Okay, the first DVD in the three disc set was Girls of Hawaiian Tropic, a tribute to the suntan lotion company that holds a series of contests each year to pick out some of the hottest spokes models you'd ever hope to meet. The DVD is the same basic structure as all the Playboy titles in that it introduces a series of attractive ladies who have a little bit of tease as they provide a voice over about their association with the company. This formula has stood the test of time and involves no hardcore sex; just nudity that is typically thought of as tastefully done. The ladies on the disc in order are:

Debbie Ann
Angel Boris
Sung Hi Lee
Lana Gibbons
Amy Hayes
Michelle Stanford
Sarah Hutchinson
Doreen Wetzel
Scottie Hood& Kristen Holland
Shellani Taarud
Ashley Allen
Shana Hiatt

Each of the ladies would talk a little bit before sunning themselves with some Hawaiian Tropic sun oil in plain view and the only recurring theme being a yellow and white lei floating along the streams of the lush tropic paradise. Some of the ladies were obviously past winners of Hawaiian Tropic contests while others were at least contestants but any affiliation was minimized as the gals pranced about in slow motion. Still, as far as girl watching is concerned, all the ladies bared their bodies nicely and none of them was unattractive.

The second disc was The Girls of Spring Break and the emphasis was on the various partying taking place from Daytona Beach to South Padre Island as introduced by Jeff Cohen, a managing photo editor for Playboy back in the 1990's. This time, there was a marked emphasis on providing an overview that placed the ladies in or around the events of spring break, though some of the ties were tentative at best. The ladies on the disc in order are:

Carolyn OBriant
Kari LaCroix
Michelle Mullica & Wendy Christine
Angela Brooks
Brittney Rache'
Tina Brockrath
Christy Hedrick
Joanie Donato
Andi Carey
Cherish Cass
Ramah Tabory
Soula Theo

The ladies seemed more willing to talk this time and each provided some autobiographical information about themselves before they participated in an erotic vignette that was heavy on moody lighting and lingerie but also heavier on grain in many cases. In some cases, the ladies were presented with more of an overview approach but the dynamic was largely the same. If you like watching attractive women, you'll find the short, typically 5 minute long, clips fun but not long enough, with several of the ladies winning the monthly spot in the magazine.

The last disc was The Girls of South Beach as hosted by Playmate Angel Boris from 1996 (released in 1998 from the credits) but it took a different approach to the format. Almost none of the ladies were credited and the vignettes were more erotic scenarios than anything truly relating to the Miami Beach location of the title. I was cheesed off that the ending credits would list pretty much everyone that touched the project, including the guy working the boat in one sequence or the guys responsible for getting the lingerie but not the women in the scenes?!? The chapters on the disc in order are:

Cultured Taste
Women & Water
Sun Worship
Private Dancer
Melody Maker
Stairway To Heaven
Dress To Peel
Points of Interest
Angel Without Her Skates
Scenic Beauties
Hot For Love
A Taste For Lace
Shutterbugs
Banana Tan
Mirror Image

This last disc seemed more about the tease and my biggest complaint was how grainy and saturated the colors looked. I appreciate that most of the material in the boxed set was about the fantasy of the themes more than the reality but if you were reading one of the articles about the gals from a particular college, you'd be pissed off if you found out that half the ladies weren't ever students there or even lived within a thousand miles so the premise here is the same; the minimal attempt to tie the gals into the titled location or even name them was just a lame idea, regardless of the quality of the ladies (which varied more than a little). A few of the ladies looked familiar but this was made about ten years ago and most of the Playmate types kind of blend together after a few months never mind years so if you like the format, by all means check this one out too.

In total, the whole idea behind Playboy is the selling of a narrowly marketed image where lean, busty ladies with a varying streak of sexual exhibitionism are propped up to fuel the imagination of fans everywhere. Each of the discs in Playboy: At The Beach fulfilled the basic concept well enough though I would have preferred the images be cleaned up and better extras provided. For that matter, I would have appreciated each gal getting more time to show off her dancing or modeling skills, not to mention their bodies but considering how cheap this set was, a rating of Rent It or better would not be out of line, even if those of you wanting to see nudity would be better served by the latest erotic effort from a porn company like Digital Playground than a watered down series of titles like this one.

Picture: Playboy: At The Beach was actually directed by three separate people over the course of a few years (Girls of Hawaiian Tropic directed by Norry Niven in 1995, Girls of Spring Break directed by Bob Kubilos in 1997 and Girls of South Beach from 1996 by director Roshie) but the basics remained the same; all three discs were shot in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color wit a lot of slow motion and visual effects. The down side was that the titles had a lot of grain, saturated colors, compression artifacts abounding, and moments that simply didn't hold up well over the years since they were shot. I recall at least the first two looking better on…uh, tape, when I saw them originally years ago so there might have been an issue with degraded source material or defective film stock but I don't remember these shows looking this bad back then (and I checked the discs on a couple of players to eliminate the possibility of a player error).

Sound: The audio was presented in a 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo English but the vocals were hollow and the main aural part of the vignettes that was paid attention to was the generic music. I can't say if any of the music has been swapped out over copyright issues but having seen two thirds of the shows before, I wanted to think that some of the clips were altered from what I vaguely remember. I'm not stating it as a fact but you may want to check into it deeper than I have if this is an issue with you.

Extras: The third disc had some minimal extras including a slide show and some previews but that was it and nothing new was added for the boxed set.

Final Thoughts: Playboy: At The Beach was a set of dirt cheap discs with nude women prancing around in various states of undress and nudity so I couldn't bring myself to hate it despite the technical flaws and multitude of limitations of the vignettes. I know a lot of folks consider this as hardcore as they're willing to watch and given the abundance of similar titles on the market Playboy: At The Beach was priced right to move but you'll really have to be a fan of Playboy to get off on any of these three discs.