Drive (Hand-in-Hand) Review

Distributor: Bijou Video Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic (1970s Shot on Film), Feature Film, Gay, Action Run Time: 75 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1974 Director: Jack Deveau Written by: Jack Deveau, Christopher Rage (as Tray Christopher) Director of Photography: Jack Deveau Cast: Christopher Rage (as Mary Jim Sstunning and Tray Christopher), Kirk Luna, Mark Woodward, Peter de Rome, Peter Fersen, Shawn Roberts, Michael Corrigan, Frank Ventgen, Brian Destazio, Richard Abel, Jack Brusca, Harvey Shamber, Jaap Penraat, Stan Gunter, S.V. Newman, John Fromke, Freemann Freeman, Chris Rutter, Avery Addison, Bill Gillers, Steven Sampson, Bill Ritter, Jim Case, Ted Valkus, Renfroe Meyer, Lorenzo Lasalle, Arch Fairbanks, Denny Mans, Arch Hilborn, Ray Frank, Chris Mosley, Al Kelmis, Marty Marks, Rusty Lewis, Nick Shulman, Paul Turley, Robert Alvarez, Clif Dover, Jack Deveau, Mark Sayles, Joe Quin, Seth Poole, George Culver, Nicholas Grippo (as W. Grippo), Marvin Desimone, John Willard, Paul Conaway, Frederick C. Mongue III, Curtis Brown, Carlyle Taylor, Cal Mansour, Kenric Hawley, Joaquin Mineo, Richard Morrisey, Harold Reardon, Kendric Brown Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD-R Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Drive is an ambitious gay hardcore action film from Hand in Hand Films owner Jack Deveau. Drive is a lot of fun. The film is a take off of James Bond — if James Bond had been a gay, psychedelic special agent. In Drive, Arachne (Christopher Rage) and his sidekick Androgeny (Peter Fersen) attempts to steal a drug that has been developed by Dr. Vincent Hardison (Mark Woodward) and his assistant Dr. Harry Mantle (Michael Corrigan). The United States government want the drug, which eliminates the sex drive, to be used for non-consensual birth control, Arachne wants the drug to free men from their sex drive. After the attempt on Hardison and Mantle, Hardison goes into hiding. The government sends special agent Clark (Kirk Luna) to find Hardison and return him along with the formula before Arachne can find him.

Drive is a madcap film that more resembles 1967's Casino Royale than any of the serious James Bond movie entries. The plot is an important part of Drive and isn't just an afterthought as the plot usually becomes in adult movies. In fact, over ten minutes of the film passes before any sex is introduced into the film. The sexual scenes and the plotted portions are often interlaced, which this reviewer knows will annoy some viewers, but is what this reviewer prefers as it doesn't feel like the story has been interrupted.

The cast does a great job with their roles and in staying in character during the sex scenes. Many of the directors and producers from Hand in Hand Films at the time are visible in cameo roles including Peter de Rome in the Q role from the James Bond films and Jaap Penraat as a blink and you will miss him gas station attendant. The sex scenes in the film are short but seem to be well done. It is hard for this reviewer to completely rate the sex scenes since this reviewer is straight, however, there was nothing bad that this reviewer noted about them.

The music in the film is great and fits the mood of the film very well. Overall, Drive is a unique and very enjoyable film that has nice production values and excellent shooting locations. Fans of the genre should be very pleased with the film and shouldn't hesitate to pick it up.

Bijou Video has done a nice job with their DVD release of Drive. Drive was shot on film and it looks like Bijou Video has used a nice quality print or the negative for their release. Drive is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The image contains artifacts and print damage. Blacks present themselves a little lighter than they should and darker scenes can be murky. The colors in the film look nice. Overall, the image looks nice throughout the film.

Drive is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track. The audio presentation is good. There are crackles and pops in the audio and an omnipresent hiss throughout the film. Some of the dialog in the film can be hard to discern but that appears to be an issue with how the audio was originally made not due to this specific audio track.

Bijou Video hasn't included any extras for their release.

Drive is an incredibly fun gay feature hardcore film that is a take off of the James Bond films. Drive offers an original story and the film itself is story intensive, which will please fans of feature films. Drive is highly recommended for fans of the genre. Bijou Video has done a nice job with their DVD release of Drive with good video and audio quality.

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