres some nice chemistry and energy between Natalia and Steven. Finally, Evan Stone and Carmen Luvana make passionate love in the tall grass. They slowly strip each other out of the many lays of clothes they have on while passionately kissing and playing with each other. They exchange oral favors before Evan climbs onto Carmen to give her a good fucking. Carmen climbs up to take charge a bit in reverse cowgirl before they finish things up doggie style and Evan pops on Carmens ass. This is a very nice scene to end things with. The entire movie leads up to this moment very nicely, including Evan turning down Carmen at one point. All those moments build the chemistry between Evan and Carmen, and it isnt a disappointment here. They feel like theyre in love, and put some nice passion into their lovemaking here. This scene feels like the perfect ending for Rawhide. Rawhide leaves me a bit torn. In many ways its excellent. The plot is nicely done and the talent, which all looks great, does a great job turning it into something with a bit of substance rather than just leaving it feel like an excuse for a bunch of people to fuck. In so many ways it feels like a merging of a mainstream movie with an adult film. Like many mainstream movies, it also uses fantastic locations throughout the movie that make almost every shot a beautiful image. I was torn many times between admiring the locations and watching the sex. Therein lies the main problem with Rawhide. The sex often left me wanting, and many times didnt even get me aroused. Many of the scenes looked as impressive as many magazine layouts Ive seen, and sadly were about as deep as the sheets of paper that the magazine images were printed on. The camera often seemed to focus on the scenery as much as it did the sex, and rarely showed both the penetration and the reaction of the girl getting fucked. There were many times where you couldnt see the penetration either due to the angle or distance the camera was capturing the performers from. I was downright bored in a couple of the scenes for just that reason, and you could tell that the performers were getting into it! The scenes were also hurt by the audio balance. Rawhide has a beautiful score, and one that I think might be the best Ive heard from any adult film. Adam & Eve has very good reason to be proud of it, but its often extremely loud or the only audio in the scene, which really kills the heat in a scene for me. I can understand that Nicholas Steele and Adam & Eve were trying to do things in a manner that wouldnt scare off many women who might be interested in porn or that they were trying to give the sex more of a mainstream feel, but things are often so soft that theyre boring and might put some people to sleep. Theres a few good scenes, but in the end Rawhide barely makes it above average sexually. Theres also many inconsistencies throughout the feature that just didnt seem like they belonged. Yes, the performers look great, but I doubt there were that many tattoos (Julian) or pierced hoods (Jesse V) or tongues (Velvet Rose, who thankfully took out her tongue stud for her sex scene) roughly a hundred and twenty years ago? Dale DaBones tattoos were treated very nicely in his scene by having him keep his long underwear on. Theres no reason why Julian couldnt have done the same thing, and it would have fit nicely since it was a nighttime scene. Yes, there was a nearby fire, but anybody whos been in the mountains knows that it gets darn cool up there even if you do have somebody to bump uglies with. Rawhide is an amazing adult movie. It has a nicely done story and a cast that can do it justice. Ill admit that I really wish that Adam & Eve could find a few new guys for the lead roles in their movies, but Evan Stone and Steven St. Croix do a great job here. The sex has a nice variety, but also feels very tame and subdued to the point that it I was bored with it several times throughout the movie. Rawhide is the Cadillac of adult films. Its beautiful, its nicely put together, and although it has what it takes to get down and let it go, it often seems like its afraid to get too dirty. Extras: The only extra on the first DVD is a commentary with cinematographer John Noz Muka and director Nicholas Steele. Nicholas rushes in a bit late, and it shows because his voice comes across much louder than Johns. They also stop talking for most of the sex scenes, but the audio level never comes back up to make the feature a bit friendlier audio-wise while listening to this track. Nicholas and John talk about many of the locations and shooting the scenes. They also talk about some of the technical aspects of shooting movies, such as the lighting, and how amazing the cast was while shooting the movie. Most of the cast couldnt even ride a horse, and after learning some of the other little details about the making of Rawhide I appreciated it even more! The second DVD is devoted entirely to extras. Theres bonus scenes, photo galleries, bloopers, and a behind the scenes featurette. Trailers are included for Behind the Mask, Sweet Sounds, and Hot Rods. The photo gallery includes over thirty excellent looking snapshots. You can advance through them at your own pace or theyll advance on their own roughly every five seconds. Of courses, theres also web links. The blooper reel lasts just over nine minutes. Since you have both Steven St. Croix and Evan Stone on the set, you have more than a little humor and people cracking up. You also have Velvet working with the cow, Brooke Balentyne trying to smoke, and Nick Steele showing how to get across the creek. Its a nice blooper reel, and my only complaint about it is that several of the sequences dont have any audio to go with the video. The interview with Carmen Luvana can be viewed in either English or Spanish and lasts about eleven minutes. She talks about getting into the business, the adult industry in general, shooting Rawhide, and being a contract star for Adam & Eve. She also talks about a bit of personal things such as her measurements, her fantasies, what she likes about men, and herself in general. Its a nicely done interview, and also works in some nice editing to make it feel much like a promotional short. The first bonus scene is a solo Carmen Luvana scene that lasts about ten minutes. Unlike many bonus scenes, this scene was shot specifically as a bonus, and seems to be a little glimpse of what Carmen has waiting on her website. After an opening in both English and Spanish, Carmen starts rubbin her nubbin. She rubs, fingers, and spanks her pussy in a couple positions as the scene goes on. Part of me really hated this scene. The scene seems to go on for a long time and almost seems to be stuck in a rut at times. The action is also mixed up with a few shots of fire, which did next to nothing for me. The other part of me loved this scene. Although the action seems a bit redundant, Carmen gets into it very well and was able to get me into the scene rather than just sitting around and waiting for it to end. The second bonus scene is between Steven St. Croix and Olivia Del Rio on the set, and lasts nearly eight minutes. They appear to be sick of waiting around and decide to get busy rather than playing Pick-Up Sticks with their buttcheeks to keep from getting bored. They playfully run next door and help each other strip down before exchanging oral favors, with Olivia nicely leading the way with a great hummer. Steven returns the favor before climbing on Olivia and fucking her missionary style. Olivia rides Steven in both cowgirls before giving him a bit more oral love and letting him take her one last time missionary style. She lets Steven pop on her tits, and gets right down to suck out every last drop. This is a great bonus scene! The only audio is a bit of sexy and fun music, but theres enough chemistry and enjoyment between Olivia and Steven that the lack of real audio doesnt hold back the scene too much. Theres plenty of smiles and a great spirit of playfulness between the two of them that make this one of the best scenes on the entire Rawhide set! The behind the scenes featurette lasts about twenty seven and a half minutes. It nicely focuses on each of the stars one by one after identifying them and their character. They talk with them about things like their role, their body, and what they like. Theres also a bit of screwing around on the sex, the filming of the sex scenes, and a bit of behind the scenes filming of the behind the scenes filming. Its a very nicely done look at the making of the movie and the people in it. The only surprise in it is that director Nicholas Steele is barely even in it and I dont think says a single word. Finally theres The Evan Stone Show, a secondary behind the scenes featurette, which lasts about fifteen and a half minutes. Unlike the main behind the scenes featurette, you get a fair amount of Nicholas Steele here, as the camera follows him quite a bit as he works with the cast and crew. You also get plenty of Evan Stones humor, which makes this an extremely enjoyable featurette. Unfortunately, theres a bit of camera shake throughout the featurette, as the cameraman is frequently on the move, and the audio and the audio and video dont synch for most of the last half of the featurette. Its still a very good behind the scenes featurette, and works great as another look at the making of Rawhide. Themes: Straight, anal, spanking, rimming (male > female), lesbian, toe-ing, and interracial Raincoat Factor: Medium Condom Usage: Between Taylor Rain and Evan Stone, Velvet Rose and Dale DaBone, and Carmen Luvana and Even Stone Overall: Currently, the Rawhide 2 DVD limited edition set can be found online for between $30 and $45, but only a few stores are offering it so far. This is very fair for what you get here. The movie is amazing if you want something on the romantic side. Theres plenty of extras, and the technical aspects are very nice. I did have some problems with the movie, but almost every one of them was a difference in style between what I like and what Mr. Steele wants. Note to Adam & Eve: Wow! I hope Rawhide isnt an isolated incident! If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me . Other reviews by Astroknight |