AVN Awards 2009: Special Collector's Edition (Hardcore Edition)

Pulse Distribution

Genre: Compilation, Awards Show

Director: Mark Stepp (Awards Show)/Cezar Capone (Red Carpet)/(compilation scenes varied by movie)

Cast: (of the scenes) Monique Alexander, Mr. Marcus, Faye Reagan, Rebeca Linares, James Deen, Andrew Andretti, Anthony Rosano, Teagan Presley, Hillary Scott, Heidi Mayne, Tyler Knight, Cheyne Collins, Mark Davis, Alec Knight, Alex Sanders, Jessica Drake, Jada Fire, Gianna Lynn, Lana Croft, Michelle McLaren, Ryder Sky, Brad Armstrong, Derrick Pierce, Barry Scott, Eric Masterson, Sean Stylez, Kayden Kross, Erik Everhard, Pinky Lee, Annette Schwarz, Valentina Blue, Lisa Ann, Ann Marie Rios, Lola, Monika, Anna Nova, Sweet Angel, Prima, Trinity, Abby, Jane, Rafaella, Joachim Kessef, Oliver Strelly, Timo Hardy, Roxy DeVille, Christian

Length: Varied by scene, labeled below

Date of Production: 1/2009

Extras: There really were not a lot of extras since the dozen scenes were billed as part of the double disc set already.

Condoms: None

Audio/Video Quality: AVN Awards 2009 was presented in a clear 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color as shot by directors Mark Stepp (Awards Show) and Cezar Capone (Red Carpet), in part to be aired on the Showtime channel as well as this double disc set. The lighting was as solid as anything else made for airing on television, the various camera angles certainly covering a whole lot of territory to provide a glimpse of what most consider the biggest porn event of the year in the USA. There was little grain, no compression artifacts, and neither of the two separate shows included here had any serious problems with the picture. Some of the scenes included (there were twelve of them!) had various issues as the original reviews stated but it was a superior experience to watching the watered down version on cable, the explicit sex of the scenes enough to merit the "Hardcore Edition" label on the box cover. Considering that the scenes included were from such a wide variety of sources, this could truly be labeled the best AVN Award show released on DVD to date, the bitrate of the show hovering around the 5.5 Mbps mark with the scenes each looking distinctly different. The audio was presented in a 2.0 Dolby Digital English with 192 Kbps bitrate and 48 kHz sampling rate as expected, the clarity of the vocals for the show very well handled. The music and effects seemed appropriate and added to the quality of the experience, even some replay value.

Body of Review: Every year, the Adult Video News Awards becomes the most important event in the industry, the coverage by even mainstream media elevating the status of those that win some of the prestigious awards. As a voter and someone covering the Red Carpet myself of late, I can tell you that a whole lot of work goes into every aspect of the show, Xcritic making quite a splash this year by covering the event backstage in an exclusive arrangement on Twitter (perhaps the first major event carried this way, our publisher Chris Thorne stepping up to the plate himself when those initially responsible encountered difficulties). Well, despite various critics and hordes of competitors trying to dilute the importance of the show for decades, the release of AVN Awards 2009: Special Collector's Edition (Hardcore Edition) will always remain special for me, in part due to this being the first attempt to release a set of twelve full scenes from some of the top winners, a suggestion a number of people, myself included, have made for a long time. The double disc set included about 100 minutes of all new material, including Red Carpet coverage by Kirsten Price and Dave Navarro as well as the main show itself hosted by Jenna Haze and Belladonna. There were feature clips and comedy skits, a musical interlude courtesy of Flo Rida (and a whole bunch of Spearmint Rhino strippers), and acceptance speeches, the sheer number of glimpses into the audience amounting to a time capsule any true fan would want for their collection. Here's a brief look at the compilation scenes by cast and action, noting that no condoms were used for those still interested, as well as a quick look at the show, this format hopefully catching on for expansion in the future:

The first disc started off with a 20:56 minute long Red Carpet Pre-show. I was there and it lasted a lot longer, this portion hosted by Dave Navarro and Kirsten Price, the couple interviewing some of the more notable performers with random clips of the large room tossed in for good measure. Most of this footage was shown on the cable channel Showtime but it looked very professionals and clear, leading to the second part, the show itself.

The second part of the first disc was a 79:28 minute edited version of the lengthy show itself, started off with Flo Rida's musical interlude where he was joined by a bunch of ladies on stage to gyrate as the guy sang. Thea Vidal then came on after the intro for the 26th annual show, her brand of comedy about as lame as could be but the cameras bouncing around the audience were pretty interesting for time capsule purposes. Jenna Haze and Belladonna were the hostesses of the show and there were a few a number of cute clips, nothing as crazy as Jameson's whine-fest from last year but you'll probably find enough to watch a few times nonetheless. One approach I liked a lot was the use of branching technology that allows a viewer the ability to watch a "best scene" at key points in the show by clicking the remote control

Scene One: Cry Wolf: Monique Alexander, Mr. Marcus: Danny meets up with Sylvia as he is closing up the bar. She claims that she was being hassled by a few men at the bar and is afraid to go out to her car alone. He closes up shop and walks her to her car and it turns out to be a date. One thing leads to another and they are back at his place making out. The scene is nice and slow touching on the seducing the mind and body. It looked like Monique didn't have any trouble at all with Marcus size. Marcus makes sure he nails her in several positions before he unloads on her ass. (review by Ravyn C.) 12:58 minutes

Scene Two: The Gauntlet 3: Faye Reagan, Rebeca Linares, James Deen, Andrew Andretti, Anthony Rosano: This was an edited section of the lengthy scene, summarized by this portion of the original review: That was when hotty Rebeca Linares joined in to try some light BDSM on Faye Reagan, leaving all the fetish stuff behind to make it more of a straight up lesbian scene with Rebeca in charge. They went oral on each other, used some toys, and Faye was made to serve her mistress but that was about it before the sex started getting more hardcore in the next room (where Rebeca introduced Faye to a bunch of guys in the blowbang room). Both of the gals started fucking and sucking the five guys, moving from Faye as the focal point to the gals separating to get plenty of action apart. Rebeca was the better of the two in terms of how active she was but Faye sure took a shine to James Deen; the loser getting very vocal where his silence would have been appreciated. Rebeca also did a bunch of anal here (with DP's) and both gals showed that taste testing was on the agenda; the scene ending with a variety of creampies and cum swaps that fans of them might like more than I did. Faye did seem to like swallowing though so I can't fault her oral activities compared to her moderately active riding skills. 35:38 minutes

Scene Three: Not Bewitched XXX: Teagan Presley, James Deen: Teagan Presley, still in her Sailor Moon outfit, decided she was not ready for the likes of Nathan so she settled for James Deen, awakening him with her magic as the pair got comfy on the bed. She jerked him off while he massaged her biscuit, James going down on her box and ass while Teagan squealed in delight. Her blowjob was not on par with some of the other gals in the movie but she seemed to be distracted as James kept swatting her ass, leading her to redeem the scene by impaling herself on his rod vaginally as though having a deep seated itch to scratch. This is one of Teagan's few scenes left with a male partner now that she's taking a break and she seemed driven with a need for seed as she embraced her inner whore, James grabbing her as though he sought to choke her but was being told to stop. Teagan's puffy pussy took the rapid fire pounding he gave too, the gal remaining in her go-go dancer boots the entire time with the kinkiest bit being where James had four fingers inside her pussy as he fucked it. I thought her head would explode given how the veins in her neck stood out but the ending facial gave her pause even if it was kind of small. 16:14 minutes

Scene Four: Icon: Hillary Scott, Heidi Mayne, Tyler Knight, Cheyne Collins, Mark Davis, Alec Knight, and Alex Sanders, were up next in what amounted to a second orgy scene. Initially, Hillary did Cheyne while Mark did Heidi on a large round bed, the lack of a tie in bit making me wonder if something happened to screw it up or result in it being edited out. Heidi had been the red carpet interviewer and as the two gals started getting warmed up, the other men joined into to fuck mouth, pussy, and eventually ass as they saw fit. Hillary's over the top vocals weakened the scene for me here (a little goes a long way when viewing this at home), her love of Tyler's black dick a highlight for me more than the eventual anal and double anal (DAP) or other DP action by the ladies. The extensive zooming in and out of the cameras was distractive too but what struck me as most out of place was the manner in which the sex seemed to be a straightforward gangbang without Eli's rougher edged aspects to make it different from the sea of gonzo on the market. I'm not fixated on porn as a sexual Olympic sport (where the more extreme the sex gets, the better it is) but the gals were more passive in accepting cocks into their bodies than any other scene where men were present and it was not the scene I would have ended the movie on. The scene ended when the men jerked off to the faces of the ladies, the gals exchanging sperm with each other to close to the ending clip and credits. 30:18 minutes

Scene Five: Fallen: Jessica Drake, Jada Fire, Gianna Lynn, Lana Croft, Michelle McLaren, Ryder Sky, Brad Armstrong, Derrick Pierce, Barry Scott, Eric Masterson, and Sean Stylez, were then up in an orgy scene where the people paired off in the smoky bar setting as Jessica established her need for some form of love/physical contact with others. The scene lasted about twenty minutes (out of the over three hours shot) and the extended version on the bonus disc flowed much better (and was twice as long). In any case, the emphasis was on oral loving, with the ladies slobbing knob much more readily than the guys ate the ladies out, a bunch of anal sex included such as Jada getting planked or Jessica and Gianna taking DP's but the enthusiasm here was my favorite part of the scene overall. Eric looked weird with his modified Mohawk hairdo and Michelle still didn't do much for me, Jessica coming across as the nastiest and most driven of the entire cast, other minimal distractions including cast members looking right at the camera (Derrick in particular), too many close ups, or the rapid fire tempo of the edits that dragged it down to merely good when it could have been great. Orgies are tough to get right though, needing a great editor to supplement exceptional camera work so I cannot be too tough on Brad's direction even if it looked like Jake, Francois, and the others needed him behind the scenes more than in the limelight. The scene ended with multiple wads of genetic juice scoring on the faces of the ladies, a fair bit of it cumswapped by the gals. 24:25 minutes

Scene Six: Roller Dollz: Kayden Kross, again looking lovely but this time wearing a flowing white nighty in a dream sequence with studly Erik Everhard, proved to be a nightmare for Bree as she tried to stop them. The artistic merit of the scene aside, this kind of sequence does little for me most of the time so I would have rather seen the duo go at it without the special effects. Kayden's ass looked exceptional when covered by the sheer white fabric and Erik managed to satiate her orally before she took his pounding pecker vaginally in a standing doggy. He looked so red hot and sweaty that I was almost surprised he didn't spontaneously combust but it was clear that he was the driving force of the scene (Kayden looked great but was too passive most of the time). She did do some taste testing well after the scene started but it seemed like she was more into him hammering away at her pussy than anything else. The scene then ended when she blew him to completion while positioned at his knees. 18:33 minutes

Scene Seven: Bad Luck Betties: Pinky Lee, Alec Knight: Last but not least comes this final scene where Pinky Lee (the only blonde in the film, not that this fan of dark haired women is complaining!) heads to the mayor's office to get what she needs to finally get the 'Betties' to let her into their gang. Knight, the mayor, talks her into posing for some photographs and then cons her into sucking his cock with promises of stardom. The oral leads to some classy office fucking as he takes her from behind and on the couch, working her cunt and her asshole before pulling out and shooting his goop onto her face. This is a decent scene but it's the weakest of the five. Regardless, it's still much better than average and, like the first four, effectively blends some quality fuck footage with a playful sense of humor. (review by The Mooninite) 16:06 minutes

Scene Eight: Face Fucking Inc #3: Annette Schwarz is a cute blonde girl with a slender frame and small perky tits. The scene opens with her getting dominated by the camera man. Then 2 dudes show up with their cocks hard. They take turns filling her face with dick. She gags as they work her mouth hard. There is some light face slapping and a lot of forceful oral action. Towards the end she is covered in her own spit and her makeup is running. The action ends with a double facial. Next she gives a quick blow job in POV and takes more cum on her. If you like it nasty, then this scene is up your alley. (review by Rob Randell) 22:27 minutes

Scene Nine: Slutty and Sluttier 7: Valentina Blue, is on some stairs back against the wall finger fucking her pussy. Eventually Valentina introduces a toy which she uses to fuck herself with. After a bit she heads down the staircase and continues to play with her amazing body for a minute before Manuel Ferrara enters the room. Once there Manuel bends over Valentina on some railing and eats and slaps on her ass before turning her around to eat and finger bang her pretty pussy. Valentina lands up on the floor sucking on Manuel's cock while he fingers her asshole. Valentina then stands up and gets vaginally fucked from behind. She then turns around and the two kiss while she strokes on his nice cock. Valentina then heads up the stairs where another guy is sitting on a couch with his hard cock out which she goes over and sucks on. After some oral Valentina gets fucked in cowgirl and then gets ass fucked in missionary. Manuel then re-enters the picture and the two guys give Miss Blue a DP ( one cock in the ass and the other in the pussy). After some nice double penetration action Valentina stands up against a wall and continues to get fucked and this girl looks amazing. She then heads back to the couch where she gets into the doggy position and Manuel fucks her ass while she sucks the other guy off. Eventually Valentina lands up on her knees where both guys cum in her mouth. (review by The Horny Housewife) 37:33

Scene Ten: Girlvana 4: Lisa Ann (the brunette sitting on the middle of the cover), playing the MILF teacher that used her position to coerce her students to have sex with her, was up next as she singled out sweet Ann Marie Rios to become her latest conquest. These two gals are really well suited to work together and Ann was surprisingly aggressive here even though Lisa was in charge the whole time, some spanking on the teacher's desk with a ruler providing extra stroke value as Ann topped from the bottom (a very reddened bottom by the time they were finished). The extensive titty play and passionate kissing was another step forward in the movie's dynamic, certainly better than the similar scene on the first disc as this pair proved to be into each other a whole lot more. Ann wanted Lisa as much as Lisa wanted Ann, the younger gal nearly managing to turn the tables on her mentor. There were no toys and the face sitting gave me chills, both gals giving as well as they received throughout the heated little romp. Yes! 24:31 minutes

Scene Eleven: Cream Pie Orgy 6: Lola, Monika, Anna Nova, Sweet Angel, Prima, Trinity, Abby, Jane, Rafaella, Joachim Kessef, Oliver Strelly, Timo Hardy, males not credited): This one was an orgy where the gals sucked the men off and allowed access to their pussies and asses for the guys to play with. There was a moderate amount of energy here and a party-like atmosphere, the guys even putting their cocks in cake for the gals to appreciate as a frosty treat. There was little chemistry here but lots of energy, the ladies often actively riding the cocks until the genetic juice flowed like crazy. If you enjoy what amounts to generic Euro-porn with a lot of overdone moaning, this would be right up you alley. Most of the cream pies looked real here too, the free flowing genetic juice tasted right out of holes. 27:01 minutes

Scene Twelve: Tristan Taormino's Guide to Oral Sex 2: Roxy DeVille, Christian: This includes an anatomy lesson and Roxy DeVille giving Christian a hummer. Having seen her slob many a knob in recent years, I was pleased to report that the discussion points did not interfere with her technique; the fetching brunette giving the guy as much pleasure as any of his male partners have over the years from the looks of it. They began with a handjob, taking it slowly as she made the entire effort a seductive experience. Roxy is always welcome to try new things on my cock, though she'll need a magnifying glass and tweezers if this comes to pass. The ball sucking, rhythm, and licking style were all covered in depth, the gal handling his modest load well enough before the question & answer period.

Summary: AVN Awards 2009 was a major advance in the history of the show for the manner in which so many top scenes were included, the surprise for me being the lack of one from Pirates 2 given how much love the voters gave it in so many categories. I would have appreciated a full list of nominees and winners, more footage from those that won secondary awards, and more short clips if not whole scenes but ultimately, this was certainly a step in the right direction and worthy of being rated as Highly Recommended. In short, the show and pre-show contained in AVN Awards 2009: Special Collector's Edition (Hardcore Edition) was valuable for me to get a broader look at the events surrounding the fabled event that I took part in, but the compilation scenes added significant value themselves, the hours and hours of top titles represented a rarity on many levels so check it out and consider picking up a copy.