Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy

Despite the charming cast, 3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is a disappointment which does not live up to its hype.

As an erotic movie, it is not as satisfying as a hard-core pornographic movie. As a drama, it has paper-thin and inconsistent characters. That the main character and his wife suddenly miss each other is totally without substance. As a result, it fails to touch some members of the audience and the delivery of the message becomes very weak.

On the whole, it is a cult movie mixing pornography, foul language, jokes, romance, gore and action. However, it falls between two stools. You are advised not to take the plot seriously and expect any hard-core images, or you may be disappointed. A similar Korean movie, A Frozen Flower, is highly recommended.

3D SEX AND ZEN: EXTREME ECSTASY. It's difficult to know what to make of a film with a title like that. It's just so, well, in your face...as are the 3D effects in this film. 3D is showcased throughout, and it comes in the form of some very, very poor CGI. CGI penises, CGI gore effects, they're all presence and correct here and all very silly and fake-looking, but I guess that's part of the charm.

The meandering storyline involves a spoilt young man who marries a beautiful woman but fails to satisfy her in the bedroom. Frustrated, he falls in with an evil brothel keeper who arranges for him to have a penis transplant. Madness ensues, in a plot incorporating transgender villains, rape, sexual torture, and a military coup. None of it makes much sense, and the acting is very poor indeed, apart from the chief villain who looks like he stepped in from an old Five Venoms movie.

What 3D SEX AND ZEN does offer is an endless array of sex scenes, almost all of them involving topless nudity. The actresses are certainly game for a laugh, but it's difficult to identify just what sort of film the producers were trying to make. As a comedy it works in places but the proliferation of rape stuff in the second half makes it hard to stomach, and as a serious drama the character motivations are laughable. It's an oddity all right.

The film is promoted as the first 3D porn to attract viewers, it is no doubt a very smart way of making $$ for the movie company, but I think those who pay to watch the film should totally readjust the mindset going into this film.

If you are expecting lots of sex scenes and expecting inappropriate things flying 3D in your face, you are asking for too much. When I bought the ticket to watch this film, I totally expected this to be a nonsense comedy that doesn't really make much sense.

When you take that approach I think this film is way more enjoyable. I find it quite entertaining and laughable at some scenes (so are fellow viewers, who couldn't stop laughing at some scenes), and even though a little cheesy, there is a theme into it.

Thing I give big thumbs up are the costumes and props, it makes me realize the producer is taking this film very seriously instead of just a low budget stupid movie. The musical department also deserves lots of credit as the sex scenes are quite steamy because of the background music they use.

Again, this is NOT an artistic film, just take it as a bubble gum film that makes you laugh for 2 hours.

Apparently this did beat Avatar at the Chinese Box Office, so they can't have been that wrong now, can they? Of course "Sex and Zen" seems to be a popular movie series in general in Chinese movie history. Though I haven't seen any other of those movies (this actually played at the Fantasy Filmfest), I can't tell you if it's true that they took the "best bits" from previous movies and put them together here. What I can tell you though, is that this should be taken for what it is: a strange little erotic comedy.

If you can wrap your head around that, there are quite a few OTT moments to "enjoy" here. Until the end of the movie, they never cease to come up with something even more ridiculous than what they've shown you before. Again just don't take it seriously and have a hoot (whole cinema was laughing) and don't mind the "message" at the end of the movie (though it is kind of a nice touch ... no pun intended).

Yes our first 3D sex film, and we are sold a bit short, as it cuts back on you know, sex, nudity, but with some added sick violence. It's not really how this especial one should of been intended, but I disregard the violence in this remark. If you haven't seen this in 3D, being the experts, you'll spot the moments. You would get more out of it, seeing this in 3D. I was outnumbered in the Palace Ezi Max Cinema, a vast one. April 19th, 2011. I couldn't believe it. I was thinking 'If only I had my non Asian friend with me". I'm the only Aussie in this packed cinema of Asian folk. Some brought in some wine, to mark this auspicious occasion. There have been three other Sex and Zen films prior, all coming out consecutively in the mid nineties on. So this one is refreshing, but it had me so thinking this stories similar to the others, but really this sex flick, takes away from the story, when you have luscious stark lovelies engrossed in intercourse or sex acts where some bouncing boobs are coming at you. There are some memorable scenes: not so, that gigantic squashed c..k that really looks like a c..k, (a scary thing) the couple of scenes and dialogue following this, hilarious, the funniest in this flick. There are our lead couple I think, having intercourse on a giant curved, stone statue'd c..k (yeah really) and maggots foot disease, some great towering shots of a fortress, and 45 degrees slicing and dicing (great in 3D). The last scene, the most potent, beautiful too, thus bring disappointment as the end credits start to roll. These out there films, and I'm not just talking the Sex And Zen series, too me are just films to get off, where we do neglect the story that goes into it. With these Sex An Zen films, we really have to pay attention to the story as we get lost or deviate from, as these colorful, stark and nubile beauties are in our faces, visually pleasuring us with their goodies. That she male kind of put a damper on it too. At the end of the night it the sameo, some visuals staying in your mind, without giving a second thought to the story. But is the movie good? No.