Kissing Fields, The

Okay, maybe there was a time when Private wasn't such a great company. Up until now, everything I've seen has been pretty good, but The Kissing Fields definitely falls below the high standards Private fans have grown to expect. It may not be readily apparent, but this video was shot way back in 1994 under the questionable direction of Max "Hardcore" Steiner; nothing against him, I just don't think feature porn is his cup of tea. Considering this was one of three features Max and his crew shot during a trip to Costa Rica, it sort of explains the lack of focus reflected in the narrative. As you might expect, the cast is composed primarily of American and Costa Rican talent; sorry, no Euro-cuties. On with the review...

Sean Michaels plays Devon Roberts, a weary CID agent looking to hang up his for good. If you're wondering what "CID" stands for, welcome to the club. In fact, I don't think the acronym is ever used in the movie (let alone deciphered) but we're led to believe it's some sort of clandestine organization. The name Devon Roberts also seems to be a post production concoction since the main character is often referred to as Sean; as in Sean Michaels. I guess they had to write something clever on the back of the box to create the illusion of a coherent feature. Anyway, Sean's girlfriend (Bridgette Aime) is looking forward to his retirement as well, but can no longer tolerate the danger and secrecy when Sean is to take on one more job. This leaves Sean single and available when he finally heads to Costa Rica to enjoy the fruits of his pension. While there he meets up with an old friend (Joey Verducci) and the two take it upon themselves to sample the locals and a couple of US tourists too. And that's pretty much it as far as the narrative is concerned.

While the story is full of holes and inconsistencies, the sex scenes manage to secure the buoyancy of this ill-fated feature. Appropriately, the first scene is between Sean and French import, Bridgette Aime. With the exception of Sean's larger than average size, this is a pretty basic scene (set in a bedroom) closing with a less than spectacular facial. Things fare a bit better in the next scene as Sean and Joey Verducci take on a trio of Costa Rican locals (Jessica, Rosario, and Loretta) on a beach at sunset. By the end of this scene (which happens to include some anal) all the performers are covered in dark sand; it's hard to tell if this was intentional or just a byproduct of the location. Either way it doesn't look very appealing, unless you like watching a bunch of girls covered in dirt and grime.

The best scene occurs when Joey and Sean escort a pair of tourists (Zana Sun and Brittany Morgan) to a bar. Inside, Sean prevents a potentially bloody bar fight between a American (John Dough) and a local with a large . John joins Sean and his party, immediately flirting with Zana. Apparently sex in public isn't a big deal in Costa Rica because Joey doesn't flinch when Brittany starts sucking his cock. Meanwhile, John fondles Zana while she goes down on him; feeling neglected, Sean takes off. Both Brittany and Zana turn in great performances, especially when they both get plugged in the ass. The petite Zana (AKA Kitty Yung) handles John's thick cock anally with such ease is quite amazing...plus she looks really hot squatting down on it. She continues to impress as she take a nice facial and continues sucking and lapping away long after John has squeezed out the last drop. Brittany also performs some post-climax sucking after Joey jizzes on her tits. By comparison, the last scene is a real snoozer involving Sean and a couple of native girls on the beach.

Whenever I pop a Private disc into my DVD player I guess I'm always expecting to see something special. But this time around I was shocked by the poor quality of the DVD transfer. About halfway through the movie (during the first bar scene) a number of thin horizontal lines flickered across the screen. What I thought was just a technical glitch began to concern me as these lines persisted through the next scene; this is just unacceptable. It's really unfortunate too because the rest of the disc looks pretty sharp. Despite the visual problems, the audio made the digital transition without any noticeable problems; though I wouldn't necessarily consider it above average.

The two bonus scenes offered as extras could have easily been thrown into the feature without feeling too out of place since the talent and locales are the same. The first scene (entitled "The Black Intruder") is a nice hot tub scene with Zana Sun and Sean. Once again, Zana shows off her seemingly limitless ass stretching ability. The other scene ("Margarita") is a great three-way involving Sean, Joey, and Brittany; this one includes a sweaty DP. Peculiarly, the content of these bonus scenes is far superior to anything in the actual movie. Maybe this was Private's way of making up for the shoddy feature. Other extras included are a photo gallery, some trailers, and production notes.

The Kissing Fields is a hard disc to recommend considering Private's vast library of far superior titles. Plus, the poor DVD transfer doesn't help things. If the Costa Rican angle still intrigues you try Costa Rica Studies or Costa Rica Getaway; these were the two other features shot at the same time and feature almost identical casts. Anyway, they're probably not any worse than this one.

The Kissing Fields is a bit of a rarity from Private. First, it's a bit of a classic, released in 1994, but now available for the first time on DVD. Secondly, it's entirely in English, with Sean Michaels in the starring role and Max Steiner (aka Max Hardcore) behind the lens as director.

It's probably important to read the synopsis on the back of the box before you watch the movie, because much of what is listed in the synopsis text is never verbally laid down in the picture itself. But a little reading on the viewer's part will reveal that Sean Michaels is a special agent looking to retire so he doesn't have to kill anyone anymore.

The film opens with Sean and his girlfriend (wife?) making out passionately at their home in the States. Fans of interracial action should enjoy this scene, as they should also enjoy most of the scenes in the film, as all of Sean's sex scenes are interracial in nature. This is also one of the few porn scenes I have watched where the actress starts out barefoot and puts heels on (during the scene) to help turn Sean on just a little more.

After the opening scene, Sean goes off to meet his contact, who helps him arrange a retirement to Costa Rica. There's a hint here that Sean may be leaving without his bosses' permission and that he may be hunted down, but unfortunately neither of these ideas are followed up later in the film.

Sean arrives in Costa Rica without his woman, and no mention of her is made throughout the rest of the film. In fact, once the Costa Rican scenes begin, it almost seems as if we're in another film altogether. Sean meets another contact once he gets there (played by Joey Verducci) and he and his buddy team up with a trio of babes on the beach - with Sean pairing off with two gals while Joey gets just one. This scene may have been more erotic if the performers hadn't done it in the middle of the beach. The scene seems to take place at dusk and much of the beach is damp, causing the performers not only to get covered in sand, but a good deal of mud as well. Somebody get these people a box of wet naps!

The next scene begins at a local bar, and it is important to note that the video here seems to suffer a bit, with visible white lines occurring frequently during the next 15 or so minutes of the movie. The problems are obviously from the original master, but it's a shame because the movie is otherwise transferred very well for a shot-on-video title from the early 90's.

Sean and Joey run into tourists Kitty Young (billed as both Zana Sun and Zana Que) and Brittany O'Connell (billed as Brittany Morgan) who are not only lost, but apparently very horny as well. Also in the bar is Jon Dough, who I initially thought may have been sent to Costa Rica to track down Michaels, but turns out to simply be the local . Jon teams up with Kitty, while Joey pairs up with Brittany - both right in the middle of the bar! Remind me to check this place out the next time I'm in Costa Rica! The best facial of the movie (and all the scenes end with facials, by the way) occurs in this segment, as Jon gives Kitty an impressive blast. Both Kitty and Brittany get anal in this scene, which was my favorite in the film.The movie concludes with Sean Michaels returning to the beach and coming across both Kasandra and Rosario, who he has a threesome with. Sean starts off with just Kasandra, but Rosario (a blonde and perhaps the cutest girl in the film) just can't help but get involved in the action. Fortunately, there's less mud to go around this time and this beach scene is much more erotic than the previous one.

Once Sean has finished with the ladies, he walks off into the sunset. Is he officially retired now? Are his former employers coming after him? And what the hell ever happened to his girlfriend back in the States? Sadly, these questions are never answered (heck, no one even asks them in the film!) and I was left to wonder if perhaps this was supposed to be the first of a continuing series that never got off the ground.

While the plot of The Kissing Fields never seems to get off the ground, the appeal here is the Costa Rican locations, the interracial action, and the fact that this is a pretty good transfer of an older (at least in adult terms) title. The bonus features also include two bonus scenes - one with Sean Michaels and Kitty Young, and the other with Sean, Joey Verducci and Brittany O'Connell.

So if you still have a yearning for early 90's porn with some hot looking (and all-natural) girls, you could do a lot worse than pay a visit to The Kissing Fields.