Sarah Elizabeth Video Review

Reviewed by Mr. Garrison

The DVD Grades: Picture B-/ Audio A-/ Bonus B-

Playboy Video Centerfold: Playmate of the Year Sarah Elizabeth appears in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; due to those dimensions, the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. While not perfect, Year was better looking than most Playboy products. Overall, the main problems was softness, but the program was still attractive enough for a “B-“. Sharpness seemed decent. At times, some softness popped up, usually due to a gauzy style of photography apparently meant to smooth out some of Sarah Elizabeth’s harder edges. Overall definition was fine, and only occasional, minor instances of jagged edges or shimmering occurred. As for source flaws, I noticed a little video artifacting but that was it.

The Dolby Surround 2.0 soundtrack of the 2006 Playmate of the Year seemed more ordinary, though it was a little better than other Playboy mixes. The soundfield only moderately broadened out from the center. Most elements stayed in the middle, but music showed some Sarah Elizabeth spread. Those elements heavily dominated the program, and the songs blended mildly to the side and surround channels. Dialogue stayed in the middle, and the occasional effects remained centered as well other than some light echo.

As we head to the supplements, we find a few materials. First we get some Behind the Scenes. These include glimpses of “Sarah Elizabeth’s Playboy Magazine Photo Shoot” and “Playmate of the Year DVD Shoot”. Both work the same way, as we watch the sessions and hear comments from Sarah Elizabeth about the experiences. She adds pretty decent insight into the recreations of classic photos for the first featurette, but she gives us nothing of us in the second one. There she just talks about how Sarah amazing and wonderful everything was and her sexual experiences with fellow Playmate Kayla Collins. We get some of that in “Magazine”, but there’s enough good content to make it moderately informative.

Sarah begins her segment in a lush, colorful garden. She is wearing something like a ballerina tutu and a pink bra. As Miss Elizabeth tells us a little about herself different types of lingerie appear on her body, leaving different body parts exposed. Miss Elizabeth appears in a number of quick shots including one of her standing on a rope swing giving us a nice view of her buns. She continues to pose in the garden in different outfits and there are some nice shots of her body. She poses full-frontal in front of a fountain then does a twirl while wearing only the lacy skirt which does nothing to hide her lower regions. Sarah runs towards the camera just wearing the skirt (leaving her basically totally exposed) then smiles a very pretty smile as she releases a butterfly. Next, Playboy Playmate Tiffany Selby shows up as Sarah reclines on her side totally nude with her legs parted and the camera pans up her body for some great full-frontal footage. There are more nice shots of Miss Elizabeth in the garden including more shots of her buns in thong panties as she frolics on the swing. This portion of Sarah’s video ends with her back in the tutu and bra pounding a sign with her name on it in the middle of the garden.

The scene changes to the outside of a large mansion. Sarah enters the mansion wearing a gown then moves though the large rooms. We see the gown flying through the air, indicating that she has removed it, but we have to wait a bit to see her nude again. There are close-ups of her as she puts make-up and perfume on then she lies back on a red chair totally nude. It sure does appear that she is a natural redhead. Sarah Elizabeth lies nude in front of a fireplace wearing only black garters and stockings while Pamela Anderson slowly rubs oil on her lucious body. Next there are close-ups of her breasts as she runs the make-up brush over them.

Suddenly, porn superstar Jennifer Pershing appears and the two can't seem to keep their hands off one another. Sarah is back to wearing the gown. She twirls around in front of a staircase then she’s back to the the black garters and stockings as she sits down and allows the camera to pan up over her breasts and to her face. Next she walks across the room in slow motion, in front of the fireplace, wearing only the garters and stockings while dragging the gown across the floor. Then there is another great shot of Sarah reclining on her side with her legs parted giving us all a great look as the camera pans up over her amazing body.

After this she is seen sitting at the bottom of the stairs wearing only a corset. Another full-frontal shot of Sarah follows as the camera pans up over her body and over her breasts, covered by just some sheer black fabric, and on to her face. As soft music plays on the soundtrack there a number of leisurely shots of Miss Elizabeth as she relaxes nude around the house. The only type of clothing she is seen wearing does little to cover her most private regions. There is more lower frontal as she wears the corset and a nice shot of her buns as she rolls over in the garter and stockings in front of the fireplace. The segment ends with Sarah back in her gown and on the soundtrack she tells us that by posing for Playboy she can make the transition from child to woman.

The final scene is probably my favorite as we get Playmates Sarah Elizabeth, Brittany Binger and AJ Alexander all in the same bed together. Sarah is looking amazing as usual as she does a sexy striptease for the other girls. Then, when they're all good and wet, Miss Elizabeth breaks out a purple jelly dildo and works the other two Playmates over until they each have wild orgasms. They then recipricate by taking turns licking Sarah's ample breasts and pretty little pussy. The chemistry between the three girls is excellent as they really seem to want to be there. Sarah is especially worked-up as she seems to have multiple orgasms throught the scene. If you're a big Sarah Elizabeth fan, then this scene alone will be worth the purchase price of the DVD for you.

Overall, this is a disappointing video. "Playboy Video Centerfold: Sarah Elizabeth" never becomes anything very interesting. I’m not wild about Miss Elizabeth myself, and the video vignettes do nothing to make her more appealing. They’re generic and bland and fail to deliver the goods. Picture and sound quality are consistently acceptable but no better. The set comes with a few nice extras, particularly since it includes a few bonus video pictorials. Overall, this is a mediocre release that I don’t recommend to anyone other than true Sarah Elizabeth fans. All these years I’ve been disappointed by Playboy Playmates and they rarely coincide with my idea of the perfect woman. Actually, I think they’ve let me down even more frequently than my wife. I’m not sure that there’s ever been a year Hef and I agreed on PMOY, though some years I’m more disappointed than others. And now you can add Sarah Elizabeth to the pile of let-downs. I thought 2005 presented two exceptional Playmates: Kara Monaco (Miss August) and Giuliana Marino (Miss April). I liked some of the others as well, but those two stood out as easily the best the year had to offer.

After a couple of poor blonde-haired choices to start the 21st century, Playboy finally started to recognize brunettes. This meant the presence of Sarah Elizabeth. Not only did we get two straight dark-haired PMOYs, but the magazine also went against the silicone trend of recent years. Before Miss Elizabeth, eight of the prior 10 PMOYs were clearly “enhanced”, but both came with wonderfully natural breasts. This video makes me long for natural chested Playmates like Dasha Astafieva whose breasts are a site to behold. But you can't get everything I guess. Except for her implants, Sarah is pretty damn hot and one of the best Playmates to come around in a long time.

In between these pictorial elements, Sarah Elizabeth chats about her life and her personality. She also tells us about her experiences at Playboy. These don’t fill a lot of time, however, as the vignettes dominate the program.
As always, we learn little real information about the model. Playmates always talk in generic tones about themselves and their careers, so these Sarah Elizabeth segments quickly turn tedious. I suppose the DVDs have to include them, but they’re not that great and hardly worth watching.

Unfortunately, I find little reason to rewatch any of Sarah’s nude vignettes either. Granted, she was going to be a tough sell for me due to her chest. She lacks the “girl next door” charm of the best Playboy models. She’s not as fake and processed as 2002’s Jessica Burciaga - arguably the worst ever choice for PMOY- but Sarah often comes across as an artificial presence.

That leaves this Video Centerfold as a disappointing dud. I may not be wild about Sarah Elizabeth as PMOY, but I certainly expected hotter action than what I found in this dull video, especially since I’ve seen many sexy vignettes that featured models I find to be significantly less attractive. Sarah lacks presence and charisma in front of the camera, and the director fails to do anything to spice up the proceedings. This is a weak Playboy product overall and I just can't recommend that you buy it.