6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Casino Royale director Martin Campbell's first film was a low-budget sex romp called The Sex Thief, intended as an homage to the James Bond series. Irresistible to women, the roguish title character (David Warbeck) channels his inner Connery, muttering witty double entendres, relishing the danger of his secret mission, forever sidetracked by beautiful women.
Starring: David Warbeck, Diane Keen, Terence Edmond, Jennifer Westbrook, Christopher BigginsErotic | 100% |
Crime | 3% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.57:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
There's nothing quite like a bawdy low-budget 1970's British sex comedy. More cheeky than explicit, goofy with innuendo-laced humor, and filled with comely birds baring (nearly) all, the genre seems quaint and almost innocent now, when the most disturbing pornography imaginable is but a few keystrokes and mouse-clicks away. These were softcore delights for a simpler time. Yes, they're typically male fantasies that feel baldly misogynistic today, and sure, they're hokey and about as far from genuinely erotic as you can get. But there's something loveably pure about the English blue movies from this period, especially compared to the nudie-cuties and rougher exploitation films being released concurrently in America. Maybe it's because England has a longer history of joking about sex—have you ever seen a traditional pantomime?—while the U.S. has always been more restrained by its puritan roots. Who knows?
The Thief steals onto Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer of a beat-up print that's essentially presented as-is. (What, did you expect an expensive frame-by-frame restoration for a low-budget sexploitation film? Yeah, that ain't happening any time soon.) The 35mm image is marred frequently by chunky white specks, small scratches, and errant bits of debris, but that said, The Thief looks better here than it ever has on home video, simply by the merit of being in high definition. I'm not going to say the picture is sharp—that certainly isn't the case—but the added resolution is easily apparent in better refined facial and clothing features. Color is as good as can be expected for this caliber of film, and contrast seems balanced, with bright-enough highlights and black levels that never unnecessarily oppress shadow detail. The main boon of Kino-Lorber's "raw" approach is that the picture looks completely natural and true-to-source—no digital noise reduction or edge enhancement here—almost as if you were watching the film in some dingy grindhouse theater. Watch that spot on the floor; I wouldn't step there if I were you.
Much like the picture, the film's sound quality is subject to a good bit of source damage—a low hiss in most scenes, some harshness in the high-end, occasional pops and crackles, noticeable volume fluctuations in dialogue—but the disc's uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio mono track is listenable enough. Mostly. In the sequence with the washed-up Hollywood starlet, the low hiss rises to a distracting buzz that lasts for at least two or three minutes. It's almost bad enough to make you want to turn the volume all the way down until the scene is over. It would've been nice if this buzz—and some of the other audio quirks—could've been attenuated somewhat, but it is what it is. Dialogue, at least, remains fairly easy to understand, which is good considering that Kino have once again neglected to include any subtitle options. I do have to say—I kind of love the film's music, which is a mix of the stereotypically 1970s bow-chick-a-bow-wow porno fare with very British, very twee instrumentation—flutes and quietly strummed guitars and pitter- patter drums. Imagine Belle & Sebastian scoring a blue movie.
Unfortunately, there's not a single extra on the disc, not even a trailer.
It's hard to believe the guy who directed The Sex Thief is now best known for helming Casino Royale, but hey, everyone has to get their start somewhere. Martin Campbell's first film is a cheeky—and I mean literally cheeky—romp, a sex comedy with more awkward, ridiculously unrealistic guy-on-girl flopping than Showgirls. You'd never say it's a good film, but for this type of movie it's fun and hokey and good for an ironic laugh. It's more of a curiosity than anything, so I can't say I wholeheartedly recommend Kino's Blu-ray release for a purchase—especially considering the absolute lack of bonus material—but those jonesing for more bawdy 1970s fare in high definition may want to give The Sex Thief a go.
1972
1974
1976
1975
1979
1983
Peekarama
1985
Peekarama Collection
1981
Slipcover Edition | Limited to 2,000
1974
1982
1985
Mélusine / Slipcover in Original Pressing
1981
1977
Slipcover Edition | Limited to 2,000
1979
1978
Love Camp / Die Todesgöttin Des Liebescamps
1981
1983
1989
1977
1987