The Film:
I have been a huge fan of films since I was about eight years old and if there is one man in the world that I hold responsible for my passion for films, it's director Richard Donner and his amazing film The Goonies, one of my favourite flicks of all times, thanks to the massive replay factor. For Twinky he teamed up with one of my favourite actors, Charles Bronson, star of the Death Wish films that I love so dearly (apart from number 5). So, with a director who is great at shooting some fantastic action and adventure scenes (see also Lethal Weapon 1-4 and Superman 2) and one of the best action stars ever, what do we get? A mediocre romance film. Gutted.
Bronson plays Scott Wardman, a 38 year old American who writes commercials and pornographic novels for a living. Whilst in England, where his latest book has been banned, he meets a sweet, but immature 16 year schoolgirl called Twinky, played by a 19 year old Susan George (The House Where Evil Dwells). Twinky's mother (Honor Blackman), finds her diary one evening where she finds out about the pair's love for each other. Shocked and dismayed, Twinky's family set out to do what they can to stop the affair. However, Scott and Twinky run away to Scotland to get married, and eventually set off to Wardman's home in New York. It is here, where the trials and tribulations of such an un-normal relationship kick in, as they deal with Wardman going to jail for punching a policeman, and the fact that Twinky is immature with Scott trying to write his new commercial/novel.
The film certainly had the potential to be a great controversial film, but the film went a little unnoticed, most probably due to the glaring similarities to Lolita, directed by Stanley Kubrick. The execution of the film is quite poor with Bronson seeming uninterested and all the cast giving us rather hammy perfomances. The title song, by John Scott (The Million Eyes Of Sumuru) fits the film perfectly, with it's childlike composure, but adult orientated lyrics. Unfortunately, it's also extremely cheesy and when it played again during the end credits, I had to press mute, or risk suicide. Although I've been focusing on the negative points, the film isn't really THAT bad, and is something that is easy to watch. For me though, it's just a mediocre film with huge talent that fails to impress as much as it should.
The DVD:
Video:
Network have provided the show with a 4:3 transfer, and it's unfortunately a little on the poor side. With a large amount of grain and dirt throughout as well as some pretty poor scratches, it certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Better than VHS, but with a hell of a lot more potential, the picture is quite a letdown. Should do better Network, especially with a film more modern than a lot of your releases (most of which have a better picture).
Audio:
Network have provided us with the original English Dolby Digital Mono track here and it's OK. The film is dialogue driven and very few parts of the film would benefit from a surround track (in fact, probably just the 'protest' scene), but it would have been nice to have the option. Background hiss is minimal and all the sound levels are consistent throughout. Could have been better, but what we have is adequate.
Extras:
We start off the extras with an interview with the films star, Susan George as originally shown on the Russell Harty Show in 1975. Running for a little over fifteen minutes we find out what George thinks of the comparisons made of her to Brigitte Bardot and other interesting tidbits like her views on plastic surgery. I would've preferred an extra that concentrated on the film, but this is a nice addition to the disc.
Other than this we just have an image gallery.
