Rating: 
Summary: Way over-hyped - not very funny
Review: I really loved Rowan as Mr. Bean, and was excited to hear the great reviews about Black Adder. I found this entire series very unfunny however. Rowan is actually funny as Mr. Bean; as the Black Adder, he's just a smug, disinterested jerk who points out how stupid his companions are. All the jokes seemed exactly the same - someone makes some idiotic, stupid remark, and Black Adder rolls his eyes and says how stupid the person is. I just don't find that funny.
Rating: 
Summary: Best humor to sail the Atlantic via Curtis & Elton..
Review: comes from Mr. Bean, himself. While my nine-year-old daughter is enjoying Bean, I prefer Black Adder's second season. Buy this package instead of doling out over $100 purchasing all of the discs under seperate cover.
Blackadder's Christmas Carol is especially humorous, with Adder exhibiting a polar opposite of his usual sarcastic character until the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present & Future pays him a visit. He learns being bad can be so good.
It's a shame here in the states, Atkinson is better known for his Bean character rather than his work on these releases.
For you Young Ones fans, there are quite a few appearances by Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer & Adrian Edmondson.
Nice package!
Rating:
Summary: Don't watch them in order
Review: As many have said, this is an extraordinary comedy (British or otherwise), particularly for those who prefer wit and verbal interplay in humor as opposed to farce or situational discomfort/misunderstanding as the root of their comedy.
The only problem is the first season is weaker than subsequent seasons. If one watches them in order, one is likely to dismiss the series as not quite worthwhile. I know because I saw the first two episodes of Black Adder (I) and gave up on the show only to later come across series II and III episodes and found it incredibly funny. With an understanding of the general premise and the characters, even season I acquires a charm of its own. I'd recommend starting with II and watching through to the end then going back to I.
The set is beautifully-packaged and each disc has a few extras and a custom interface designed for the look and feel of each season. Aside from the fact that the video quality is not digitally pristine (likely as a result of less than perfect source material), one could not ask for more. It's excellent value at a little under a hundred dollars and has the same (if not better) repeat viewing potential as the Monty Python series.
I wasn't a Rowan Atkinson fan before this series but his talent must be quite amazing to do both this level of intensely verbal comedy in addition to his mute performance as Mr. Bean.
Rating:
Summary: A horrid little man
Review: The Blackadder series is a unique one. Very humoristic and very english. I must say Rowan Atkinson was already one of my favorites because of the Mr. Bean personage, but I like this even better. Situated in several past centuries Blackadder has different roles, but remains a horrid, slimy thing helped by his friends, but subordinates Percy and Baldrick. I saw a review by someone who thinks the first series are the weakest because of the fact that Blackadder is less sarcastic than in the latter 3 series, but it is just the slimy acting which makes him so brilliant in those first series and I love it !!
Anyway, to make a long story short: If you love british humor, full of sarcasm and wordjokes, you just cannot avoid Blackadder. He is worth more than just a try. I should say BUY and laugh your nuts off!!
Rating:
Summary: Pure Comic Genius!
Review: I'm a big fan of British comedy and consider Black Adder to be the greatest of them all, and that's saying something. The British have produced some great ones: Benny Hill, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Red Dwarf, Ab Fab - and those are just the most famous titles. There are numerous other great shows out there, yet Black Adder is a cut above them all. It's very witty, hilarious, and expects the viewer to have knowledge of British history.
This set includes just about everything (there are bits and pieces not on the five discs). Let's review all of them.
Black Adder I is set at the end of the 15th Century and is based on the premise that Henry Tudor was a liar, that Richard III was a good King and was succeeded by his nephew, who became Richard IV. The first series is the weakest of the lot, though it is still quite good and contains two of the entire series best shows. The first two episodes (The Foretelling and Born to be King) are funny, but do not contain the side-splitting laughs common to the series. The show really hits its stride in the third episode, The Archbishop, one of the funniest episodes of the entire series. The success continues through the fourth and fifth episodes (The Queen of Spain's Beard and Witchsmeller Pursuivant), though the show dips in the final episode a bit. Brian Blessed is terrific, though can be a bit much at times. Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson do great jobs, as they would throughout the series.
Black Adder II is set in Elizabethan times. Many would claim it to be the funniest of the four series, and that argument can most definitely be made. I, however, think that each successive series gets better. Every episode in the second series is a winner; every single episode is a stand out. Miranda Richardson is terrific as Queenie and Stephen Fry is smashing as Melchett. I honestly can't pick any favorites the rest of the way through. The second disc also contains Black Adder: The Cavalier Years which is also excellent, though short. It was done for Comic Relief and is set in the last days of Charles I (Stephen Fry was excellent in this role).
Black Adder the Third improves upon its predecessor. Hugh Laurie takes up permanent residence in the cast (he guest starred in the final episode of series 2) and does a brilliant job - better than McInnery did as the dimwitted Percy. Laurie plays the Prince of Wales, George - son of the infamous Mad King George. This Black Adder is no longer a Lord or Prince of the realm like his ancestors, he is now a servant. Once again, each episode is a gem. We also see McInnerny and Fry in guest appearances (Fry shines as the Duke of Wellington in the final episode), as well as Robbie Coltrane (now of Harry Potter fame as Hagrid). This disc also features Black Adder's Christmas Carol. Though funny, it jumps around quite a bit. the twist is that it features the lone good Black Adder. Don't want to give away too much here. It's funny but not as focused as the whole series.
Black Adder Goes Forth is the final entry. It is the most crass of all the series and the darkest. I find it to be the funniest as well. There's a lot more toilet humor and Baldrick, who has gotten progressively stupider as the series has gone on, is hilarious. Tim McInnerny is back, though not as Percy but as Darling. The Darling jokes do get a bit old, but Stephen Fry as Melchett is excellent.
The fifth disc contains Black Adder Back and Forth. This suffers from the same problem as Christmas Carol, it's unfocused and not as sharp as the series shows. It does have its moments, but Black Adder functions best when it remains in one period and established the characters.
Throughout the whole series, Rowan Atkinson is superb. He is the greatest comedic actor in Britain at the moment and hysterical to watch. Each Black Adder is a bit different, beginning with the whimpering Edmund Blackadder in series one to the very sharp and intelligent Edmund of the last series. Edmund gets sharper as the series gets on -and the character get more bitter as well.
These DVDs also have some helpers for those not familiar with the history of the time periods depicted. I would, however, advise those unfamiliar with the periods to do some research into the history of the time so they can get a better understanding of many of the jokes.
All in all, a great package of one of the greatest comedies every produced. Hours of enjoyment can be found here with plenty of replay value.
Rating:
Summary: A very cunning dynasty...
Review: The authors Richard Curtis and Ben Elton are well known to BBC audiences for their comedic masterwork, having been severally and individually part of the Vicar of Dibley, Mr. Bean, The Young Ones, The Man from Auntie. Rowan Atkinson, the lead actor in this series, also collaborated as writer and actor in other features such as Mr. Bean and the Thin Blue Line. John Lloyd was the producer who helped bring this series to life.
The Blackadder series, begun in the 1980s, was a comedic masterpiece set forth by Rowan Atkinson and his comrades. From start to finish, the first series was a masterstroke of wit, irony and comedic styling that fits both the contemporary and medieval situations perfectly. The combination of slapstick and intellectual humour blended well, and the literary types will not miss the occasional credit of William Shakespeare as a collaborating writer on some episodes -- this might well be the kind of comedy Shakespeare would have produced today.
The first series was set in the pre-Tudor royal family, projecting that Richard III won at Bosworth Field, and Richard IV succeeded him, until after many adventures, the entire royal family was done in, and Henry Tudor reworte history thereafter. The first series starred Brian Blessed and Elspet Gray as the King and Queen, and Robert East as their eldest son, the Prince of Wales. Rowan Atkinson played the second son, who with companions Percy and Baldrick (Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson) create most of the comic scenes. BlackAdder variously becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury, the betrothed of the Spanish Infanta, a witch on trial, and finally, however briefly, King of England. There were six episodes of this series (as would be true for each of succeeding regular series years) - they included many attempts by Blackadder to take power, including the crown itself - something that would repeat in various manner over the subsequent years save the last. Both Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson will recur as characters in later years; Baldrick is the only consistent major character besides Blackadder - in the first year, however, he is rather more clever than his future generations; indeed, in this first series, Baldrick is probably the most intelligent of the lot (a scary thing indeed!)
The second series sees Percy and Baldrick following a descendent of Blackadder in Elizabethan times; as befits the period, the characters are more vibrant and saucy, particularly Blackadder, who still seeks his fortune as one of the Queen's suitors. Here he variously becomes the royal executioner, a sea-faring discoverer, a bankrupt noble, and finally a traitor to the crown, albeit not without a sense of humour. Miranda Richardson puts in a spectacular performance as Queen Elizabeth, with Stephen Fry and Patsy Byrne in attendance. Stephen Fry will recur throughout the series.
In the third series, Blackadder is still close to the crown, as the butler of the Prince Regent, a despised position to a despised person. Baldrick is still around, and the Prince is played by Hugh Laurie, who will recur in the final series. Done almost as a period comedy, the very titles and situations pay hommage to the day of the Scarlet Pimpernel, Dr. Johnson's dictionary, and the conflict with France. Through an interesting set of circumstances, butler and prince trade places, and the Blackadder finally obtains his intended goal, albeit in the name of someone else.
In the fourth and final series, Blackadder has fallen from a great height, and is an officer in the trenches of World War I. Baldrick is still there, and Percy and the Prince have transformed into fellow field officers, with Stephen Fry playing a bellicose general here as he did Wellington in the third series. The main device of this series is the effort by Blackadder to escape the trenches, by variously becoming an artist, a theatre producer, a chef, but to no avail finally, producing a sombre end to the dynasty.
The DVD includes all four series, as well as the Christmas special, in which a kind-hearted Blackadder is set in Victorian times, an antithesis of Scrooge, who is shown the future, and decides to make radical if untimely changes in his life in response to this version of the ghost of Christmas future.
There are also various pieces of trivia, guides, and a Richard Curtis interview included among the discs. Rowan Atkinson and company are wonderful in their portrayals, perfect comedic timing and situational humour with just the right amount intelligent wit. A treat for all Anglophiles.
Rating:
Summary: As funny as a very funny thing
Review: The series takes you on a tour through british history in the company of the Edmund Blackadder line. The first series is set around the time of Macbeth upon which it based. This is the most slapstick of series. In the next series we are brought forward to the court of Elizabeth I. The addition of Ben Elton to the writing team moves the scripts toward more verbal word play and humour thereafter.
A couple of specials are included in the collcetion. A brilliant lampoon of "A Christmas Carol" and a rather weak "Time Machine" spoof "Back and Forth", where they revert to slapstick and the writing is not as keen. This is a minor wrinkle as overall the series is a comic masterpiece. Well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: I once asked the writer Douglas Adams ("Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") if he had anything to do with these series, and his response was, "No, but they're all friends of mine." That explains a lot right there.I first saw this series on PBS, and it absolutely floored me. The humor is razor sharp, the dialog fast and funny. The first series is a little weaker in this regard, but very, very funny in a way different than the later series. The fourth, in my opinion, is the weakest of the bunch, too ofter falling back on gross out jokes, but even that is better than a lot of other stuff coming out of the BBC. The Christmas Special is outstanding. Keep an eye out for an appearance by Tom "Dr. Who" Baker as an insane legless ship captain in the second series. It was a testament to his performance that I, a big fan of his best known role, did not recognize him after having watched the episode about five times... until someone pointed him out to me. The Blackadder series are graced with a great supporting cast, including Brian Blessed, Miranda Richardson, and a number of other actors of whom you may never have heard, but should get to know. If you are turned off by cynical humor, this show is not for you; but for anyone else, it is absolutely worth checking out.
Rating:
Summary: A must have collection for any Black Adder fan
Review: It's all here. Not only the four full seasons, but the Black Adder Christmas Carol, the Cavalier Years and the Black Adder Back and Forth special.
Rowan Atkinson is perhaps best known as Mr. Bean, which is a shame because this is far and away his best work. The Black Adder character gives full expression to his comedic timing, subtle mannerisms and comic voice. Much, much credit must go to writers Richard Curtis and Ben Elton for putting a situation comedy in historical eras and including some of the cleverest put-downs you'll ever hear. They also create some of the most engaging characters ever to grace the small screen. Besides Edmund Black Adder himself, there is the unforgettable Baldrick played by Tony Robinson, always in the subservient role, always the
butt of innumerable jokes, always lovable. Other memorable characters include Miranda Richardson as Queen Elizabeth I in Black Adder II and Stephen Fry as General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett in Black Adder Goes Forth and Tim McInnerny in a variety of roles.
With just six episodes each season there was no fear of the series ever getting stale, indeed therein lies the only complaint I have about the Black Adder series, there should have been more.
The DVDs have a few particularly worthwhile special features. My favorite is the historical guide in which narrator Robinson explains some of the obscure historical references or fills viewers in on the real people and events depicted, even owing up to the shows exaggerations or slights. One of my favorite aspects of the Black Adder series is that along with many hearty good laughs I feel I'm getting a history lesson in the bargain.
Thank goodness a DVD collection worthy of the great show is available.
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