It's very important to remember that any ratings simply reflect the opinion of the individual reviewer. (My father always told me that opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and most of them stink.) So don't place to much emphasis on the actual numeric ratings. The body of the review is far more important.

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The score for "what's it worth?" is so subjective. But on the other hand, it does sum up the value of the disc (to the particular reviewer at least) in a way 100 lines of text could not. After all, the amount of hard cash someone is willing to fork over makes a big statement -- if everything else was equal.

I personally think the content of the movie is the most important variable in determining what a title is worth. Although the transfer is important, it takes a backseat to the sex. As far as chapter stops and the like go, I expect them to be there period. If they are not, then the film loses a lot of points.

The transfer criteria is an interesting one. If a movie had super sex that really turned me on, I guess I would purchase the DVD regardless of the quality of the transfer. However, a good transfer is much appreciated, and I would pay a few dollars more for an excellent one. If the sex is lukewarm, the best transfer in the world is not going to entice me to buy it.

Behind the scenes and extras -- I think they might be worth a few dollars extra if they are well done. So far, I have not seen many porn movies with anything that approaches the extras that mainstream movies have. I personally would be interested with commentary by the director and starlets in some cases. Nobody seems to be doing this.

>For example, On my Sex Island review, I placed a higher >value on it than the lowest cost it is listed for >currently. I figure that with the great scenery, great >behind the scenes extra, and the excellent transfer, it's >worth more than the $15 you can find it for. On the other

This was very interesting to me. I doubt I would ever say a movie is worth $30 when it was readily available for $15. I believe that the sweet spot for a porn DVD is around $15. Perhaps I feel this way because I am used to paying that amount for music CDs for many years. Also, since mainstream new releases often sell for $20 and less, it seems hard to justify spending more on porn.

So, with $15 as a starting point, a film with exceptional quality or extras might boost it to the $18-20 range. A less desirable title might sink to $8-10 range.

Snowman

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My definition of "standard edition" in this case includes a high quality transfer, and chapter stops ar appropriate locations. As far as I'm concerned, anything more is just taking up bytes that could have been used to provide an even better transfer.

I couldn't care less what the director was thinking while some chick was getting DP'ed by a midget and a leper. These people think they are Orson Welles making Citizen Kane.

I guarantee that if the studios put a value on these "extras", and priced a "Standard Edition" of the same title accordingly, the standard edition would outsell the "Special Edition" 10 to 1.

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All these "extras" to me are about worthless. They are usually the same on all that particular companies releases...you see the same trailers, the same "award winning" snipets, the same 1995 and 1996 scenes over and over. Photo Galleries are the most worthless. If I wanted to look at pictures, I'ld just visit newsgroups or over 10,000 pic sites and not have to worry about something arriving at my door. I also find the "behind the scenes" footage to be rather boring. I really don't want to see Jenna having make-up applied...I want to see her getting a big dick put inside her (fat chance of seeing that anymore). And what value is there in the "company info" section? Wicked puts a stupid link to their site in their extras section...like I'm not smart enough to type in their URL on my computer. Besides, it only takes me to a splash page where I have to give them my credit card number so they can charge it some more to see more pictures of Jenna, or Missy, or whoever their contract girl's site is featured on this DVD...and lets not forget their casino, where you can loose even more $$$$.

If these companies really wanted to give me something extra, how about including "never before seen" footage? I realize this probably includes re-editing the footage before having the DVD authored, but to me, that would be worth some extra bucks out of my pocket.

peace...i'm out

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Also, there are some porn companies who are doing commentaries. I've seen some on Wicked, and John Stagliano puts them on most of his newer DVDs for Evil Angel.

As for price, well, everyone feels comfortable with a certain range. But for YEARS, people paid $50+ for porn VHS, then when that price went down and leveled off, it stayed about $5-$10 more than mainstream VHS releases.

I'm not saying that we "should or shouldn't" put certain extras on the discs, but FYI: my reason for behind-the-scenes stuff... if I could charge admission and let in every fan who asks to come to a porn shoot, I'd be a VERY RICH woman. So the behind-the-scenes are our mini-invitation.
As for new sex footage, I think some companies are doing that too and more will in the future, as we start to plan shoots with DVD in mind, and at Evil Angel, John Stagliano, Rocco Siffredi, and John Leslie put extra SEX on most of their newer DVDs also.

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Snowman, I think a great transfer helps a decent scene but a bad transfer hurts the hottest scene way more.
I also think that many porn dvd's have much better extra's than most mainstream dvd's. For every T2, Fight Club, or Abyss, there are dozens of titles that don't even have a trailer on mainstream. Wicked, VCA, and Adam & Eve (to name three I'm most familiar with) have loads of extra's on their newer titles. In order of preference-I like behind the scenes, audio commentary's, and deleted sex scenes the most. I don't mind paying a bit more for these extra's or a bit more for a well made adult movie-they make a lot fewer copies than the latest mainstream hit.

Bill, I collect movies so I may not be representative of the masses but if you placed a standard title beside the special edition (adult or not) and charged a bit more for it-average people would go for the slightly more expensive, feature laden one. I've seen this happen with really bad mainstream movies by people who admit that they have no intention of watching the extra's...

After listening to a few dozen or more commentaries (porn or not), the adult directors are the ones having fun with it and not taking themselves so seriously. The mainstream directors are the ones acting like they are God's gift to the entertainment world. When Jonathan Morgan, Michael Ninn, or Antonio Passolini, tell us about the various aspects of the movie, we are entertained. Will most people listen more than once or twice? Probably not but those who listen even once will learn something and often hear great insider jokes.

Daking, most of us agree about the photo gallery section but it takes up almost no room and a few people like them so there's no problem in keeping them. If you'd like to see a few BTS that are not boring, email me and I'll give you a few examples of really good ones.

Tricia, I hope to see a few of your dvd's soon in order to compare them to the others. You are correct in that many people would love to be at a porn shoot. BTS extra's are one way to see that.

Astro, ever the voice of reason, I agree. If we look at all the absolutely lousy porn dvd's with NO extra's-especially those that sell for the same as feature filled dvd's-I know the extra's make it a bit easier to justify spending as much as these cost.

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professorwolf

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