Torero

Where to start? Well, I must say, Torero was pleasantly well-acted. Yes, well-acted pornography---who'd've thunk it? I'm not saying this is up for any Academy Awards, mind you, but this is markedly better than most of the stereotypical laughably bad acting that this genre is so known for. Director Joe D'Amato seems to have a pretty firm grasp of the artistic side of movie-making. The good story and decent acting only made the movie that much more watchable. It's quite nice when you actually want to watch what's happening between the sex scenes, and don't wish to just fast-forward through them as quickly as possible.

OK, let's get to the story a little: Antonio Guerrero (Rocco Sifredi) is a prominent bull-fighter who is engaged to the lovely Carmen (Olivia del Rio). However, Guerrero becomes infatuated with American journalist Linda Morgan (Sunset Thomas)---they even have sex (shocking, ain't it?). The plot then goes through a series of twists and bends that won't be delved into in this review--I wouldn't term them as being exactly SHOCKING turns, but anytime a film tries to surprise its audience, I feel it is my job to allow that to happen. The plot is, for the first time that I can ever remember, an actual augmentation to the experience, and not just an afterthought to explain why all these beautiful people are just nailing one another like there's no tomorrow.

But, we do not watch these films for the plot, now do we? The plot is a nice addition, but not the main focus of these. The main focus is, of course, the audio. Yes, that's a joke, folks. A bad one, mind you, but a joke nonetheless. This is sex, folks---have a little fun.

Speaking of sex, the sex in this film is extremely hot. I can honestly say I thought every single sex scene was quite good. The women, all of them, are extremely attractive---they look fairly natural in terms of the, uh, pectoral region (if you catch my drift).

Not to get off-topic too much here, but heck, I enjoy big boobs as much as the next guy, but folks, come on! Overkill is a bad thing.

Anyhow, the women in this release are just stunning and the sex is magnificent. I can't just pick out any particular scene that really blew me away, because ALL of them were well worth time.

Now, for the nit-picking. The extras on this DVD are basically non-existent. There is a little promo for this movie, but NOTHING else. Extremely disappointing, to say the least. The audio is also troublesome. The film is dubbed into English, and the dubbing is NOT done well. Think b.ad Japanese karate flick, and you'll catch my drift here. Is it enough to hurt my enjoyment of this movie? Absolutely not.

Torero is a very good DVD. Very good. The movie actually can make you pay attention in between the hot sex scenes. The acting is solid, the sets actually look professional, the video quality is top-notch. While the lack of extras is quite upsetting, and the audio is hardly great, the movie itself was very good. The sex was outstanding. And, the DVD is well worth the investment.

So, if I sound like I'm giving this a glowing endorsement, it is become I am. I am recommending this film quite highly, and wish more adult film-makers would spend a little more time developing a good storyline to make the movie itself entertaining.

AVN's Best European Film of 1997 comes to DVD- good news for fans of Euro-smut and late director Joe D'Amato. The transfer is virtually perfect: Bright colors, crisp elements and really no visible pixelation. The 5.0 audio is much better than the sound on the original VHS release, and comes with English, Spanish and French language tracks (all dubbed to unintentional comic effect).

Extras: Live-play and step-through still galleries, trailer, multiple language tracks.

this is the fine movie

I was a little disappointed by this disk, probably
because my expectations were high. This is not a
bad film, but it could easily have been much better.
Someone took alot of care in putting together the
bullfighting scenes, editing in footage of actual
bullfights, obtaining suits of light, finding good
locations, and assembling a decent cast. The plot
has Rocco playing a matador who leaves his fiance
(Olivia Del Rio) for a fling with Sunset Thomas.
Unfortunately, whoever edited the sex scenes did
not take very much care. They are choppy, with
no transitions (and no anal insertion shots).
The plot seems to have grand aspirations as well,
but doesn't really make much of its possibilities.

I'm not sure that this disk contains the whole film as
seen on video tape, however, because the trailer
(which is included) has scenes that do not
appear in the movie. If the material was significantly
compressed, it may explain why both the plot and the
sex scenes seem to jump around without smooth transitions.

From a technical standpoint, the video qality is just average
and a bit of disappointment. The audio, as has previously
been pointed out, is bizarre in that it has been dubbed by
English, Spanish, and French actors. This is especially
jarring when it comes to Rocco, whose voice is so familiar
to porn viewers the world over. Certainly, his English is
good enough that he could have dubbed his own lines. The
dubbed in grunts and groans are highly annoying, too.

Thus, while not a bad film, this could easily have been
an excellent film (and may have been, for all I know,
on VHS).

There is only one downside to this movie, the language dub-over. The women are beautiful, and the sex is intense and takes place in a variety of locales. Sunset Thomas looks fantastic, and takes it in all 3 inputs. The other women are also very attractive, and seem to really enjoy the reemings that they take. Extras are average, the picutre is excellent, and the sound is very good (with the exception of that dub-over). Highly recommend this one to fans of Sunset.