Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Stud Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 22, 2017

Author Jackie Collins has never been accused of having good taste, but her scorching tales of sex, scheming, and the pains of the elite have filled dozens of books, making millions off readers who enjoy private time with amoral characters engaged in nasty personal and public business. “The Stud” originated as a 1969 U.K. novel that shocked the public with its description of bedroom hopping and nasty behaviors, but it took the movie industry time to figure out a way to bring such salacious details to the big screen. Nearly a decade later, “The Stud” was finally ready for cinema sampling, and director Quentin Masters (working from a script by Collins, who also makes a photographic cameo) worked diligently to transfer the dramatic fire and ice that bewitched its original audience, delivering a film that retains much of Collins’s tart antagonism, but also tries to clarify a modernized disco era, which is perhaps an even more appropriate setting for its Machiavellian antics.

Tony (Oliver Tobias) is a young man in demand, playing boy toy for Fontaine (Joan Collins, sinking her teeth into the role), a wealthy woman who demands sexual satisfaction in exchange for the opportunity to run the hottest disco in London. However, Tony has grown bored with their predictable arrangement, secretly planning to co-finance his own club with a shady partner, while his attention is drawn to Alex (Emma Jacobs), Fontaine’s step-daughter. Growing obsessed with the teenage girl, Tony’s judgment is impaired, leaving him exposed to Fontaine’s unforgiving ways.

“The Stud” creates a vivid realm for Tony to rule, initially depicted as an unstoppable Romeo joining his fellow lotharios in an extended game of sexual satisfaction, watching the men attempt to please older women and beguile younger ones with rehearsed charms and good looks. Tony’s albatross is Fontaine, the wife of a wealthy, older businessman who takes full advantage of his absences, using the disco manager for all kinds of carnal activity, including an introductory coupling in her household elevator. She’s a powerful presence, and one Tony is tired of servicing, commencing a secretive battle of arrogance, with the titular lover eager to use Fontaine to achieve independence, while the sugar momma isn’t entirely ready to be done with her plaything, continuing to wind him up for sexual game play, including a pool orgy with one of her close friends.

The Stud Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"The Stud" comes to Blu-ray with some concerns. The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation is a bit iffy on black levels, which tend to look either milky or impenetrable, making delineation a challenge, especially during scenes of intimacy, where it's periodically difficult to discern what's going on. Evening wear also dips into solidification. The viewing experience is more interesting when blasted with light, offering adequate detail for the feature's extreme close-ups, and club encounters retain depth, permitting the study of dancers. It's a softly shot effort to begin with, sacrificing sharpness, but clarity has its moments. Colors show some age, but primaries are adequate, giving some life to club lighting and costuming. Source isn't ideal, with scratches and speckling common, and some jumpy frames.

The Stud Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix is hectic one, but never precise. Dealing with an active soundtrack and club environments, music generally leads the listening event, and while the hits keep on coming, it's a cacophonous track with slightly fuzzy highs and muddy beats. Loudness is more important than sharpness, and the music occasionally steamrolls over dialogue exchanges, requiring the use of subtitles to understand what's being said. In more tranquil locations, dramatics are easier to follow, making performances simpler to track. Atmospherics are blunt, capturing group and urban activity.

The Stud Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historians David Del Valle and Nick Redman.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:52, SD) is included.

The Stud Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hearts aren't broken in "The Stud," as the characters are too cold to really care about the lives they're ruining. It's a Jackie Collins specialty, and such flippant behavior is engrossing for the first half, which details Tony's calculating ways and Fontaine's one-upmanship as disco music blasts away on the soundtrack. Once predatory advances emerge for teenaged Alex, "The Stud" tends to lose its bite, slowly swallowed by melodrama and some weird corner-cutting with characterization that loads the climax with more questions than answers. Still, sexuality is vivid in the feature, which is really the ultimate destination for the production.