Zodiac Rising

Sin City

Genre: Vignette

Director: Skye Blue

Cast: Becca Bratt, Steven St. Croix, Katie Morgan, Dale DaBone, Aurora Snow, Felecia, Tanya Danielle, Lauren Phoenix, Joel Lawrence, Ciera Sage, Chris Cannon, Trevor Zen

Length: 106.5 minutes

Date of Production: 10/31/2003

Extra's: My favorite extra tends to be a director's commentary since it gives some insight as to what the director is thinking about. The commentary here wasn't the best I've heard but it had some decent moments. Apparently, Sin City commentaries require the director to shut up during the sex scenes, limiting the value of the extra in a movie like this (which is almost all sex). I also liked the seven interviews with the female performers, including Aurora Snow, Lauren Phoenix, Tanya Danielle, Felecia, Becca Bratt, Ciera Sage, and Katie Morgan. Each gave a short biography and talked about what they've been up to. There was also a 10.5 minute long Behind the Scenes featurette (where it started by director Skye Blue explaining how her sign, a Leo, is not compatible with my sign, Aquarius) by Jason Silver, a short written biography on the entire cast (men and women alike), some trailers, a photogallery, a compilation of the pop shots, and spam.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: The picture was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color, as expected. The picture looked pretty solid in most cases, with little grain or video noise getting in the way. In a few of the darker scenes, those problems arose but not to the point where I'd stop watching. I didn't see any compression artifacts or mosquito noise either. The audio was presented in 2.0 stereo English, not the advertised 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround on the DVD box cover. While a disappointment, the basic sound was decent enough that it wasn't a problem, I just hate it when the box cover is wrong.

Body of Review: Sin City is one of those companies that is quietly releasing a number of top quality movies for adult entertainment. They have an extreme line of circus act sex movies under their Mayhem line, a Teen line for those who like younger performers and even an Ultra line for their contract performers. In short, they try to cater to several market niches and seem to do a decent job of this. In their latest release under the Ultra line, Zodiac Rising, the minimal story centered on a writer played by Trevor Zen, who writes a zodiac column for a local newspaper with the help of his girlfriend, Aurora Snow. There wasn't a lot of story or acting, although each vignette did have some non-sex stuff taking place, and fans of the cast will want to check this one out. Here's a breakdown of the scenes by cast:

Scene One: Becca, a cute young thing with shoulder length blonde hair and a very lean body, had a scene with Steven in an all-white room. They engaged in some foreplay before he went down on her, tonguing not only her pussy but ass as well. She provided some entertaining slobber on his penis as she reciprocated, toying with him enough to get him really hard. They rode each other pretty hard during the vaginal sex and it ended when he shot his load onto her abdomen.

Scene Two: Katie, one of the highlights of the recent 2004 AEE Show, looked really cute in her tight shorts and top as she rode on Dale's motorcycle outside. The focus was lost a few times here but the outdoor sex was pretty cool too. They made out and she proved her oral skills were better than average. He didn't reciprocate this time, preferring to nail her on his bike (from behind) and on the ground, before jerking off onto her leg and abdomen. She's definitely a cutie I was hoping to see even if the scene was limited.

Scene Three: Aurora, the attractive young lady on the front DVD cover, Felecia, the lesbian who's made hundreds of movies over the last 10 or 12 years, and Tanya, a gal that has been around the block a while too, had a lesbian scene in a simulated barn at night. They licked each other's pussies, asses and breasts, using fingers and hands liberally to get one another off. About half way through the scene, toys were introduced, which stayed in the pussies until it was time to lick them clean. This wasn't a bad scene either.

Scene Four: Lauren, a gal with a nice ass and aggressive oral style, took care of Joel in a bed. She kept moving her hips as she blew him, a sign of things to come, and the playful nature of the scene got better as time passed. Joel was no slacker in the oral department either, giving her some fine head to get her off. By the time he was done, I think there was a large puddle on the sheets but he boned her anyways. Most of the sex was vaginal but he got to tap her ass too and did so until he pulled out to spew on her lovely face.

Scene Five: Ciera, a girl next-door type with blonde hair, gave Chris a blowjob in the shower. She slobbered on it, kept eye contact and vacuumed him dry as she gagged it down her throat. This was a very short and limited scene but I wish there had been more to it than her jerking him off for a facial.

Scene Six: Aurora, still looking very attractive, had a scene in the kitchen with Trevor. Initially, they had some warm foreplay and then she showed the world that she is an oral queen. The energy flowed throughout her body into that wonderful mouth of hers as she snarfed down his pipe. Their actual sex was okay but compared to the blowjob, somewhat of a letdown, although I didn't mind watching them at all. It ended with a big facial and that was the end of the movie.

Summary: Zodiac Rising is worth a rating of Rent It to most folks for its attractive cast and warmish sex but fans of the performers will definitely want to get their own copy. The sex was almost always oriented towards couples and those new to porn, which limited its appeal to me. I also wish the director's commentary was more active since it seemed to trail off fairly quickly.

Note: You can see recent candid shots of several of these performers by visiting: My Photo's and read about their antics at 2004 AEE Show.