'50 Years of Playmates' isn't really a comprehensive trip thru Playboy's ladies. At least not in the way you may be thinking, hoping. A relation that won't come as a shock to seasoned PB video viewers. You quickly find it's about the company, history and everything it has represented, stood for over time. You get naked ladies in snippets or pictorials throughout and there's no denying in a manner they're center stage, but it's largely yet another documentary. Recycling clips, doling out talking head interviews once again.
There's way too much here to unwind, talk about at length. The main presentation is well put together and flows well enough via a narrator. Celebrity faces, PB staff, Hef (of course) as the ladies get spoken to in modern interviews or vintage material. You can buy into the themes, a vibe (sometimes straight-up fluff) or not at all. There's no getting past a heavy use of self promotion rolls out towards the end just as there's no denying the magazine made a lasting impact on human history. However if you want a "legit" Playboy title this ain't it.
