Confused about something

Just what was this film supposed to be? A straight action film? A veiled parody of action films? A porno with some action scenes added for "justification"?

I do enjoy this film for what it is, but I can't seem to pin down just WHAT that is. I know that there have been X-rated films - even purely exploitative ones - that have aspired to be high art, or at least thought-provoking. Was TO THE LIMIT one of them? All the actors play their roles so seriously - not necessarily WELL, but seriously.

I was very interested to learn that the director, Raymond Martino, was trained at the Actors' Studio in New York. So was this really the sort of thing he wanted to do with his life?