Getting Off (GAM) Review

Distributor: Golden Age Media Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film, Vignette, S&M Also known as: Slaves of Love Run Time: 74 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1979 Director: Ed DePriest Written by: Ed DePriest Director of Photography: Doc Jones, Ed DePriest Cast: Desiree Cousteau (as Desireé Cousteau), John Leslie, Pat Manning, Serena, Crystal Royce, Kathy Kaufman, Ken Scudder (as Ken Skudder), Connie Peterson (as Connie Severs), Amanda Blake, Don Fernando (as Don Gomez), Dino Deaumonte, Jewell Bryght, Leslie Russell, Maria Arnold, Mike Ranger Voices: Johnny Legend Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Getting Off is a loop carrier, in the true sense of the term, by writer and director Ed DePriest. Ed DePriest made Getting Off as a feature-style loop carrier so that there are some plotted portions connecting the random sex scenes, instead of just having random sex scenes that are completely unconnected. The bulk of the footage was originally shot on 16mm film by Ed DePriest for the Ultra Girls (also known as San Franciso's Ultra Girls) adult film loop series. There are five loops used within Getting Off, one of which is Ultra Girls 4 “Amanda and Conny” and one which is Ultra Girls 5 “Serena.” The other three loops have not yet been identified. The only material that is original in Getting Off is the material with Desiree Cousteau, John Leslie, and Pat Manning.

The plot for Getting Off is that Alex (Pat Manning) and Julian (John Leslie) train female sex slaves. They are training their current slave-to-be Marpessa (Desiree Cousteau) and reminisce about past sex slaves that they have trained. Alex and Julian's reminiscing is shown through the loops that are sewn into the film. There really isn't much to the plot, just some sexual seques into the next loop with the expected finale with the seque cast.

The character of Julian is, well to be honest, really annoying. John Leslie is an accomplished actor, he has proven that in film after film. However, in this film, his character just spends the film oddly laughing at everything that Alex makes Marpessa do. Honestly, this gets grating fast.

The sex scenes aren't bad; the kinkiest of which was shot by Ed DePriest for this film specifically and not in most of the loops. This actually is what makes the loops fit not as well as they could since they often seem much tamer than the material shot for this film, making them seem out of place. This isn't to imply that the sex scenes aren't enjoyable. The cast does a great job with them and they look nice; the only issue is that they don't fit within the narrative the greatest.

Getting Off is a fair to middling loop carrier; the film will neither enthrall you nor disappoint you. The Sex scenes are nice but the plot really doesn't even get established. Obviously, fans of the stars will get more from the film than those who are indifferent to the cast members. Getting Off is definitely a film that one will want to rent before outright purchasing.

Golden Age Media has done a decent job with their DVD release of Getting Off. Getting Off was shot on film — portions were definitely shot on 16mm film and some may have been shot on 35mm film — and Golden Age Media has used a 3/4” video master made in the early 80s for this release. The 3/4” video master appears to have been made from the camera negative. Getting Off is presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The video quality isn't bad but obviously isn't as good as it would be had a film master been used. The image contains artifacts and print damage along with very occasional video glitches. The colors are a bit on the drab side and don't pop like they should which is common with the 3/4” video masters made during this period.

Getting Off is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track for which the quality is far worse than the video quality. The audio, for an inexplicable reason, was encoded for the right speaker, not the left so you only get audio on the right side and nothing from the left side causing poor audio reproduction. There are pops and crackles present in the audio. The dialog in the film is clear and can be understood at all times.

Golden Age Media hasn't included any extras on this release.

Getting Off is a rather standard feature-style loop carrier from the 1970s. There is essentially no plot although some work has gone into creating the connective material for the film. The loops don't entirely fit within the narrative and the fact that they were originally shot as unconnected loops is rather obvious. The sex scenes aren't bad but this reviewer would recommend a rental of this title over a purchase. Golden Age Media has done a decent job with their DVD release of Getting Off with decent video, sourced from a 3/4” video master, and problematic audio.

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