Gay Sex in the 70s

This film is phenomenal. Although I didn't experience this moment in history, the film takes you back both elegantly and poignantly. Through incredible footage, photos, and other memorabilia, I relived this incredible period of time. The interviews and personal stories shed an unbiased light on an important era. The film asks the questions - how did this moment in time influence the shape of the gay community for decades to come? Was this just one long hedonistic party or did this help create a sense of gay community? There are a lot of documentaries out there, but this is definitely one not to miss.

Reid Williams

Probably the first documentary ever done about gay sex before AIDS hit. It has interviews with various men who lived through the 1970s and some incredible film footage and photographs. It shows how Stonewall liberated gays and made them fight back. It opened the doors for gay bars, bathhouses and virtual nonstop anonymous sex. The movie doesn't pass judgment on the subjects. It just shows it how it was.

I was born in 1962 so when I came out in the 1980s AIDS was in full effect. I've heard how great the 70s were and this documentary shows me a time we'll probably never see again. It doesn't shy away from the dark side--it makes it clear people were robbed or beaten (or killed) and there were plenty of STDs being passed around. Also it shows the rampant drug abuse going on. I honestly can't say that I personally agree with the nonstop sex and drugs, but it does show gay men having sex and not apologizing for it--and that's just great.

This is obviously not for everybody--it's unrated but no one under 18 is admitted--and some of it may be too graphic for some (there's PLENTY of sex and nudity). Still, it chronicles an important time in gay and US history and is invaluable. I give it an 8 because it does have its slow spots.

Excellent and to the point.

The topic is interesting and shows a clear contrast between the pre-AIDS world and the post-AIDS world. As I grew up, AIDS was already a factor, so to me the notion of random unsafe sex seems quite the gamble. It made me think about what could be discovered in years to come to make our present lifestyle seem like a game of Russian roulette. I enjoyed a short cameo by Swedish musician Sebastian Utbult! Also, anyone who is interested in the scene needs to see this movie. It's a definite trip to retrotown :)

Thank you for the eye opener, Mr. Lovett!

A no holds barred look back at a hedonistic time of freedom for sexual awareness and discovery... it can almost make this thirty something long for a time pre AIDs. It posed a lot of questions for me like, which came first, the gay sexual carnivore, or the backlash against sexual persecution. At a screening, an audience member wished they had been old enough to have enjoyed in the decadent madness that seemed pervasive by the movie's content... and I was left to wonder, how different it was then (men having sex with strangers in bathhouses and the back of trucks and piers) to how it is now (men arranging sex dates with others online). What a wake up call to reality.

This is a film that suffers from the same malady that so many gay films suffer from. It's all about New Yorkers, and only eighteen of them. (Count the cast yourself.)

Like Longtime Companion, and even Angels in America, it assumes that homosexuals only live and love in NYC.

Considering the title I guess I expected a broader more enlightening documentary.

In the opening segment it promises to cover 69-81, Stonewall till AIDS. Then it goes on to cover AIDS anyway, in a tact-on perfunctory manner. "See how the consequences played out?" it seems to say.

The film is not particularly enlightening in any way and nothing that hasn't' been said before.

It would certainly be nice to see a film someday that could encompass the gay experience of all of America instead of a tiny group of New Yorkers.

The fact that San Francisco is not even mentioned should tell you that this film does not live up to it's title.

If you want to see a film about gay sexuality, you would be better off looking up "SEX IS," or even renting some classic gay porn.