Kiss Today Goodbye Review

Distributor: The French Connection Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic (1970s Shot on Film), Feature Film, Gay Run Time: 59 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1976 Director: John Amero (as Francis Ellie), Michael Findlay (as Francis Ellie) Written by: uncredited Director of Photography: Michael Findlay (as Oscar Riva) Cast: George Payne, Lew Seager, David Savage, Michael Gaunt, Mark Hamilton, Kurt Mann, Lem Amero (as Firth DeMule), Ray Wells (as Ben Dover), R. Cansino, Peter Zass, Christopher Rage 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

Kiss Today Goodbye is a gay hardcore feature film that shows that combining a good cast with good directors doesn't always result in a good adult film. Kiss Today Goodbye was made by the directorial team of John Amero and Michael Findlay using their common gay pseudonym of Francis Ellie and stars George Payne, Lew Seager, and Michael Gaunt, in his only gay adult film appearance that this reviewer is aware of, in the main roles. Given the combined talents of Amero, Findlay, Payne, and Gaunt, Kiss Today Goodbye should be a great film. So where did Kiss Today Goodbye go wrong?

The biggest downfall of Kiss Today Goodbye was very cheap filmmaking techniques by two directors who know how to do much better. The concept for the story presented in the film isn't bad. Charlie Dobbs (George Payne) is in a relationship with Tom (Michael Gaunt). One day he literally runs into Bill Pierce (Lew Seager), who is straight and has a wife (Christopher Rage in drag). Both men are disillusioned with their significant others and become infatuated with each other.

The creation of the script and the execution of the story are horrendous. Most of the dialog was dubbed in later by different voice actors than the actors the viewer sees on the screen. There are a few instances of what appears to be live sound, causing a change in the character's voice. When the dubbing is used, the character who is speaking always has their face obscured. The voice actors that are used are absolutely horrible. This is an absolute shame since both Payne and Gaunt have shown that they have the ability to act. The dubbed dialog is absolutely horrible as well. Somehow, all of this causes the hour long film to drag on.

The sex scenes are hard to rate since this reviewer is straight. However, there is a good chance that viewers who enjoy male on male sex will be disappointed in what this film has to offer. The blow jobs in the film are graphic yet very little of the anal sex in the film present in the film is graphic. Most of the anal sex comes across as non-simulated but not graphic due to the way it is shot. Despite the cast and the directors, Kiss Today Goodbye is not a film that this reviewer can recommend to anyone. The story is a loss, the acting is poor, and the sex scenes are bound to disappoint.

The French Connection has done an awful job with their DVD release of Kiss Today Goodbye. Kiss Today Goodbye was shot on film and The French Connection has obviously utilized a poor low-grade VHS master for their release. Kiss Today Goodbye is presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The video quality on the release is of abysmal quality. The image contains print damage, artifacts, and glitches in the video. The color in the film is very poor with a drab, almost colorless, image. There are jumps that are constant throughout the film and there are tracking lines that are constant for the first-quarter of the film. There is obvious combing and there are several places where the VHS signal was so bad that the screen turns blue with no image. Frankly, the image quality presented here is unacceptable.

Kiss Today Goodbye is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track. The audio contains a distracting and very prominent hiss throughout the entire film. The dialog in the film is easy to discern throughout the presentation but the film isn't pleasant to listen to.

The French Connection hasn't included any extras on this release.

The concept behind the story for Kiss Today Goodbye is appealing, however, the script and the execution of the story in the film is poor. The film boasts talented individuals on both sides of the camera, however, Kiss Today Goodbye just wastes all the talent and is little more than a poorly made feature gay hardcore adult film. Kiss Today Goodbye is a hard film to recommend to anyone. The French Connection has done an unacceptable job with their DVD release of Kiss Today Goodbye with abysmal video and audio quality.

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