Director Pierre Woodman, whose name used to be synonymous with Private, returns to the fold with this superbly mounted feature, frankly "inspired by" the mainstream movie Sin City.

Fans of the filmization of Frank Miller's graphic novel will find themselves in familiar territory. Woodman expertly adapts its hard-boiled attitude, violent action and stylized visuals.

This first episode clocks in at three hours, and there are two more to come, making it a virtual mini-series. So far it's an impressive one, with a huge cast, many locations (mostly in Prague but with some New York exteriors), special effects and all kinds of technical trickery.

Like the original, most of movie is black and white with only one or two objects a girl's lips, a bra, a dildo in color. When people start fucking, however, full color returns for most of the scene. The color changes, from none to partial to full, are expertly done.

The first scene is almost identical to the one in the Hollywood film, except with prolonged sex before the silencer shot. From there the story takes a path of its own.

Bleck, the rough-edged loner hero (Reda Semlahen), gets out of the slammer after two years when he was "locked up for 20." He scours a city rife with corruption, danger and sudden death, looking for revenge and pussy, and finding lots of both.

The plentiful sex (nine scenes) is very much in the Private mold, meaning lots of anal in the reverse cowgirl position. Everything is competently performed, but no one scene really stands out above the rest. And the dubbing is really not what it should be. The narrator needs a stronger voice, for starters.

Private's usual excellent DVD Extras are on a second disc. The behind the scenes includes glimpses of action from the next two installments, piquing your interest in what's to come. The movie's best recommendation is that you can't wait to see the rest of it.

Pre-noms: Best Foreign Feature. Best Director – Foreign Release. Best Actor: Reda Semlahen. Best Videography. Best Art Direction. Best Special Effects. Best Music. Best DVD Extras.

Retailing: Private fans, Sin City fans and storyline porn fans are all part of a potentially large, diverse audience.