Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex^*

^*But Were Afraid To Ask

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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Satire	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1 - 1.78:1 (16x9), Dolby Digital 2.0
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1972	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	84:13 Minutes (Not 88 Minutes as per packaging)	Other Extras	Main Menu Animation Booklet
RSDL/Flipper	RSDL (57:23)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Selection then Menu	Cast & Crew
Region	2,4	Director	Woody Allen
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Woody Allen John Carradine Lou Jacobi Louise Lasser Anthony Quayle
Case	Transparent Amaray	Starring
RPI	$34.95	Music	Mundell Lowe

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan	MPEG	None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Dolby Digital	2.0 mono
16x9 Enhancement		Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, 256 Kb/s) German (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, 256 Kb/s) French (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, 256 Kb/s) Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, 256 Kb/s) Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono, 256 Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	Yes	Smoking	Yes
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired German German for the Hearing Impaired French Italian Spanish Dutch Swedish Finnish Norwegian Danish Portuguese Polish	Annoying Product Placement	No
Subtitles		Action In or After Credits	Yes, some rabbits during credits

Plot Synopsis

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex^**But Were Afraid To Ask is based upon the book by Doctor David Reuben and consists of seven short sketches, each on a different sex-related topic. The first of these sketches is Do Aphrodisiacs Work?, and revolves around Woody Allen as a court jester who wants to get into the pants of the queen, and resorts to using an aphrodisiac to accomplish this aim. The next sketch, entitled What Is Sodomy?, stars Gene Wilder as a doctor who is met by a patient with a rather unusual (or not so unusual, depending on where you're from) way with his sheep. Then there's Why Do Some Women Have Trouble Reaching An Orgasm?, which is almost entirely spoken in Italian. Next, we have Are Transvestites Homosexuals?, What Are Sex Perverts?, Are The Findings Of Doctors And Clinics Who Do Sexual Research And Experiments Accurate?, and finally, What Happens During Ejaculation?, an interesting question in itself.

I think MAD Magazine said it all when their profile of Woody Allen stated that he claims to be a typical New York citizen, which, as they say, should frighten the daylights out of other New Yorkers. I think little more can be really said for this film, because my interest in the plot itself soon dissolved to an even lower level than the interest I exhibit in a McDonald's cheeseburger.

Transfer Quality

Video

The video transfer is distinctly ordinary, and makes the transfer afforded to A Fistful Of Dollars, which is nearly a decade older than this film, look like the restoration work Lucasfilm conducted upon the Star Wars trilogy. The transfer is presented in the original, accept-no-substitutes theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is 16x9 enhanced. It is encoded with Automatic Pan & Scan information.

The sharpness of this transfer is distinctly ordinary, betraying all of the twenty-eight years since this film was shown in theatres in spite of the fact that no details are lost. The shadow detail is poor, with the dark portions of any given shot being nothing more than large expanses of black that occasionally have some colour and detail swimming out of their edges. Thankfully, there didn't appear to be any low-level noise in the transfer, although film grain was frequently an issue, especially in the opening credits where the white background helped make it even more noticeable.

The colour saturation is very ordinary, also betraying the age of the film. It's not that the saturation in itself is particularly bad - it simply appears as if the photographic process simply sucked all the life and vivid detail out of the final image.

MPEG artefacts went unnoticed, which is a wonder considering that the film is in awful shape, and the abundance of grain must have played havoc upon the compression. Film-to-video artefacts consisted of some occasional mild aliasing. Reel change markings were apparent during the course of this transfer, betraying its release print source.

This disc is presented in the RSDL format, but I think I must have fallen asleep during the layer change. Attempts to locate it were unsuccessful. (Ed. It's at 57:23, in between segments, so it's very well hidden.)

Audio

This is a mediocre audio transfer at the best of times, and sounds just as dull and lifeless as the video transfer looks.

Of course, the lack of life in the audio, much like the lack of life in the video, could probably be blamed fairly and squarely upon the source material rather than any specific transfer problem. Matching a video transfer that was taken from a print source is an audio transfer that has had no real restoration work done to it at all. The audio transfer is presented in a choice of five languages, all of them in Dolby Digital 2.0 mono: the original English dialogue, and dubs in German, French, Italian, and Spanish. I stuck with the original English, which was clear and easy to understand at all times in spite of the limitations of the mix. It is worth noting that during one sketch, most of the dialogue is in Italian, anyway. Audio sync didn't appear to be a problem at any point, although it was rather hard to tell for much of the main feature.

The music by Mundell Lowe reminded me of a really bad silent film, and I was thankful not to have an isolated score on this disc. It reminded me a lot of the piano playing during one part of The Muppet Movie, and didn't exactly help to set anything remotely resembling an atmosphere. Still, you cannot make a powerful score out of a satire that fails to make its audience laugh.

The surround and subwoofer presence on this disc is non-existent.

Extras

Theatrical Trailer (2:29)

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with 16x9 enhancement and Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, this theatrical trailer is a perfect encapsulation of why the film just didn't work for me.

R4 vs R1

The only real difference between our version and Region 1's version of this disc is that we have more language options. Their version is plagued by the same video problems, and thus not worth the cost of importing.

Summary

I expected Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex, But Were Afraid To Ask to be an amusing film, if only for the reason that there is very little that I am genuinely afraid to ask. I was sorely disappointed both in the film, and in the quality of the DVD.

The video quality is very ordinary, and looks as if it has been taken from a print element.

The audio quality is good for a mono mix, but is nothing special.

The extras are, in keeping with the rest of the package, very ordinary.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment

DVD	Toshiba SD-2109, using S-video output
Display	Samsung CS-823AMF (80 cm), 16:9 mode/4:3 mode, using S-video input
Audio Decoder	Built In (Amplifier)
Amplification	Sony STR-DE835
Speakers	Panasonic S-J1500D Front Speakers, Philips PH931SSS Rear Speakers, Philips FB206WC Centre Speaker, JBL Digital 10 Subwoofer

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex*

*But Were Afraid To Ask