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Released By: Wild Eye Releasing
Released On: 05/27/2010
Director: Bob Levis, Bill Desloge
Cast: Gary Goodrow, Del Close
The Film:
Giving Del Close top billing in Gold is like saying that Ron Jeremy starred in Ghostbusters. Though you'll see a bit more of Del in Wild Eye Releasing's DVD release of Gold: Before Woodstock. Beyond Reality (henceforth referred to in this review simply as Gold) than The Hedgehog in Ivan Reitman's supernatural comedy, it hardly warrants his name above the title with a picture of his grinning mug taking up more than half of the cover. Why, then, would Del Close be listed as the lead? Most likely it's because he was the biggest name and the only selling point in this ridiculously stupid look at the hippie generation.
It's rare that I review a film that I have nothing positive to say about. But that's definitely what happened here. Essentially, Gold attempts to tell the story of a group of hippies that live in a commune, and their battles with “The Lawâ€, Captain Harold Jinks. Jinks doesn't like the hippie way, and runs around yelling about moral decency while flower children prance about with their clothes off, smoke dope, and bang each other's brains out. Del Close appears in the film to badly deliver lines and act like a jackass, and then the whole process starts over again. At some point, all of the hippies get on a train to go and find some gold, with Jinks following them, talking about god and how “The Law†is important. And that is basically it. There's a decent soundtrack featuring the MC5 and Beastly Times, but the music is only a soundtrack for a mess of garbage happening onscreen.
If you're looking for direction, you won't find it here. Nor is the mess of shots and compositions indicative of anything “raw†or gonzo, or whatever you want to call it. Gold is a waste of film, and a waste of time, pure and simple, and Levis and Co. obviously had zero idea how to make a film, with zero talent to back it up.
It's difficult to understand what, if anything, Bob Levis and Bill Desloge were thinking when they decided to make this film, but it can most likely be summed up as this; two hippies got a hold of a camera, got their hippie friends involved, smoked a lot of weed, dropped some acid, and decided that it would be a good idea to make a film that told a story from their point of view. Unfortunately, their point of view seems to have been that running around naked and having sex and getting stoned was awesome, and that obeying laws and getting jobs and contributing to society was evil. Which may be true, but it doesn't make for a very powerful film when handled by people with no creative genes. Harder still to understand is why this film was preserved for so long, and why it's being released now. It's not a window into a more carefree time. It's not a portrait of a generation struggling for change. It's a school drama assignment from 40 years ago without excuses. Bob Levis and Bill Desloge weren't able to crank out another film after this one, and that's definitely a good thing.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Wild Eye has given Gold a release worthy of the film; it's terrible. The 1.33:1 transfer is a mess, with compression artefacts throughout the running time. Though the source material couldn't have been that good to begin with, it looks like there was no effort to do anything with this picture as far as cleaning it up goes. The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack fairs slightly better, with the music coming through cleanly. The dialogue, however, is all over the place, probably a result of the source material and no effort to balance or equalize it.
Wild Eye has included some extra features with this disc, the quality of which are pretty much on par for the film. First up are Retro Lobby Cards, which is essentially a jpeg of a lobby card frame that allows you to cycle through screen captures from the movie. Right. Very useful.
The Gary Goodrow Roast Excerpts features some footage of Gary Goodrow (Captain Jinks) in a movie theatre with a few people, doing a Q&A. Why this is labelled as a roast, I have no idea, but it doesn't seem to be that at all. The 10 minute running time is badly interlaced with lots of static and other audio noise as Goodrow talks about his career.
A 60-minute Interview with Bob Levis from a New York City Cable program is also included. If you're interested in Bob Levis' politics, the politics of his family, and his opinion on the economy, you're in for a treat. If you were hoping for any information on the film Gold, you will be disappointed, as he discusses the film pretty much in passing. The most entertaining part of the interview is when they show clips from Gold without audio and have a conversation while they're playing, only to be told a few minutes later by a whispering voice that their microphones may be live and that people may be able to hear them.
A 2010 Trailer for Gold and some other Wild Eye trailers are included, and 2 commentary tracks, one with Bob Levis and Gary Goodrow, and one with members of Del Close's Upright Citizens Brigade round out the extra features.
The Final Word:
This is perhaps one of the worst attempts at movie-making I have ever witnessed. If one man's trash is another man's treasure, I don't want to meet the man who regards Gold as treasure. Wild Eye gets points for including some extra features, but loses points for the content of those extra features and a shoddy transfer. Do yourself a favour and skip this one.
