John Cleese - The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977)

John Cleese is hilarious as the descendant of Sherlock Holmes in this modern detective drama of international power politics and intrigue. Unlike his illustrious grandfather however, this Sherlock Holmes only succeeds in bungling every job he organizes. Also stars Arthur Lowe as the "bionic" grandson of Dr. Watson, Stratford Johns as the Commissioner of Police, and Connie Booth as Mrs. Hudson.

A post-Monty Python train wreck

This film short is so far below the quality of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers that I would expect John Cleese to buying every copy to remove all traces of the evidence. Some silliness but almost never clever, it's hard to imagine anyone liking this film short. I am writing this review for one reason only, lower your expectactions as much as you possibly can and then divide it in half. This is how far this falls below any of the Monty Python work. If you want some good post-Python work, go for Ripping Yarns with Michael Palin, it's clever and funny and even the cheap gags fit into a much level of sophistication. April 28, 2008

A lemon tree my dear Watson!

The material and actors are great, but the soundtrack is a bit soddy, and one occationally may want to wind back a bit to get all the witty lines. September 28, 2007

John Cleese takes a turn at Conan-Doyle

Anything involving a Python rates three stars just off the bat. And John Cleese is a master at the stuffy, but slightly disoriented type he played so well in A Fish Called Wanda, and as the schoolteacher in Life Of Brian. But this movie lacks stronger writing, mainly because of the other "sleuths" played by imitators, which is not funny. The well-known TV and movie detectives, from Charlie Chan to Steve McGarrett, were badly portrayed. A similar un-funny scenario was brought out in Jackie Chan's Fantasy Mission Farce. However, the plot was okay, and the character of Dr. Watson's grandson was well-drawn and played (funnier even than Dudley Moore's version of Watson). It's a must for the Python completist, but not essential for the rest of the world. If I were to release this on DVD, I'd interrupt the scene with the pseudo-sleuths making their cameos (including a Bogie impersonator!) by inserting Graham Chapman's Army Major: "Stop all this! This is silly!", and then speed forward to the final scene involving Moriarty's descendent. That would make this a four-star film. August 6, 2007

John Cleese - The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It

EXCELLENT ITEM!! February 12, 2007

Silly, But Funny!

"The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It" is an outrageous comedy which was first shown on the 18th of September in 1977. It is a spoof staring John Cleese, and it spoofs the American Government, Sherlock Holmes, other famous detectives from literature and television with just a bit of James Bond and the Six Million Dollar Man thrown in, just in case that wasn't enough. Also appearing in the film is Connie Booth, who was Cleese's wife and also appeared with him in "Fawlty Towers" (one of the funniest British comedies of all time). This movie was made between the first season (1975) and the second season (1979), and has a much wilder premise than that series.

In this movie, the grandchildren of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Professor Moriarty are once again at odds, as Moriarty is threatening to end civilization as we know it. Cleese is Arthur Sherlock-Holmes, the much less effective detective grandson. Arthur Lowe plays Dr. William Watson, the most dimwitted one ever, and someone that Homes keeps around just for his bionic bits (nose and leg).

The plot of the movie is outrageous and really doesn't matter when all is said and done. It plays out like "The Bicycle Tour" episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, in that it seems to be a series of skits all linked together by a rather odd story line. There are very funny spoofs of Kissinger and Ford, and ridiculous stereotypes played to the max in a couple of world delegate scenes. Other funny scenes include Holmes and Watson doing a crossword, Watson pulling the knife out of the chief inspector's back and then realizing that it would have been better had he left it in, and the where Holmes finds there are two Watsons.

I admit I have had a soft spot in my heart for this movie ever since I first saw it when I was young. I was worried that it would not be as good now that I am older, but while it is certainly very silly it still has a lot of laughs. I would have gone with four stars on this, but I was disappointed with the video quality and to a lesser extent the sound. It is a short film, running roughly 55 minutes long. There are no extra features on the DVD.
September 5, 2006

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