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At least once in this reviewer's lifetime there'll be a production that he feels incompetent to describe properly. Perhaps it will be such a melding of genres as to transcend labels - like this one. Perhaps the artistry of both people and setting will be so finely choreographed as to be awe-inspiring - like this one. Perhaps it will simply be so breathtakingly beautiful as to defy description - like this one.

Welcome to Perfect.

Focus, for instance, on the second scene, where the feature's protagonist, Nick Manning, uses his futuristic debit card to enter Julia Ann's high-class bordello, where she, Fujiko Kano and Sabrine Maui appear to be attending to his every desire. But wait; where did Nikita Denise come from? Why is she playing with herself? Is she Manning's hallucination? What's her role? The "answer" to all these questions is: Don't worry about it; sit back and let the sensuality of the imagery wash over you.

The scene ends - twice - with facials both times, and Julia informs Nick that his time is up... so he shoots her. Or is it her? The electric flashes behind the eyelids tell the tale... and Manning brings the personality chip back to his superior (D3).

And so to the plot: Manning is a government agent for Metro City 2, assigned to locate and destroy the four "mechas" (oh, hell; let's just call them "replicants") set loose by the previous administration... and since there's only one left now, the superior figures it can't hurt Manning to take along a partner (Jodie Moore) on the final hunt. He balks, of course... but porn does have a few certainties built into it.

Fortunately, it appears that all the androids are sexual libertines, so the pair winds up at a high-class swing club. Inside, Shay Sights and Dru Berrymore masturbate, four couples get it on on various couches, and again, close-ups are the rule. But while cumshots are a staple of adult video, the semen suspended in "deadtime," as Ninn refers to it - that Matrix-like effect where the camera appears to circle a frozen scene - are new on the XXX front.

The main attraction at the club, however, is vinyl-clad Tina Tyler's stage show, for which Manning and Moore have front-row seats. But after watching Tina gyrate for a few minutes, Moore gets the itch and joins her on stage for kissing, tit-, pussy- and boot-licking.

Back at his apartment, Manning asks Moore if she dreams... and boy, does she! Swirling clouds, pillars of fire, a nearly-unrecognizable Tyce Buné morphing between angel and devil (Art Core)... and it's the devil part that gets to lick Moore's pussy while the angel bites her neck. Before long, she's got angel dick in her mouth and the devil doin' the doggie in her snatch; then she camps her ass on angel's peg before both spirits sandwich her in a d.p., ending in twin shots to her waiting tongue.

Rather than ruin all the surprises - and we couldn't ruin the wonderful soundtrack; viewers will have to experience its majesty for themselves - let's just say that, from the opening to that last beautiful vision on the beach, Perfect is in a class by itself. It won't attract the raincoaters, but couples-oriented viewers will be buying copies like crazy and telling all their friends.

Gloria Leonard once said that the difference between pornography and erotica is the lighting... but that was 20 years ago. Times and technology have changed. Now the difference (which there arguably isn't in this case) is simply talent... and Michael Ninn and crew have it by the boatload. College kids will be writing theses about this one for years. Think Blake. Think Fellini. Hell, think Tim Leary... and log in pre-noms for videography (Barry Wood), art direction (Brennan Fitzgerald), editing (Ethan Kane), special effects (Mike Fitzpatrick, Dave Honda), music (Loren Alexander), at least a couple of sex scenes, director (Ninn) and, of course, Best Video.