Dynamite (French Connection) Review

Distributor: Cream of the Crop / The French Connection Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film, Gay Run Time: 60 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1978 Director: Arch Brown Written by: uncredited Cast: Tom Cord, Eric Ryan, Michael Munsey, Justin Thyme, Jack Wrangler, Michael Pen, Eric Hill, John Meadows 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

Dynamite is a hardcore gay purported feature film from director Arch Brown. While there are some semblances of a story within Dynamite, those portions are few and fleeting making Dynamite feel more like an all sex film where the plot was added at the end as an afterthought. Which is too bad, since the plot concept behind the film is an interesting one and it would have been nice to see the plot fleshed out.

The concept behind the film is that a man is protesting phony dicks and builds a bomb set to go off at 6 p.m. that he puts into a white sex toy box. He then brings the box to the Backroom Bookshop and mixes it in amongst the toy boxes already on display and then calls the New York Post along with other newspapers and television news stations to inform them about his deed.

Most of what is considered to be the plotted portions are done by voice overs, seemingly not by the actual actors who are in the film, but by other voice actors later on in the production. Outside of the voice overs, this reviewer can't remember any actual lines of dialog within the film. Had the voice over portions been actually shot as scenes, Dynamite might have turned out better.

The result is a hardcore gay film that is essentially a wall-to-wall sex film. There is music that plays over most of the sex scenes, so viewers shouldn't be expecting live sex sounds. As to how good the sex scenes themselves are, that is hard for this reviewer to rate since this reviewer is straight. The scenes do vary from relatively tame to far more intense.

The reality of Dynamite is that it is a cheap and rushed gay adult film that despite having a good cast wastes all of its potential by not really ever trying to be anything more than a cheap and rushed film. Fans of plotted adult entertainment will be the most disappointed of all with this film, however, it is likely that most viewers will ultimately be disappointed by Dynamite.

Cream of the Crop and The French Connection have done a poor job with their DVD release of Dynamite. Dynamite was shot on film and is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. Cream of the Crop has utilized a video tape master for this release &mash; most likely an old VHS release of the film. The release looks ugly with the colors washed out in the image, glitches in the video, print damage, and artifacts present. The image is low definition likely due to coming from a 250i master. No matter how one looks at it, this is a rather abysmal transfer.

Dynamite is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track, which doesn't present many problems. There is a distinct hiss present throughout the entire presentation and the audio is filled with pops. Despite this, the scant dialog in the film is clear and easy to hear at all times.

Cream of the Crop and The French Connection haven't included any extras on this release.

Dynamite presents itself as a hardcore gay feature film, however, in reality, the plot is almost non-existent and any viewer watching this film as a feature is going to be very disappointed. On top of that, Dynamite is clearly a cheaply made and rushed effort which is likely to leave viewers very unsatisfied. Cream of the Crop and The French Connection have done an abysmal job with their DVD release of Dynamite with unacceptably bad video quality and a poor audio presentation.

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