Gay Sex in the 70s (2005)

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This documentary gives us a look at the freedom and decadence that was a big part of gay culture between the repression of the 50s and 60s pre Stonewall era and the AIDS crisis of the 80's and 90's. What we had were the crazy 70s! The documentary acts as both a celebration of this period and as a cautionary tale about how too much excess can be dangerous and how many of the men discussed in the film had to eventually "Pay the piper".There are some things to note for example. There seems to be more acceptance and tolerance of gays and lesbians in America now then there ever was even during the "sexual revolution" of the 70s. Back then if you were gay the only way you could truly live a free life was if you packed your bags and moved to a big city like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Chicago!

This film has great stills, stories and footage of the NYC gay scene in the 70s. I wasn't there for it but had an older cousin who lived through it all -- it was wonderful to see "up close and personal" what all the tall tales were about. I've been doing AIDS activism for 20 years and it finally dawned on me why half of my friends dropped like flies in the mid '80s -- now I'm amazed that anyone made it through that time.The film is not a snoozer, unless you're expecting pornography. The interviews are touching, and I was left wanting more. A must-see for the PnP boys who think they know it all, and the guys in their 60's and 70's who managed to survive it all.

This movie brought back many memories for me, as I moved to New York in 1979 and lived there until 2004. I was 29 years old in '79, having come out at the tender age of 16 in Kansas City, where I grew up. I considered moving to New York earlier, but now I am sure that I would not have survived if I had. I moved into an apartment in Greenwich Village and in those few short years before AIDS was discovered, I had sex in many of the places featured in the film. For those who may be somewhat critical of this movie or the mores of the era, it is helpful to understand that sexual liberation really began in San Francisco with the straight hippies in the late 1960's, before Stonewall ever happened. Then after Stonewall, gay life and gay sexual liberation just exploded. While I missed much of the nonstop sexual activity of the mid to late 1970's, I certainly enjoyed my fair share of sex in New York during those few short years prior to the early 1980's. The most remarkable events which occurred were only alluded to in a brief comments by Larry Kramer (and others) towards the end of the film. Larry Kramer said that when the gay community began to discover AIDS and act upon it, this was the first time that an afflicted population ever took it upon themselves to demand radical change on the part of the US government and the US medical community. The gay and lesbian communities, particularly in New York and San Francisco which were the epicenters of AIDS, came together remarkably fast and formed several political and community organizations, which ultimately raised huge sums of money and began to bring about real change and awareness of AIDS to the world. In the past 20 years, there have been many books and films which document the relatively brief history of gays and lesbians. Joe Lovett's film has added an important piece to our history.

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