Rating: 
Summary: the funniest film i've ever seen
Review: the best thing about this movie is that after you've watched it 12 or 13 times...you can go to work and chime in with other python fanatics. you can't help but memorize the dialogue and reciting your favorite lines is hilarious. "i wanna have a baby" "i wanna be a woman" "don't you oppress me!" "alms for an ex-leper?" "you're weird!" and on and on. Every time you watch this movie you will laugh at things you never noticed in prior viewings. i don't care if you are religious...Life of Brian may be just the cure.
Rating: 
Summary: And now for something completly horrible
Review: Being a very enthusiastic Python fan, I eagerly awaited to see there 3rd film venture. Boy was I dissapointed. Life of Brian, to me, is by far, the WORST effort ever from Monty Python. The film centers around Brian, a person whom a group of people think is the Messiah(Wish I could spell it right). He then goes on all sorts of confusing experiences, although I fould little intrest in any of them. The main problem with life of Brian is that it just isint funny. If you are looking for a Holy Grailesq comedy film, then you should look elseware. All but a few of the jokes fall flat(The ones that survive include the stoning sequence and the spaceship). Even though the Pythons have defended this film, saying that it is NOT an attack on Christianity, I still find it quite offensive, I am a highly religious person, and the whole messiah thing offends me. Oh, and what was up with the completly unnesicary sequence where one of the pythons show up completely nude? As for the DVD itself, the video quality is good, the sound is good, but the extras are very weak (the only one is charachter bios) Overall, if you are easilly offended, and hate anti religious flims, avoid this at all costs.The good:
Um...Let me get back to you on that The bad:
Virtually everything And the Ugly:
Just to kill space, the credits at the beginning of the film are nearly unreadable, and go by too fast.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie, baaaaaaaaaad extras.
Review: First off the movie was excellent and the acting (as always) was superb but the only problem I have with it is that THERE ARE NO EXTRAS! They say that there are extras but all they are are the Theatrical Trailers and the Python bios! I only spent [a little money] for the DVD so I can't complain too much. That is the only problem I have with the DVD. If you do not like your children to see wee wees and pee pees then don't watch this with them. There is full frontal male nudity (about time) and full frontal female nudity (nothing new). If you have a blasphimus sence of humor you will enjoy this movie very much. If you are a jesus freak then you shouldn't watch this or any other good movie. In fact you should just live in a cave where people can't find you and "offend" you.
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond their best
Review: Crowd: "We want the Messiah"
Brian's Mum: "There's no messiah in here. It's just a mess." [or something similar] When the Python's first got together (in what was to be provisionally called 'Baron Took's Flying Circus', after the scriptwriter Barry Took who died last month), John Cleese insisted that the humour would not be based on puns. Ten years later, he must have been disappointed by bits of the 'Brian' script. By 1978 the Pythons had split totally as a TV formation, but came together for the occasional film. The humour overall wasn't as brilliant, and nothing like as experimental, but it still had its moments. 'Brian' was conceived, like Grail, as a series of sketches, which meant that the Pythons could use the rules of sketch production to their advantage, particularly when it solved budgetary problems. (In what other genre could you find a movie where the main actors get reused in different parts again and again and again?) But many of the sketches don't quite work -- e.g. 'Shekel for an ex-leper' could have been funnier, and 'Crucifixion? Good.' just isn't long enough to qualify as a true Python sketch, despite the brilliance of the concept and Palin's acting. To my mind, the truly magnificent Python sketch in this film, which easily ranks in the Python's Top 10, is John Cleese's 'Stoning' piece, in which he plays a Pharisee mixed up with an awful lot of English public schoolmaster. This same schoolmasterliness also emerges in the almost-as-wonderful 'Romanes Eunt Domus' sketch, but you need to have endured at least a couple of years of Latin teaching to get the best out of that one. I heard Michael Palin talk about the first Brian draft in the fall of 1977 up at Oxford. He was visiting Brasenose, his old college, and he spent the Saturday evening in the JCR telling whoever wanted to listen about 'Ripping Yarns' and this wonderful new plot called 'Brian'. I don't remember much of what he said, but I recall being slightly disappointed by the movie when I eventually saw it two years later. I'm not a great believer, but I think the christian church have some justification in complaining about one element. Overall the Pythons do a pretty good job of steering Brian in a parallel path to Jesus. It's only when Brian gets put against the wall among all the soothsayers and prophets that he comes too close. If Brian isn't supposed to be the christ, then it's unlikely he'd be telling parables about the talents, or a man with two sons, or the lilies in the field etc. (Goodness knows what uproar would have occurred if the Pythons had tried to do the life of a prophet from another religion.) Despite Eric Idle's 'Always look on the bright side' eventually being adopted by many soccer crowds, the movie ends on an anti-climax, sotto voce, rather like Mark's Gospel. The Pythons don't even allow Gilliam to explore the afterlife via animation. The Grail is the funnier of the two movies, but that's because it is entirely silly. Brian has a couple of serious points to make -- that you should work it all out for yourself, and that factions shouldn't devote all their energies to fighting those whose beliefs come closest to their own. Two serious points in one movie is enough for me.
Rating:
Summary: A worthwhile dvd.
Review: The Criterion Collection does it again, with the best possible version of Life of Brian. First of all, the film itself looks and sounds as good as it will get. Many of the original materials on this film were sadly destroyed in a dispute over Handmade films, which is sad, as this also wiped out all the outtakes from the film, at least all the original materials, negatives, soundtracks, and such. Luckily, Terry Jones had a 3/4" videotape of a rough edit of the film, and apparantly some film footage survived too. These materials are used as bonus scenes, and are very enjoyable. Sadly, parts of this videotape seem to have decomposed dramatically, but it is still very interesting watching. The other features are all very enjoyable. The commentaries are interesting and not self-aggrandizing, as so many commentaries end up being. We get a real insight into the creative process. There is a documentary here, filmed on location, and it is interesting viewing, though a bit choppy as far as editing goes. The only part of this dvd that might disappoint is the fact that it doesn't have nearly as much wierd add-ons as the Holy Grail dvd. It's an excellent disc, and well worth owning, but if you are expecting the huge amount of bonus stuff that the Holy Grail has, you will be disappointed. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Still ROFL
Review: I liked this movie when I first saw it. I didn't like it as much as Holy Grail, but this DVD helps me appreciate it more. The two commentaries are the reason that one purchases Criterion DVD's. I am amazed that they got together so many Pythons to create the commentary. Deleted Scenes, wow, with commentary. Amazing. The quality of the transfer of the video and sound is fantastic. If you like Monty Python, buy this right now!
Rating:
Summary: Region 0
Review: A note for potential overseas purchasers, this is a region 0 release and not region 1 as stated.
Rating:
Summary: The Python Troupe's Best Movie
Review: "Life of Brian" is the Monty Python troupe's slap at religious zealotry. We follow along as Brian (Graham Chapman), a Jewish man living at the same time as Jesus, finds himself the center of a religious movement he didn't start and can't control. Brian just wants to join the Judean People's Front (or is it the People's Front of Judea?) so he can help expel the Romans from Palestine. Plus, he'd also like to find a way to make Judith (Sue Jones-Davies) fall in love with him. "Life of Brian" features Chapman in the title role; but, it also includes the other members of Monty Python in various odd and weird roles. You see the boys in various roles like Terry Jones as Brian's mother; John Cleese as Reg, the procrastinating leader of the Jewish revolt; Michael Palin as an out of work ex-leper; and Eric Idle as Stan/Loretta, the Jewish revolutionary who isn't quite sure what sex he wants to be. As good as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" is, "Life of Brian" is the best movie the Python boys ever did. With "Brian" you get the full range of humor from slapstick to satire to good old-fashioned silliness. Not to mention that, with "Brian", an important message is conveyed about bigotry and intolerance. There is a scene in "Life of Brian" that is especially telling. As Brian tries to flee from Roman authorities he finds himself on a pedestal in front of a small crowd awaiting a sermon. Brian gives a distracted sermon on something or other and begins to walk away after the Roman guards have left. As he attempts to leave the small crowd that had been listening to him follows him wanting more. Brian attempts to brush them off; but, they are very persistent. As he moves on the crowd grows larger and larger until he has a seemingly small army behind him. The leaders of the mob variously interpret different actions or words of Brian's as a prophecy from above. The various members of the crowd who have come to accept differing versions of Brian's prophecy begin to argue and bicker and nearly break out into open riot. Now mind you, this is Monty Python so it's all done hilariously and in the space of about ten minutes. Of course, Brian wants nothing to do with these people and all he wants is to get away from them. However, they persistently hound him. In this ten minute sequence you see the entire stretch of the 2,000 year development of Christianity in the western world. It's not even just the development of Christianity that this represents but all religions and social movements. "Life of Brian" is one of those rare movies that maintains a very funny edge while at the same time making an important social statement. However, don't feel guilty if you just like to laugh at the silliness of it all. It is Monty Python after all.
Rating:
Summary: Love those Python Guys!
Review: Even though the Holy Grail seems to be more popular... I think that the Life of Brian is the funniest of the Monty Python movies. A story about the man who grows up next door to Jesus... what a riot. Although I wouldn't recommend it to people who take religion too seriously- it is a fantastic movie!
Rating:
Summary: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Review: This a very funny movie and shows Python's dry wit and physical humor together in one showing.
Much like Dogma, some people will be offended due to the nature of the movie, but if you can take it with a grain of salt, as intended, you can truly enjoy this movie for what it is. A funny movie that makes fun of people.
For an even better Monty Python movie, take a look at The Holy Grail.
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