Digital Hierarchy Movie Reviews

I had to wait 6 months or so before this DVD is available for rent. Actually I thought this was a documentary on Shelley Michelle and the body-double girls doing their job in Hollywood studios (what happens behind the scenes, how they switch with the actresses, etc...) Turned out it's just another strip-tease video. Not really bad, but not what I expected either. This DVD has four chapters ("Double desires", "Incredibly wet", "Wild fetishes", "Exposed"), each features up to five R-rated scenes of nude girls dancing -- following a brief and sleazy introduction by Shelley Michelle. In fact, I don't care a lot about Shelley, but I particularly like a girl (the shorter one) in the double shower scene of chapter 2. Unfortunately I can't find out what her name is. The Internet Movie Database doesn't provide any info on the cast and crew. Of course Shelley Michelle, who got credited (on the DVD) as writer and producer of this series, is pretty famous for having body-doubled Julia Roberts, Kim Basinger, Barbra Streisand etc..., and got interviewed on such TV shows as "Hard Copy", "Inside Movies"..., but is that the reason for all the other girls to have to go incognito?

I purchased this DVD based on what it says on the back cover, namely, that it was significantly based on the story by Spain's 15th century writer, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. This version is practically nothing like the real masterpiece by Cervantes (even as a spoof), and was not funny even to my 6 and 9 year old niece and nephew. They stopped watching it after 10 minutes (I was not surprised, as I had already reviewed it).

The animation is of the simplest kind. This was made by Australians, and unfortunately they apparantly suffer from the same ethnic misconceptions as many Americans. Based on the way Sancho's and other characters' accents and dark skin tones were represented here, you would think that they were of Mexican (predominantly Central American Indian descent) instead of European. La Mancha is just south of Madrid, Spain; and Spain is in Europe, not south of the Rio Grande! By the way Australians: there are no tigers in Africa (nor kangaroos).

In summary, stay away from this video. If you are looking for something different or educational (like I was), don't bother. Your children are better off watching reruns of Chicken Run, Toy Story, Disney, et cetera. I gave it 1 star only because there was no option for zero stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading King Solomon's Mine. I thought that I'd give this movie a try. Sometimes watching the movie after reading a book is enjoyable....book vs. movie comparisons, pick a few new nuances or different interpretations in the movie, etc....

But this movie is horrible. As an animated film it is bad. Animation, music, voices ...all horrible. And there are countless major differences in the plot and major characters. This movie is not just bad, it scarred my mental image of a great and enjoyable book. I'd give the movie negative stars if I could. I think I'll try the 1930-version of the movie....but avoid this one for sure.

Ok, I was a bozo. I thought since this DVD was on Amazon and that because Playboy has branched out into non porn stuff that this was just an ordinary Karaoke. Wrong- this is definitely not for family viewing. You may wonder what naked ladies have to do with the themes of Beatles songs. I did too.

And you will still be wondering after seeing the DVD. Save your money unless it turns your crank to catch glimpses of the chests of various Barbie wannabes squirming around in front of a soft focus lens.

Okay, so I wasn't counting on the nekid ladies. But I was counting on "Songs by the Beatles, Neil Sedaka, Elvis, Frank Sinatra and more". Well, I struck out again. Unlike other DVDs which honestly point out that the recordings are not by the original singers, this description may lead you to believe that you will get what I think most Karaoke customers want: a high quality video with music by the original performers which can have one or all of the vocals muted. Not on this DVD- all are impersonators. Some are not too bad though. I don't think Amazon is to blame- they probably just copied some misleading promotional description from the vendor.

As for the DVD features, the basic karaoke options are there. You can selectively mute out the vocals using track 2. The third track puts music on the left channel and vocals on the right. Unfortunately, the music tracks provide only a background rhythm without any melody line, so there are no cuing clues to aid the singers in knowing when to sing the next line. Lastly, I could not figure out how to switch to other tracks such as music only using my DVD player. I could do it fine playing it on the computer.

Tracks: "Beattles"- Let it Be, Hey Jude, Michelle, Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, In my Life, Twist and Shout, Long and Winding Road "Sedaka"- Breaking up is hard to do, Calendar Girl, "Presley"- Don't be cruel "Sinatra"- and now for the "More!" section: "Humperdink!"- Release me

"Avalon (you know, Frankie)"- Venus

If you love either the book or the classic 1930's movie STAY AWAY. Either is a masterpiece as it's just a fascinating story with swashbuckling, heroism, and an honest hero. Apart from this version. I don't know or care where it's from. All you need to know is that they took "creative license" and now our twins are not interested in the same woman. Instead the hero is interested in an unattached woman... This ruins at least half the point of the story about being honorable even when it means foregoing something you cherish. The point of these stories is to instill honorable characteristics in the young, to me anyway. Without the honor of Rassendyll it's quite impossible. I just threw this away as soon as it became apparent they'd changed the story. Read the book (and the follow up) and watch the classic film. That's enough...

This movie was awful. The plot ( conman meets and befriends teen and reluctantly shows him the trade) is done in a simplistic manner, nothing inventive, original or imaginative. The acting is horrible. They reminded me of porn-genre rejects. The entire movie was like a cross betweenvery bad 60's hippie movies and dukes of hazard reruns. The pool and con's were lousy. Totally non-believable. And finally, the DVD transfer was sad. No menu, lousy digitizing, and little more than what would be expected from bootlegged copies. Avoid this like the plague.

Hoo boy, this isn't the usual version! Animated is not the best way to put it--stagnant, yes.

My mother bought this, and I watched it many times. The inconsistancies are many and varied: the Duke of Buckingham is a helpless dandy. The king seems incapable of finishing a sentence without assistance. Milady acts and looks like Cruella de Ville, with none of the sexy seductress act of the book (although she does die, but not onscreen)

Perhaps the worst parts are Constance and D'Artagnan. Constance is single in this book, a fainting waif with a high-pitched voice who is evidently incapable of so much as walking away from a villain. When she finally dies, the symptoms bespeak more of severe stomach cramps than of poisoned death throes. D'Artagnan is an over-noble goody-goody, without a single noticeable flaw.

The plot is a watered-down version of the book (though I can understand why the sex and adultery would have been edited out) where the Musketeers go to England to get some diamond studs from the Duke of Buckingham, who is "involved" with the queen of France. There is also a supremely distracting display in the middle, supposedly a ballet. It looks more like rough sketches for the cartoon itself.

On the plus side, the Three were quite enjoyable. Sadly, they are the only part that is.

Gag me with a bayonet -- a RUSSIAN made, Red Chinese delivered, North Vietnamese Army distributed, Vietcong used, funky smelling AK47 -- bayonet! Never heard of the director - couldn't find one willing (?), any of the actors, never saw a nickels worth of advertising or promotion for this sorry "vets-ploitation" waste of time, money, effort and filmstock. Far be it from this old, VA Certified, disabled, VietNam Vet to try and suggest a Vietnam War movie -- but IF I DID, this TURKEY would NOT be it. Probably won't make it to your local video store, much less premium cable -- but hold out hope for a big spash on the WB TV Network. Later... MUCH LATER!