The follow-up to Missy and Mickey's Heart & Soul, last year's winner for Best All-Sex Video, Eros is an obvious not-too-distant relation. Lightning rarely strikes twice, however, and even though Eros is an excellent feature, it still has its flaws. Since this is a good news/bad news review (although the good far outweighs the bad), let's get the bitter medicine out of the way first.

For one thing, the plot, which involves a sort-of science-gone-new-age experiment to explore the innermost sexual psyche of a woman (or possibly, womankind in general, maybe...?) simply stopped making sense about 30 minutes into the tape. Either that, or it's the secret of the universe, and a particularly dense trio of crack AVN reviewers here failed to decipher it. Whichever is true, storylihne isn't the strength of this tape. Sadly, neither is the acting, which is stiff and wooden for the most part. There are also moments when the music tends to have a soporific effect, which really works against any kind of passion-building based on what's onscreen. These moments, however, are few and far between.

What Eros does have, however, is a serious tone that should appeal to couples, especially when they hit the sex.

Ahhh, the sex. (Let's not forget what business we're in.) The sex in this tape is patently outstanding. Every scene is filled with pretty people having raucous, nasty sex in the most lush, beautiful surroundings you can imagine. With a nod to Brad Armstrong's art direction, and the fabulous camerawork and editing, it's no exaggeration to say that Eros looks every bit as good as, if not better than, Heart & Soul - which was one of the most beautiful videos ever produced.

In some ways, Eros is more trippy than cool, with the various segments having their own distinctly psychedelic undertone. As Missy and Stephanie Swift explore their inner selves, we see a variety of different sexual expressions, vistas of lust and wanton desire.

But all is not peaches and cream, and what lurks in the inner self might not be for everyone. Rather than spoil the story, let's just say that our general editorial opinion is that the plot is open to some amount of personal interpretation, including the ending. After all, desire is what you make it.