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Playboy - Women Of Fear Factor

Image // Unrated // March 15, 2005
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]

Review by John Crichton | posted May 16, 2005 | E-mail the Author
"Evidently, fear is not a factor for you..."

I hear these words every Monday night. For the uninitiated, this is what Fear Factor host Joe Rogan says to the winner at the end of every episode. For the 58 minutes preceding this moment, viewers have most assuredly been treated to contestants competing in two crazy stunts and watching them consume some rotten, blended concoction that, most times, has them unloading in the Fear Factor vomit bucket. While this show is a guilty pleasure for me, I get annoyed when critics (and the narrator of this very disc!) label it a "reality" show. It's not, dammit. It's as much of a reality show as the Price Is Right is. And while Bob Barker implores viewers to spay and neuter their pets, i'm sure he won't be blending up the discarded parts for contestants to consume any time soon. Anyways, besides the outrageous stunts and the disgusting cuisine, there's one other staple on the show -- hot women. Together with Playboy, the producers of Fear Factor put together a pictorial for the magazine featuring seven ladies who've competed on the show (three of which were featured on the show's first ever, seven week "couples" competition).

Right from the get-go, this disc will have you rolling your eyes. Whether it's when the announcer (with the serious, over-dramatic voice) tells you how Fear Factor has "created an entirely new class of celebrity" or when they hype the girls as "seven wonders of the reality television world" since they're pushing their "personal boundaries" by (gasp!) stripping off their clothes and getting photographed for a men's magazine!  And this is within the first five minutes! The remaining 46 are filled with the briefest of looks at the ladies' personal lives, discussing their experience on Fear Factor and behind the scenes visit to their photo shoots. 

As much as the disc tried to hype the ladies as "celebrities", they're not. Nor are they interesting. Sure they're cute, but once you get past that, there's really nothing else they have to offer. And, yeah, there's nudity; but it's essentially "behind the scenes" nudity - far from being sensual or sexual.  


Video: Women Of Fear Factor is presented in a full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1. While the overall quality of the video isn't bad, there's a slight softness present throughout the feature. I'd say this was Playboy's attempt at "classing up" the material, but it's present during the outdoor scenes too.

Audio: There's only one audio track for the Woment Of Fear Factor and it's a 2.0 Dolby Surround. It's adequate and serves its purpose.

Bonus Material: "The Most Disgusting, Scariest Thing I Did On Fear Factor!" a featurette that has the girls talking about....take a guess. Close to ten minutes of Outtakes. A Photo Gallery. Previews for "Women Of Wal*Mart", "Playmate DVD Calendar Collection: the '90s", "50 Years Of Playmates", "America's Sexiest Bartenders" and "Snoop Dogg's Buckwild Bus Tour".

Conclusion: I really didn't enjoy Women Of Fear Factor. I've seen a few early Playboy DVD releases in my life, and this was unlike any of those. Where those were sensual, with the girls showing off their bodies as they writhe around in a variety of locations as they talked about themselves; this disc was, for the most part, a documentary. If you're expecting something sexy, i'd suggest you Skip It. However, if you already own the issue and found yourself wondering "How'd they do that?", this is the disc for you.
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