Perfect

It's been a while since we've seen his name on a title, but Michael Ninn has returned to remind all of us just how good an adult movie can be with the proper person at the helm. This time out, Ninn's working for Private, but less anyone be confused, this isn't a foreign production, rather a big-budget American one, filled with some of the hottest adult talent currently in the industry.

Perfect tells a story quite similar to the mainstream science fiction thriller Blade Runner. The film is set in the near future and Nick Manning stars as officer John Rice, a cop assigned to track down and kill Earth's last remaining "Mecas" - androids who the government wants to destroy because they were programmed with an overwhelming appetite for sex.

Manning is able to track down the next to last Meca (apparently he has already killed two of them prior to the events in this film), which seems to be played both by Julia Ann and Nikita Denise. In a somewhat confusing but visually erotic sequence, Manning gets both a blowjob from Julia Ann and gets to have sex with Nikita, as director Ninn moves in and out (no pun intended!) between the two couplings.

After disposing of the Julia Ann/Nikita Denise Meca, Manning returns to his boss, where he discovers he will have to hunt down the last Meca with the assistance of Ms. Majors, assigned to him from the government's "Department of Morality", which weeds out those who would watch pornography or (gulp!) read the books of Mark Twain, among other offences.

While Jodie isn't at all present in the first part of the movie, the second half of the film is all hers, as she engages in the majority of the sex during the second half of the film. Included in her activities are a lesbian scene with a dancer in a club, and a dream sequence where she makes out with a barely recognizable Tyce Bune (playing the evil Marylin Manson-like ruler of the world's government) and a totally unrecognizable Art Core who's in full demon make-up. Jodie also has a movie-ending coupling between her and Nick on a beach.

Like Blade Runner, Perfect addresses the questions of what it is to be human, and perhaps more interestingly why society seems to be losing their willingness to think for themselves - and what the consequences of that could lead to in the future. While the story does suffer a bit because of Ninn's habit of going for style over substance, the movie does raise some interesting questions, and the acting is much better than you'll find in most adult features (the fact that Manning used to be a mainstream soap opera actor probably doesn't hurt, and I was surprised at how good Jodie Moore was in her role, as well).

Interestingly enough, the most talked about shot in this title - the "bullet time" cumshot, filmed in the same style you've seen in movies like The Matrix - is more of an afterthought than anything significant in the film. We see a few clips of it here and there during other sexual action in the movie...but for the most part, it's just a cool looking few seconds of film, that doesn't really add (or subtract) anything from the overall movie.

If there's a complaint I have about the movie, it's that Ninn's visual style at times takes away from the storyline. Perfect is visually stunning, but it's not always engrossing, which, I suppose, is the same complaint many people had about Blade Runner. That being said, there's no doubt that Perfect is one of the best adult titles I've seen this year, and my few nitpicks about the film itself are nowhere near enough to prevent me from giving it a "Perfect" rating!

As for the look of the DVD itself, it is absolutely stunning. Although I'm sure widescreen TV owners may be a tad upset that Private couldn't have made this release anamorphic, the quality of the picture is still top-notch, and the sound is fantastic. Those who enjoy hearing the "moans and groans" during sex should be warned, however - Ninn opts to pump his musical soundtrack during the sex encounters, rather than choosing to include the sounds of the performers in action.

The bonuses features are almost as high in quality as the movie itself. Packaged in a 2-DVD set, the first disc contains the movie itself (which is presented in letterbox format), along with a chapter selection, language and subtitle options and an extra solo "tease" scene with Jodie Moore which is quite enjoyable. On disc two come the real goodies, a multi-part "Locations" section, which tells all about the different places and sets that were involved in the production of the film. There's also a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie, a look at the photo shoot, five slide shows, and the soundtrack of the film.

Very few adult films deserve the term "epic" when it comes to their description, but that's exactly the feel I had when watching Perfect. It's the kind of film that the adult industry should take pride in, and it deserves a special spot on your DVD shelf.

Fake moans and soundtrack over top of the audio. And finally, a video of Nikita Denise one on one that looks interesting. Annnnnnnddd... RIPPED OFF.

The comment above that this is style over substance is exactly right, the cheap "special effects" are totally unnecessary and ruin the scenes.

No, it's not perfect, but this DVD by award-winning director Michael Ninn, starring drop dead gorgeous Jodie Moore, deserves major points for creativity, daring visuals, command of the filmmaking techniques and for attempting to move porn forward as a filmmaking genre.

Taken on its own terms, Perfect succeeds on two counts. First, it firmly establishes Austrialian beauty Jodie Moore as the top non-American female talent in porn and the true successor to the retired Silvia Saint. Jodie does girl/girl, boy/girl, and a DP that's worth the price of the DVD alone. She even takes a couple of cum shots directly in her mouth! She doesn't shy away from anything. And, the girl is built like a brick shithouse, topped off with a cover girl face.

She's a true star. In the feature and the numerous extras, is a love letter from Jodie to the porn-watching public. If you can view this two-disc set and not fall in love with Jodie, you probably need a heart transplant -- and viagra, too!

What's even more impressive about Jodie's performance in Perfect, is that she has a very strong cast of (female) supporting players in this video -- most of whom could have stolen the DVD from a lesser talent. Julia Ann, Wendy Divine, Nikita Denise, Dru Berrymore, Monica Mayhem and Tina Tyler are all present and in top form. Yet, Jodie is the stand-out performer in this DVD, with the final sex scene on top of a rock at the beach sure to be a rewarding visual memory for the viewer.

The second success of this DVD is Michael Ninn's in-your-face attempt to treat porn as a mature genre, and to treat his characters and viewers as adults. The story is roughly a cross between the mainstream sci-fi films Blade Runner and Artifical Intelligence. There's a detective, human-like robots, and Christ-like and Satan-like figures, all filmed in surreal, exotic locations with the beautiful Jodie Moore in the center of most of the action. Her three-way with the Christ and Devil figures is award-worthy; the DP action both beautiful and erotic. This is sure to be a winner with both mature men and couples.

It's not your raincoat porn, but that's the point. Michael Ninn wants to challenge his viewers, and excite them visually as well as in their pants. And, he succeeds like no other director this side of the great Andrew Blake.

Ninn's singular failing is that his editing sometimes foils the sexual excitement of a scene. This problem has been evident in previous Ninn productions, but when he has a volcanic performer (like Sunset Thomas in Sex) it doesn't matter.

Finally, the extras on this two-disc set are worthy of Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese. There are making of and behind the scenes features, as well as filmed and still-version photo galleries. And a separate Jodie Moore filmed photo shoot.

Bottom line: Perfect is a challenge. But like many challenges, if you stick with it, you'll be rewarded with a great time.

Giving into the hype of this movie, I purchased it never having before seen a Ninn feature. Although the packaging is great, the film itself is flawed due to Ninn's preference of style over substance, a factor that really interferes with the film's sexual content. Granted, the women were hot and there was some nice scenery, but the overall strong potential for good porn is negated by the arbitrary overuse of slow motion and weird, recycled music. The music is more than annoying and to make it worse, the director chooses to supercede any actual moaning or sex noise with this audible garbage. There never is really any heat between the partners, and the women in every scene have a tendency to consistently look at the camera, an act that really takes away from the sex scenes. Most of the movie is also shot with an overly redundant use of bright lighting that breaks in between the bodies of the actors/actresses while they're having sex, again contributing to the "annoying factor" that this video is plagued with.

Having never fallen during porn before, I found myself napping through two scenes while my girlfriend watched boringly awake. Although this might be common if it were late at night, we were watching this in the afternoon on a Sunday! Ninn's flawed attempt of directing with style produces a porn that honestly has no substance, whether it's story or sex. Maybe he should direct music videos or something.

It is obvious that a lot of money went into the making of this film, and it's always nice to see that directors are still willing to include some dialogue and plot in their movies. As a sex flick though, this movie fails. The crux of the problem is that the sex scenes feel fake. Like Andrew Blake, another pretentious porn filmmaker who seems more interested in breaking into mainstream than making something porn fans can use in the privacy of their homes, here Ninn uses a lot of gimmicks and devices that ultimately make the sex scenes very un-sexy.

For one thing, you can't hear the actresses moan and groan, lick, suck, etc. All you hear is soundtrack. For another thing, the video itself moves too much and cuts too much, which is unnatural and not conducive to sexual visualization. There are also too many slow motions, abrupt cuts, odd angles, off color shots, etc. It doesn't feel like you're having sex at all, and that's the basic purpose of a porn movie in my humble opinion as an avid porn fan. Overall, this falls in with the other Ninn and Blake movies that I would avoid like the plague.