Porn valley- It’s a cool, confident, and colorful documentary about the infamous movie known as Deep Throat, www.xxxdeepthroat.com a semi-mainstream porno flick that caused a whole lot of controversy back in 1972. According to Inside Deep Throat, this infamous skin flick from 1972 “was filmed in 6 days for 25 thousand dollars. The government didn’t want you to see it. It was banned in 23 states. It has grossed over 600 million dollars. And it is the most profitable film in motion picture history. ”

Now if that’s not a worthwhile subject for a documentary film, then I’ll eat my hat. And speaking of hats, mine goes off to Universal studios for picking the film up and allowing it to be released with an NC-17 rating. Trying to whittle this thing down to an R would undoubtedly have demolished some of the film’s most….errrr, enlightening facets. Yeah, that’s it.

But don’t mistake Inside Deep Throat for an excuse to deliver truckloads of sex. Sure there’s a few moments of, well, c’mon. You know what “deep throat” means, so stop making me squirm here. Suffice to say that you’ll get a taste of the movie’s most infamous moments, but Bailey & Barbato are a lot more interested in the people who made Deep Throat and the impact it once had on our society than they are in doling out the money shots. And this is only one of the reasons that the doco works so well. Video: The documentary is presented in its original Widescreen aspect ratio, which has been anamorphically enhanced for all you fancy TV owners. Picture quality is solid throughout.

Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, with optional subtitles in Engish, Spanish, and French. Most of the extra goodies come in the form of deleted interview segments and a handful of bite-sized documentary pieces. Here’s what we got:

The Binghamton Trial: Cliterally Speaking is a 7-minute mini-documentary that focuses on the legal uproar that Deep Throat caused in a sleepy town in upstate New York. Fans and non-fans alike share their recollections of the Deep hoopla.

Beverly Hills: Holly Gets Wood runs about 4 minutes, and focuses on another legal eruption, this one after the major battle in NYC, and jump-started by the morally outraged citizens of … Beverly Hills? Ha!

Quincy House: Poison Ivy League (3.5 minutes) tells a cool story about how a group of Harvard students tried to play Deep Throat for their film club … and got arrested for it!

Princeton: Throat Deep in the Suburbs is a 30minute visit with a former Princeton prosecutor who not only refused to pull Deep Throat from theaters … he took his wife to see the flick!

Cut Throat: Where in the World is Bobby DeSalvo (2:38) is a brief look at the mystery regarding one of the shadier Deep Throat “distributors.”

Harry Reems’ Athletic Club is a 2-minute peek at a porn star’s biggest fan club.

The Tucson Trail: When Gerry Met Annie is a 5-minute story about how the Deep Throat uproar in Arizona helped to create a porn star when producer Gerry Damiano met up with Annie Sprinkle.

The Zen of Deep Throat is a 4-minute collection of insights from female authors and porn stars regarding the art of givin’ head.

Linda Does Hollywood (3:40) explains how Linda Lovelace’s attempt at “legitimate” stardom went nowhere. Fast.

The Legends of Erotica: Remembering Linda Lovelace runs about 6 minutes and features tributes and memories from old-school pornsters and Linda’s own daughter.

Firedance With Me is a gal firedancing with the DT producer. Weird stuff.

Women Against Pornography (1:58) is a brief visit with the co-founder of “WAP.”

Linda’s Exit: What’s the Big Deal? (2:44) delivers Linda’s old friend, daughter, and sister as they talk about Deep Throat and wonder “What’s the Big Deal?”

The Last Word for Now has Bill Maher, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul Mazursky, Wes Craven, Dr. Ruth, Hugh Hefner, Norman Mailer, Lili Zanuck, and a few others opining (for about 6 minutes) on the current state of pornograhpic proliferation.

You’ll also find a pair of audio commentaries: One is comprised of audio interviews that didn’t make it into the final cut of the film, and the other is a more traditional chat-track with directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. Between the feature film, the extensive extras, and BOTH of these commentary tracks, I daresay you’ll walk away knowing literally everything there is to know about Deep Throat

Whew, that’s a lotta bonus features! Last but not least is the original Inside Deep Throat theatrical trailer. To its extreme credit, Inside Deep Throat doesn’t wallow in the smut or pander to the raincoat crowd. Yes, it has some raunchy material and NO, it’s not a documentary intended for the pre-teen crowd, but it’s a grown-up and eminently entertaining reflection of where we were in 1972 – and how one little porno flick caused such an astonishing uproar.