Monty Python's Life of Brian - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: Thwell, Life of Bwyan is very thwell
Review: After the highly successful, or at least incredibly funny, Monty Python and the Holy Grail it seemed like it would be difficult for Monty Python to come up with anything near equal. However, in The Life of Brian, the group does it again with another laugh riot.

The plot is simple, some high class running gags, parody the early story of Jesus by having a man named Brian accidentally picked as Savior, and then just have a whole good time with what the story gives you (and since they wrote it, they found a lot.)

Whether literal humor, or wit, the Life of Brian is a classic in many people's eyes. I was worried that I had been built up by other's saying this film was great, including the Criterion Collection. I did not want my hopes to fall, and thankfully they did not.

This is a classic Monty Python film, and really just a classic comedy. The Criterion people added tons of good extras too, which will thrill the dedicated fan. Like I said though, excellent humor like Monty Python does so well.

Rating:
Summary: blessed are the cheesemakers
Review: This DVD is worth it just for the Audio commentaries. The Pyhtons are funny in the movie and on the commentaries. Plus there is a documentry about the making of the movie a little history of the Pythons and if that wasn't enough there is also color bars!

Rating:
Summary: "I Have A Very Good Friend Named Bigus Dicus!"
Review: Firstly I would only recommend The Life Of Brian to either a) die-hard Python fans b) someone with a genuinely warped sense of humour, and of course c) a complete nutter. If none of the above fits your frame I would suggest to stay away, as you will in all probability have your IQ offended. If not, WATCH THIS FILM!!!

The plot is very loosely based on the general hatred towards the romans, despite the fact they brought education, sanitation, roads, wine, pretty much everything in society back then. Brian is born, not far from Jesus causing a brief confusion for the three wise men, he leads a normal life until he falls for a woman. This woman is not just any woman, she's a member of the People's Front Of Judea, not to be mistaken for the [...] Judean People's Front. Brian joins the group and is caught by the romans during a failed mission to capture Pilot's wife. Brian escapes and somehow finds himself being followed by hundreds of people claiming him to be the Messiah. Brian is eventually caught and crucified (there's a very funny running joke about how pathetic crucifixion is) and all of his friends fail to save him, even the dreaded Judean People's Front fail, commiting suicide and claiming "eh, that showed 'em".

The film contains so many funny moments, I'll just list a few:

Palin as Caesar is superb, he's got a speech impediment and can't say the letter 'r' without pronouncing it 'w'. He has a friend named Bigus Dicus who also has a speech impediment, this time it's the 's' that's the problem.

One joker who keeps popping up has an argument with another man while Jesus is trying to speak, he keeps saying the man has a big nose - "Well it is true, you do have a very big nose" - "I'm only pointing out the obvious, you've got a very big nose." - "shut up big nose" - "listen big nose". It's very funny when you watch it.

The funniest bit in the whole film is when Brian is being chased by the Romans and runs up a spire, only to find there's no stairs down so he jumps to certain death. Luckily for him an alien spaceship swoops down and saves him, goes back up into space, has an engine failure and crashed about five foot away from where it all started. Brian walks out and a man who watched it all says "You lucky bastard!"

I won't go in to any more detail, you just have to watch the film.

Rating:
Summary: Duh
Review: It's a no-brainer to give a rave review to Monty Python's classic "The Life of Brian"... in fact if you're actually in need of reading a review about this film then I suggest you put away your DVD of the first season of Friends and go pick up some Monty Python before you disintigrate into mocha latte dust.

You'll find great comedy in this movie; comedy that not only makes you laugh but also makes you think back the next day and realize how bloody genius these guys are. For those not familiar with the story, "Brian" is a parody of the story of Jesus Christ. Don't worry Ned Flanders, this film is all tongue and cheek and despite having some political commentary on religion it is, nonetheless, a harmless spoof.

If you know anything about Python you know that it is comprised of five Brits (and a lesser known American, Terry Gilliam, whose more the director than anything - he also does all those wild animations). The six of them are above all extremely intelligent individuals who are literally experts on comedy. They play most of if not all of the characters so sometimes you have, say, John Cleese playing both a roman soldier and a Jewish rebel in the same scene.

Their sense of humour is a perfect combination of both dry wit and outrageous slapstick. In one scene, for example, where Brian (played by Graham Chapman) is selling "wolf nipple chips and leopard foreskins" to spectators at the gladiator match, you have a dialogue between Brian and The People's Front of Judea that is sheer genius in commenting on the absurdity of the underground movements in Jerusalem. In the exact same scene, as if to contrast, you have a slapstick routine of a slave and gladiator going at it in the arena. Don't quite understand? You really need to see it for yourself.

The DVD is great because the bonus material includes a documentary titled "The Pythons". It's basically an in-depth look at the psyche of both the collective and the individual members of the group. It's insightful, interesting and hilarious. You'll love it.

"The Life of Brian" is a must-have for any self respecting fan of comedy. They influenced such greats as Kids In the Hall, The Simpsons and, my favorite, Christopher Gest of Spinal Tap fame. I don't like "cannonizing" things but if you really want to twist my arm then I truly believe that Monty Python are among the few truly genuinely funny people the world will ever know, and if all comedy were this good the world would be a better place.

Rating:
Summary: Criterion Rocks
Review: I was very happy to learn my machine was region free and so could enjoy this masterpiece of comedy with precious deleted scenes and many other extras, including a wonderful array of commentaries and a behind the scenes documentary that are inexplicably missing from the Life of Brian DVDs available elsewhere in the world. Blessed are Criterion for weleasing the deleted scenes for posterity that were rescued from the private 1-inch reels in Terry Gilliam's house. Blessed are the film-makers for this gem that never grows old. If you love Life of Brian, get this DVD. (...)

Rating:
Summary: A sermon on the perils of success
Review: Coming on the heels of the wildly popular and iconic "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Life of Brian" was bound to suffer by comparison. Still, even after compensating for inflated expectations, this film is a bit of a disappointment.

Purporting to follow the life of Brian Cohen, born in Bethlehem on the same night as a more illustrious son of Judea, "Life of Brian" lampoons human nature mercilessly. And by putting Brian in situations that parallel the life of Christ, the film gets to comment on the absurdities of pious religious practice, all while keeping a respectful distance from Christ himself. Brian is mistaken for a Messiah by credulous crowds and is literally chased out of town by wannabe disciples. There are some funny moments as the believers immediately split into factions based on which of Brian's belongings -- his shoe or his gourd -- they wish to worship. Unfortunately, many of the gags fall somewhat flat. A scene at the Jerusalem coliseum, in which members of a Jewish resistance groups debate their political agenda, goes on much too long, replacing humor with profanity. It's hard to escape the conclusion that after "Holy Grail" the Python troupe spent too little time on this film, preferring to rely on absurdist humor that lacked satirical edge. Without incisive insights into human behavior, the jokes tend toward "Benny Hill" slapstick rather than Pythonesque exquisiteness.

That said, there are some moments of near-genius that make the film enjoyable. The Centurion's public school style raking of Brian for misspelling Latin graffiti is hilarious. And depicting Pontius Pilate as an effete lisper was inspired. ("Fwoh him to the gwound...and woughwy!"). The opening scene, in which distant listeners misunderstand Christ's Sermon on the Mount ("Blessed are the cheese makers!"), is nearly perfect, and says much about the sorry lot of humanity that Christ came to save. The rest of the film struggles to maintain even a middling standard of hilarity. Sometimes, the jokes completely bomb, such as Terry Gilliam's animated and pointless (Ha! Ha! It has nothing to do with the film!) outer space sequence. Sometimes the movie positively offends, such as the crucifixion sequence in which the victims sing about the meaninglessness of life. If any sentiment is insulting to Christ, it is that one.

Still, "Life of Brian" is worth pulling out from time to time, if just to enjoy the film's occasional moments of brilliance.

Rating:
Summary: Only Biggus would not laugh at this movie
Review:

What with all the to-do about the now on DVD Mel
Gibson-directed film, I've gone to the original source
material, which it, by way of the Marquis de Sade and
Lucio Fulci, paid homage-- "The Life of Brian." Monty
Python has given us a movie that is somewhat different
than the remake. And far more meaningful. It is on Anchor
Bay DVD; it looks beautiful; it is a delight that has stood
up well over time

Brian is a savior of the moment, by wondrous silly mistake.
The silliness continues, and the sweetness. It is an innocent,
endearing movie, hilarious, but about difficult things,
making superb observations, done so beautifully and on a
wide, rich, satisfying and full canvass--a human film about
all of us. It is the giving of an "ah come on, can't we all be
mates about this?"

Never mocking. More of a young child's unknowing
honest wisdom when asking questions others would rather
not have to hear or try to answer. It says if you take the
cant away, depending on which cant you wish taken away,
there is a reward--it is called being a person; it is called
having a good time; all indwelling in a certain expansive,
generous daffiness that there is such need of in our grim
days of now when everything is so unbearably, many times,
so stupidly and horribly serious.

Stern scary rhetoric and iron fists, nothing new, certainly,
can't really hold a candle to Brian. Though they would
surely like to. The movie overwhelms you with easiness,
with laconic dragonflies in the sun "all having fun." With
everything tossed into a satirical pot (no pun intended),
including even a hilarious nod to the space jockeys of those
"Chariots of the Gods?" books. It tells us that a cool soda
is bracing on a too hot, too angry boil sun of a summer
day. It is not a polemic, nor a shaft of cruel rhetoric. The
film is in the best mode of tonic.

There's even a snappy tune to whistle to at the film's end.
There is no snappy tune in the current remake. You
wonder how it all happened--the stories, the parables, the
mishearing, the guessing, the human need to believe
something, anything, the desire not to be what Brian tells
people they must be, as they parrot his words, not seeing at
all how thick they are being. It's all here. And much of it
probably is just very close to what really did happen. In
British of course. After all, most films on that place and
time are. I was 18 before it really hit me--the silliness of
Christian movie and TV "British Israel." Honest.

Only here the Brits speak modern day. And the
anachronisms goofily overflow. Brian is perhaps a kind of
savior. He doesn't want to be, Lord knows. He knows so
much, more than he wishes he did, is so perplexed by all
the madness surrounding him, even to the very end, and is
above all else kind, and constantly unsure of himself, many
times embarrassed, and genuinely humble. None of that
mock-humble stuff. If anyone would just listen to him. He
deserves that at least. There is not one moment of
meanness in it.

Many other movies and books on the topic can't lay this
claim. It puts the movie "modern day" sensibility of the
time on ancient Israel. As people of anywhere always put
their own sensibilities and times on any history. Showing
that the ludicrousness can be turned to a golden, glowing
warmth that tickles and makes you happy. It says we're
here for such a short time; couldn't we try to be just a little
more pleasant to ourselves and each other? Such a simple
thing. So elusive.

It is a return to memories of days, in filmic and print
history, at least, when peace and love really meant what
they said, not exactly the opposite. It made me reflect,
want to be more gentle than I too have been in a while.

It is a knockabout movie. At times, on purpose, sappy.
Smart and sharp; it is enduring. Eric Idle is especially
wonderful as all those different characters. The film is a
memory glass of yesterday. Mellowed and friendly and
fine. So if you're tired of having a very stiff neck, and
seeing an actor re-enact being tortured slowly to death in
gory detail, or hearing and reading about it endlessly, this
film is a definite re-threading of the brain.

It's supposed to be about ideals, this whole tapestry of the
human heart, isn't it? And at least the attempt to live up to
one or two of them? And make it a little easier for our
brothers and sisters, as frightened and as human as we? At
least, I used to think that was what it meant.

I'd rather the lessons from Brian any time. Python, in
turning it all on its head, makes it make sense. A blessing
from Charles Dickens' Tiny Tim would be far more apt
here. But if you gotta go with Lucio Fulci kind of
movies...well, that's your business. Fulci, however, never
pretended his movies were anything other than what they
were. Python would rather be honest. And of course
cheery. When you look at life, and all. And then there's
that Biggus fellow who also deserves a chuckle. Even if it
means a date with you know what.