Monty Python's Life Of Brian - The Immaculate Edition (1979)

Being JC's neighbor makes Brian's life a bit difficult

Monty Python's most coherent film "Life of Brian" tells the story of Brian who just happens to be born next door to Christ. The parallel follows him his whole life as he is mistaken for the Messiah throughout his life. A very funny parody of the hypocrisy that often exists within religion, politics with a great interlude that pokes fun at "Star Wars", "Life of Brian" faced a lot of controversey before it was even released. The Pythons lost their funding from EMI and they faced the Coalition of Light a Christian group in the UK that attacked the film.

Ironically, the Pythons DON'T lampoon JC as when they went back to the Bible to prepare the screenplay they realized he had terrific things to say. It was the follow thorugh that kind of sucked. Luckily, George Harrison stepped in and took out a second on several of his mansions to get the film made.

The Blu-Ray looks extremely good. Does it look as great as a contemporary film? No but the film was shot on a low budget (around $4 million)but looks more expensive because the Pythons took advantage of the standing sets for other biblical epics. Although Terry Jones' direction is more pedestrian looking than Terry Gilliam (who does art direction, animation and appears in multiple roles here)he handles the characters and comedy extremely well.

We get a 30 minute documentary on the making of the film with current interviews from the surviving Pythons (Graham Chapman who played Brian died of cancer over a decade ago), the current leader of th Coalition of Lights, critics and those associated with the production. It's a terrific documentary looking at the film's reception and even has clips from Tom Snyder's show where they appeared defending their work and a UK show where they did a showdown with a pair of religious leaders who attacked the film.

There will always be those who don't "get" the film either because it's not to their taste or because they have religious objections (although I've found that usually those that do object for the second reason haven't seen the film or miss the fact that it is a satire of the politics and distortion of religious beliefs and not because it satires Christ--it doesn't--although it does satirize how we can often distort what we hear..as in the line "blessed are the cheesemakers" heard by one person because they are standing too far away from Christ when he gives his sermon on the mount to hear him and being razzed). If that's the case, this film truly wasn't made for them.

We also get deleted scenes, an audio read through of the script and other goodies including commentary tracks. May 26, 2008

Mony Python at its best.

If you've ever seen a Monty Python and like then but haven't seen Life of Brian you will love this as it is one of their best.

If you're not a Monty Python I encourage you to go pick up Life of Brian as well as Monty Python and the Holy Grail immediately if not sooner.

If you don't like Monty Python there is a small chance you will like this, but really... why watch one more movie to find out how much you lack a sense of humor. ;)

The reshot Blu-Ray edition is great. Everything is so clean and crisp without destroying the gritty comedy of the show. April 28, 2008

Amazing

I got the Immaculate Edition last week and I was amazed at the quality of it. The film is only a year younger than me but it looks so much better! :) Seriously, the transfer is great, especially considering the really disappointing first DVD release from 2001 (which luckily the Criterion Edition later corrected). The included documentary about making the film is fun to watch (this is one "Making of" that is more fun than some feature films). I just hope the other Python movies get the same treatment. I for one can't wait to have the complete set on Blu-Ray. Hail Brian! April 20, 2008

Life keeps gettin better

The life of Brian - blu-ray, is the clearest and near ost complete version of the film I've ever seen. I'm not going to review LOB here, since it is a true classic. I will, however, point outy that DVD has included the reading of the script by the cast they performed back in 1977; his alone is worth the price of the dvd. Also included are the radio ads that ran on the BBC back in the day - wonderful as well. The movie, itself is perfectly clear - obviously cleaned up and remastered for this effort. I've noticed dtails (and sounds) I hadn't in other reditions.
Buy this bu-ray by all means. April 18, 2008

Flawless image quality ...

For those of you who don't dig, or simply haven't been exposed to, the Monty Python crew's brand of offbeat british humor, "The Life of Brian" may just win you over. This is by far this ensemble's greatest film, easily surpassing "The Holy Grail" in terms of comedic punch and social relevance.

This Blu-ray edition is, hands down, the best presentation of this film to date. Sony continues it's great track record of releasing pristine transfers of catalog titles. With the exception of some noisy video in a few dark scenes, particularly the scene where Brian is confronted by a centurion versed in the intricacies of Latin grammar, this film looks flawless. It's always amazing to me how much detail can be squeezed out of standard def quality film, especially in Brian's case since the movie is nearly 20 years old. Color reproduction is great, black levels and contrast are deep and stable respectively, and fine detail is unbelievable. In short, this Blu-ray disc is perfect, and for only 20 bucks at Amazon, you really can't beat the price.

This disc comes packed with special features including; two commentary tracks, deleted scenes, a "behind the scenes" type look at Brian, and a host of subtitle options (22 in total if you can believe it). For fans of the film, this is simply a must-have.

"The Life of Brian" was controversial upon its release because it allegedly mocked Christian doctrine. As a result it has never quite enjoyed the mainstream success of other Python flicks. For me this is by far the Python's most solid film, entertaining and thought provoking, Brian accomplishes everything a great film should. Only Kevin Smith's "Dogma" comes close to matching it in terms of tackling difficult issues, but where "Dogma" falls short of greatness due to Smith's sometimes heavy-handed dialogue, Brian truly shines. If you haven't seen it yet for whatever reason, but particularly if you feel that it may insult your faith, please check it out. This movie isn't in any way an indictment of Christianity, but instead a thoughtful and hilarious examination of dogma and the zealots who are so quick to cast judgment on their fellow man. Simply put, this film is perfect, and this is the definitive version of an already superb film. April 16, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...