XXX Spy Sex-O-Rama Triple Feature Review

Distributor: Alpha Blue Archives Edition Details: Standard DVD Release Specs: Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Alpha Blue Archives' XXX Spy Sex-O-Rama collects three titles from the early 70s, all with a spy theme, Agent 69, The California Connection, and Jane Bond. Two of the films, Agent 69 and Jane Bond, aren't really worth watching at all. The third, The California Connection, is an enjoyable film that is well worth watching. However the film is incomplete on this release. Alpha Blue Archives poor quality masters make this release not worth watching. If you choose not to read all three reviews, you can jump to the review of Agent 69, the review of The California Connection, or you can jump to the review of Jane Bond.

Agent 69 is a cheaply made and quickly put together film from the early 70s. The cast card at the beginning of the film appears to be a generic one that was used for at least five films from around this time period. The plot to the film is Agent 69 (Michael Downing) sends new agent Willa (Sue Peters) to infiltrate the blackmail operation of Ethel Smith (Jane Tsentas). Honestly don't worry about the plot, it jumps all over the place and frankly makes little sense. The film is horribly scripted and makes you want to cringe when you are hearing it. The sex scenes are poorly done as well. The cast looks decent, but the scenes are poorly shot. They are shot for the most part from long range, showing mostly tangled bodies and very little actual action.

Alpha Blue Archives has done an awful job with this release and has created an essentially unwatchable release. While at one point this film was sourced from a print, the master used for this release was obviously video and a very poor one. The picture is fuzzy and has no definition at all. The video has tracking issues and video glitches. The picture is jumpy and there is dirt and print damage. The colors are horrible. The colors are muted throughout and some sections of the film are almost devoid of any color at all. Agent 69 is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural track, which is as bad as the video. The sound is muffled throughout making the dialog hard to hear. There are also hiss and pops. Alpha Blue Archives didn't include any extras for this release.

The California Connection is a very unique adult film that could only have come out of the 70s, when the lines between adult and mainstream cinema were briefly blurred. The plot for the film is Peter Galore (Rick Cassidy), top agent for the Washington Bureau, is sent to find Peggy Atwater (Shari Kaye), a diplomat's daughter, who was kidnapped by Harold Plum (Tony Lane). The plot is well done and enjoyable to watch. It is not devoid of adult film cliches, nor would it ever win an award, but it holds the film together and provides interest to the viewer. The film is not just an assemblage of sex scenes with a few seconds of plot here and there to get to the next scene. The sex scenes work with the plot, although the plot was also put together to allow for several sex scenes. The cast stays in character and the plot and sex work seamlessly together. The film utilizes some really good locations as well, including a mine and the desert.

Whomever is behind this film has a level of competence in filmmaking not often seen in adult films at this time. Not only was the story well done and great locations utilized, but there is a well-filmed car chase, gunplay, and explosions. All of which indicates that someone behind this film also worked in Hollywood at the time. Some work went into creating this adult film. All of these elements put together make for a unique and fun adult film that is well worth seeing.

Alpha Blue Archives has done a horrible job with this release. It looks like at one point a composite film print was utilized for The California Connection, but this release seems to have been mastered from video. Definition is lacking. In portions the color is heavily over saturated. In other portions the color is almost completely washed out. The print was heavily damaged and contains dirt, blemishes, and jumps. The film is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural track, which works alright. There are some pops and milliseconds where the audio is distorted. It gets worse from there. The source that Alpha Blue Archives used for this disc is not complete. As to exactly how much of the film is missing, I am not sure, internet sources list the film running from 78 minutes to “approximately 90 minutes.” The whole range far more than the scant 53 minutes contained here. The movie is missing all beginning credits and appears to start with the film in progress. The ending sex scene is cut off in mid-progress and the disc returns to the menu. Alpha Blue Archives hasn't included any extras for The California Connection. Despite the fact the film is worth watching, I would wait for a hopefully better future release.

Jane Bond is a low budget quickie from the early 70s, which I'm assuming was made to cash in on the James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. craze, although I can't recall Jane's last name ever being mentioned within the film. The only connection the film makes with the James Bond series is the ripped off music from James Bond films. Having never seen The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I don't know if there is any resemblance within the film to that television series, but I seriously doubt it. The plot for the film is that Jane (Joan Devlon) from AUNT is to go to Hong Kong and make contact with Madame Lee (Val Anderson) to find out how a powerful drug cartel is getting their heroin from Hong Kong into the United States. That is pretty much the extent of the plot, a few seconds here and there, with everything conveniently falling into place.

The entire film is amateurish, even for early 70s standards. The film appears to have been shot in San Francisco, California. Even the portion that takes place in Hong Kong, complete with signs visible in English; this is just the tip of the iceberg though. The cast in some portions of the film is conversing with the director on what to do, and other topics. There are places where the cast looks to the director for guidance. None of this has been edited out of the final release. In another inexplicable move, it appears that African-American actors and actresses were used for Hong Kong, instead of Chinese as one would expect.

With the plot and the production values shot, the only remaining aspect of the film is the sex. In some cases the sex scenes are fine. They are rather standard fare for the time. In some cases the sex scenes are poor. Take for instance the orgy scene, which encompasses almost half of the runtime of the film. The scene is poorly edited, has massive amounts of talking with the director, and could have been about half of the time that it runs. Unless you have an extreme need to see this film, I would pass.

Alpha Blue Archives release of Jane Bond is rather poor. Jane Bond is presented in the full screen aspect ratio. The film looks like it was sourced from an actual film print. The print has massive damage though, there is dirt, scratches, jumps. The colors are poor and the picture looks overly dark. The film isn't unwatchable, but the experience isn't great. The audio doesn't fare much better. The film is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural track, which has a whine throughout and numerous pops. There is an Alpha Blue Archives bug on the lower right during the opening of the film only. As for the completeness of the film in this release. The title card is missing and the film picks up with “featuring” and the listed cast. The film runs for a little over thee minutes more than the Something Weird Video release (under the name The Girl From A.U.N.T.I.E.). Alpha Blue Archives hasn't included any extras for Jane Bond.

Alpha Blue Archives' XXX Spy Sex-O-Rama collects three titles from the early 70s, all with a spy theme, Agent 69, The California Connection, and Jane Bond. Two of the films, Agent 69 and Jane Bond, aren't really worth watching at all. The third, The California Connection, is an enjoyable film that is well worth watching. However the film is incomplete on this release. Alpha Blue Archives poor quality masters make this release not worth watching.

Past Reviews Interviews