Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video:

Audio:

Bitrate:

 

Description: Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, GoldenEye, The Green Lantern) directs this sexy 1970's comedy following the exploits of a masked man (David Warbeck) who seduces his willing victims -- and the two bungling policemen who can't seem to catch him. The ribald crime romp, which marked Campbell's directorial debut, also stars Jennifer Westbrook, Gloria Walker and Michael Armstrong (who also co-wrote the screenplay).

***

From its opening title sequence, it is apparent that director Martin Campbell intended his first feature, a low-budget sex romp called THE SEX THIEF, to be an homage to the James Bond series. Irresistible to women of every variety, the roguish title character (David Warbeck) channels his inner Connery, muttering witty double entendres, relishing the danger of his secret mission, forever sidetracked by beautiful women.

THE SEX THIEF is especially fun to watch knowing that Campbell eventually achieved his dream—directing not one but two James Bond films (GOLDENEYE and CASINO ROYALE), as well as the tongue-in-cheek blockbusters GREEN LANTERN and THE MASK OF ZORRO. THE SEX THIEF is a fascinating precursor to those large-budget Hollywood films showing that, from the beginning of his career, Campbell knew the kinds of films he wanted to make and had the talent to deliver on his promise.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from thewholebrevitything at IMDb located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Sex Thief appears on Blu-ray from the Redemption arm of Kino. It is in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio.  The image quality shows some grit and heaviness and despite its weak appearance  in comparison to modern features - I expect that this look quite accurate to its original roots. Contrast is possibly a shade boosted but otherwise this single-layered rendering does its job. Skin tones are quite cool although Brits can sometimes look this pale. This Blu-ray image is very consistent throughout. As with the original production - its is quite imperfect but advances beyond an SD representation. I don't see much point in complaining about this video appearance too much.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authentically mono and unremarkable via the DTS-HD Master 1.0 channel at 908 kbps. I imagine it sounded like this originally - occasionally scattered and weak but audible and supports the film well enough not to deter the presentation. No subtitles. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE.

Extras :

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
This is kina cute but really seems like a waste to put it on Blu-ray. The salacious title of The Sex Thief lives up to its bawdiness but has its share of goofiness too. It's no classic of this sub-genre and is not something I can recommend but any interested can probably guess what they are in for. 

Gary Tooze

January 14th, 2013