You know Orson Welles said : " I started at the top and worked my way down. "
Until 6,7 years ago, this was the quintessence of the US porn movie industry. Many great movies in the 70s, many trash and junk in the 80s and the early 90s. ( Before you throw stones at me, there were exceptions in the 80s, e.g. Caballero ) But in the late 90s, there was a change. Finally some women directing porn ( Veronica Hart for example ), many really good and sophisticated movies. Too much to enumerate all. Some pornstars now are more like Pop Stars. And through DVD, many classics of the 70s are re-released. To be honest, more than 90% still is junk. There was never so much bad porn on the market, but never so much good also. or ? ( Just saw : Curious Obsessions and Neu Wave Hookers, the retro-remake, its funny to see how the medium is playing with itself )
I've seen lots of that 70's and 80's porn, and IMO most of it can't hold a candle to the average release today from RLD, PXP, Evil, Jules Jordan, Combat Zone, etc..
I've been arguing for a while that even though 90% of what gets produced is crap, we're living in a platinum age of porn. There are so many options for so many niches of porn fans - blowjobs (rough or sensual), facials, cumswallowing, blowbangs, squirting, etc., etc. - all with much better production values (at least on average) than almost all the stuff that was produced even as recently as the mid-90's
As far as I'm concerned, we're living in porn heaven - although things could always be better.
In terms of quality the simple answer would be that the equipment used to shoot porn nowadays is simply better than that of yesteryear so generally speaking it has to be better.
I think you'd be hard pressed to make a case, however, that performances nowadays are better. There are surely more stars and starlets who produce more scenes which are dirtier and cater to more niche markets but there's something about the stars of the late 80's early 90's that most girls today just don't have.
I disagree, in that when you're not dealing with as good equipment, you often have to make up for it with technique. I think a lot of older productions have better lighting, sound and camera work because they [em]had[/em] to spend the time to do it. Now you can do things slap-dash and get an "acceptable" product.
Sturgeon's Law: 90% of Science Fiction is crap. But 90% of anything is crap.
80's work was much better. Better storylines, and more like real film quality. It seems like you watch movie, and not porn sometimes. Hard to find though, and sometimes too dark. Good stuff.
I prefer late 80s-early 90s. All of my favorite stars hail from that era. Not to mention better storylines. I never liked gonzo, and probably never will.
The Green Knight has seen plenty of "classics" that go straight in the trash. Older people have golden memories of classic porn when they were younger, but chances are you won't catch them actually watching it. There is no up curve and down curve. Technology has gotten better and fetishes have expanded.
The Green Knight likes an adventure as much as the next hero, but a boring storyline with plain sleep-walking sex is not quality. Those who cannot scribe an arousing setting should not add it to their movies.
I agree - big time porn heaven for the last 5 years. So much good stuff. I'd add Third Degree and Zero Tolerance to that "etc." part of your studio list.
Yet, I have to admit I've seen really nothing from the 70's, little from the 80's (probably stuff that wound up on Vivid comps in the 90's).
Oh no, I am no fan of "gonzos". These arent movies, in my opinion. But women have other tastes than men. I dont need movies, like the Vince Voyeur, where there is NO story, only fucking, sucking etc. Thats so boring ! I want a story, dialogues, an erotic atmosphere, self-irony, authenticism, or if this isnt possible, at least professionalism. And I am happy with most of the big budget movies. Now we have many good remakes ( Neu Wave Hookers,Jones, Alice, Misty Beethoven etc. ), but good and innovative new treatments are in deep need.
Not every viewer wants the same thing that the maker-of-the-movie likes. I think it's about "whackability", which is in the mind/groin of the individual viewer, not the movie's Director. Of course, IMO, many (but not all) men are visual and don't want to be bothered by having to endure more than a 60-second set-up/plot, while others don't mind at all and in fact might even like it; many (but not all) woman prefer plot, nice wardrobe and locations, touching/caressing/holding and ROMANCE, not just raw sex per se --many females want to view love-making, sometimes later parleying it into hardcore sex of their choosing (but it's NOT automatically or exactly what the movie-maker likes for his/her personal viewing pleasures).
My advice---making (and, indeed, often enjoying) porn is not intended to be akin to making a form of "Gone With The Wind". And, no matter what our individual's turn-on might be, it doesn't mean that it works for all the varied likes of the public!
Enjoy it for what it is, for what YOU prefer, and be selective in your choices--goodness knows that there's a LOT of offerings out there.
Its right, not all women want a story and a nice settings. Men are more into "Action" movies, gonzo, gangbangs etc. And I dont want to spoil them the fun, if they want to watch this, its ok. But you cant generate and arouse the interest of women with this. When I entered some shops in the US, when I came in, I saw hundreds of Discount DVDs and Gangbang, Red Light District etc. If a women dares to enter a store, which seems to be very rare in the USA, then this isnt the best way to catch her interest. I asked the clerk, and he said, he will put the gonzo/gangbang bestsellers in the first rows, "art-porn", as he called it, is in the last rows, because it sells not very well. 0.5 percent of his customers are women, so why should he bother about them ? This is a vicious cycle. And even many men, as I can see in this forum, are complaining about the flood of "every-time-the-same" porn movies.
Most stores in NL have Walls with Classics and you can find the harder things in the backroom. So that new customers arent shocked. I only visited half a dozen stores in the US, but I had the feelings the clerks/owner didnt really care, as long as the cash came in. Is the porn industry really interested in more female fans ?
PS: After all my complaining, one thing is very helpful regarding US porn, and this is the same in Japan also, the front covers are very tame. For many new customers entering a sex shop for the first time, its a problem to go with the DVDs to the clerk (male), if the covers are explicit. I never had these problems, but I often heard this, from women, but even from males.
I'd rather go to work and be abused by others than stay at home and abuse myself 197 Posts 10/06
Posted - Apr 9 2007 : 3:10AM
I'm sorry to plug my own movie here, but it is actually very appropriate to this topic. Our feature porn, Spunk'd The Movie, is an example of an extremely high quality porn movie that was made recently. Here is the trailer
Imo opinion it's up, video and gonzo is the best thing that ever happened to porn (which some selfproclaimed 'film makers' would never agree on). The quality of features I don't know, it's not like they make films like The Devil in Miss Jones anymore, but I guess that could be said about mainstream films as well. Every other release is a remake of a classic.
What is quality ? Quality is the opposite of quantity. There is a great quantity in the market, in my opinion the market is overcrowded and it is nearly impossible to only look at the new products only to select the one you like. This wasnt so in the 70s and was still possible in the early 80s.
The good point is, there is much more quality than in the late 90s. Extremely well done porn movies.
What is quality exactly ?
I have two categorizations of quality.
a.) extremely sophisticated movies, interesting story, innovative camera work, nice soundtrack, good actors ( playing well ), etc. b.) no extensive story, but very good looking actors, nice erotic atmosphere, actors like and enjoy sex, arent faking it etc.
a.) is a movie like "Neu Wave Hookers", interesting storyline and not the usual remake, but a sort of reprise. Playing with the medium. Working with symbolism and very well cut. Good actor play. minus: apart from 2 women, the girls werent my type of choice. Another example of this category is : "Curious Obesessions". A lesbian movie. Also a reprise/memory of the good old day of super8. Good camerawork and a very professional look. minus : the 2 girls dont arouse me, they play well, but they arent "my girls".
b.) category : most of the dutch teen porn of the 80s, girls really having fun and real orgasm in front of the camera. Nice music, nice colors, etc. Very enthusiastic and joyful of life. Look at : "Sweethearts from Europe", or most of the australian Abby Winters movies. They have no or little content, but the girls like what they do. They dont do it ONLY for the money. They just have the sex, they have every time, only this time with a camera.
If a.) and b.) comes together, that is really a rarity. Some Teen Town or very old Seventeen have this quality. Most of the danish Color Climax, at least the Teen Series.
In US Porn, can only remember very few movies. The early Kasha movies ( From Kasha with love ) , Fantasy is a masterpiece, also other movies with Kyoto Sun. The old classics : "Behind the green door", "Alice in Wonderland", " Firestorm ", "Misty Beethoven" etc.
The now ongoing wave of the re-makes is good, because it is drawing some of the older viewers back to the market. And in Europe some of the movies are reviewed by normal - not porn - mags, some with a wide female readership.
So there is a slight chance, that this will generate new ( or long lost ) viewers. But after the last classic is re-made, they cant remake the remakes. Intelligent treatments are needed. Wicked has some nice storys. And Vivid too, but most dont have the quality of the classics.
But its no wonder, I saw on the making of "Neu Wave Hookers", they shot the movie in 3 (!) days. Thats incredible ! And the budget was very low. Its almost a wonder, what directors are making out of these very strict timelines and almost zero budgets.
I have read, that the "Misty Beethoven" remake was VERY expensive. Only if these high-price movies will sell, companys will start to produce more expensive movies.
@shagdog : I am really sorry, I dont have a male actor I can name, apart from anonymous men in dutch or danish porn. Males are totally reduced to their sexuality. There are some movies, where I even cant remember seeing the face of the man ;-)
The women in porn I like : ( I think it is of no use to name dutch/danish girls, or ?)
you gave a really elaborate answer to the question of quality in porn. But what is pornography by definition? Pornography is the explicit representation of the human body or sexual activity with the goal of sexual arousal. If a movie arouses it's audience sexually the goal is reached and it is good porn.
Some amateur stuff is technically really poor, but highly arousing for some people. For them it is good porn. Others might call it crap.
Today you have so much stuff on the marked that there is something for everybody.
sexual arousal is important, but not all in a porn movie. I am incredible aroused, if I see, e.g. Nautica or Kasha. They could wash the dishes or dance around naked, but makes this a good porn movie ? No.
The most sexual organ isnt in the pants, but between your ears, its the brain, or ?
There is a great variety today, in titles and actresses, but not in sexual preferences, because many things are taboo in US ( and now also european ) porn.
