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From: [email protected] (Thom Burr) Some thoughts on companies that release DVDs: METRO: I own 8 of their releases. Neither very good, nor very bad. For the purposes of this post, they are my touchstone, that with which I compare other companies. DVD extras are generally minimal--a small slideshow and 20 or so trailers are pretty much it. Generally, there are only six tracks, which can be annoying when there are up to 16 scenes on one disk. Also, none of the discs I have offer multiple angles. A couple of their higher-end features are supposed to have them, but they've not interested me enough to investigate. All their discs are two-sided, and the second side is always the same collection of 20+ trailers. It's interesting the first time you see them, even the second. But they need to update them. Pronto. VIVID: I regret the fact that I have been suckered into owning 6 of them. Vivid DVDs are almost always severely edited, which is to say, shortened and butchered. And if they were any more coy about their editing, they'd qualify as softcore. Of the four that billed themselves as having multiple angles, only one or two seemed to be truly accurate; the rest just chopped up the scene.. Video quality was poor on two of the discs. On the plus side, they do have some of the best girls ever to have graced the porn world, and most of their discs have are two sided, which in four of five cases features a hilarious bloopers/outtakes track. One disc, "The Mobster's Wife" has a pretty good hour-long behind the scenes feature on the second side, but this is sadly a unique case. And their discs have many, many other extras (probably explaining the cuts from the actual feature), but they are generally not worth the trouble (fragmentary bonus scenes, trailers, "interactive" menus, music videos, bogus cybersex features, etc...) Owning one or two Vivid titles is almost inevitable (and probably harmless and maybe even a good idea), but on the whole, they should be strictly avoided. HEATWAVE: I've seen three, and all have been consistently great. All three include a second, real-time no-bullshit angle, the best that I've yet seen. They also all contain behind the scenes features and solo scene features with the girls in the movie. These extras are actually very impressive. Of the various studios, I recommend them the highest, but other reviews suggest some of their product is deficient. SUNSHINE: Avoid, avoid, avoid. Unless you like cheap comps. Video quality is very poor, names on cover don't appear, and multiple angles are a total scam (basically one extra scene disguised as a multiple angle). Almost worse than a tape. PRIVATE: Very, very good. Discs tend to run longer than other studios, and good with extras. I only own one, but secondary sources confirm their quality. "Millennium" runs three hours, has nine languages, and two bonus scenes, but it is a comp disc. RAW: This is put out by Vivid, but the format is totally different. Very few condoms. much better scenes, more facials, and a very nice second side with previews and bonus scenes. I only have one of their titles, but I'm guessing all the B-sides are the same, Also, 5-Star is selling them for $10 a disc. Not too bad. Definitely worth snagging at least one. Sinthetic/GenXXX: Marginal quality scenes, weak extras. Avoid. VCA: Absolutely brilliant product--especially by Mchael Ninn--but the discs I own are little better than tape, except in video quality. Other sources report some releases have many more DVD extras. NuTech: Mostly no better than tape, but the only source for many older videos. Recently, they've been releasing more comprehensive DVDs like "Sex, Lies, and the President" with many more features (bios, behind the scenes, trailers).... Diabolic: Very hardcore set of trailers on B side. Excellent hardore features. Zane: Very poor feature, poor menu set-up, poor everything, no extras... Elegant Angel: Very good B-side, but apparently repeated on every title. "Sodomania Slop Shots" is the best bet, either 1 or 6. Definitely worth checking out. Leisure Time: Amazingly bad. Avoid, avoid, avoid. They don't even bother to put in tracks. Pure comp trash. Legend: Weak feature, no extras. Typhoon: No extras, but good Japanese porn. And that's it. To the new DVD owner, I'd recommend titles by Heatwave, Elegant Angel, Diabolic, Raw, and Vivid, in that order. It's worth just getting at least one of each of these, as the extras often run just as long as the feature.
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