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Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life | Year: 1983 Classification: Comedy Actors/Actresses: - Eric Idle - Graham Chapman - John Cleese - Michael Palin - Terry Gilliam - Terry Jones Just what I've been waiting for! Few movies can claim to be as funny, irreverent, and ridiculous-at the same time-as "Monty Python's Meaning of Life". This was my first introduction to Monty Python, and the one I consider the most memorable. It is different from "Life of Brian" in that it is essentially a sketch comedy spun into a movie, and doesn't follow a cohesive story line. All the better, since it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. "Meaning of Life" has some of the most outrageous sketches and songs that they have ever done. My personal favorite songs are "Every Sperm is Sacred" , which is a wonderful production number on screen, and "The Galaxy Song", which is perhaps Eric Idle's best writing to date. The sketches are varied, from the gross out (Mr. Cresote, the world's most obese man eating at a restaurant), to the hilarious (The sex education and Grim Reaper sketches). All the Pythons are in top form, and deliver one of the best comedies of all time. Sadly, this was the last Monty Python movie ever made. The new Universal 2 DVD set is similar to the 2 DVD special edition of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". It is packed with extras, some good and some filler. The best extra is the Commentary by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. Obviously, they were not recorded together, but they are well spliced throughout the movie. Gilliam, always the Python artist, is the most technical while Jones is the more humorous, frequently cracking up. The contributions from Eric Idle and John Cleese are minimal, though, but the commentary is informative and enjoyable nonetheless. I finally found out how they did the vomit scenes in the "Mr. Cresote" sketch. The only "Serious" extra is a nice "Making of " featurette. It is mainly composed of both new and archival interviews. Also included is a handful of Deleted Scenes. They are fun for a gander, but you can see why they were cut. The rest of them, from the "Remastering a Masterpiece", "Un Film De John Cleese", and "What Fish Think" are more comedy sketches than anything. They also included some good pieces on the music of the film, as well as the usual promotional stuff. The video quality of this particular DVD release is the best I have ever seen, but this might be because I can only compare it to the VHS edition. It has some grainy moments, but it is a clean print for the most part. The sound quality is iffy at times. It frequently fads out and fades in during certain scenes. This is not so noticeable through television speakers, but people with a stereo hookup will definitely notice it. But these flaws are minor and are unlikely to hamper your enjoyment of this excellent DVD package. This is the Monty Python DVD I have been waiting for, and I can now boast about having all three of them, all special editions. While I like "Life of Brian" slightly better, I still think is the most memorable. Perhaps because I enjoy the more lowbrow humor (and this is as lowbrow as the Pythons ever got). A masterpiece on every level. DISC RECALL UPDATE!!! Possible relief on the way!!!! Universal has fessed up to the bad discs, but are blaming the problem on all of our lousy dvd players, which they insist simply can't handle the extremely high-tech quality of their discs! Uhhh...okay....Anyway, what you need to do if your disc is bad--excuse me, I mean, if you have a dvd player which doesn't live up to their standards--well, here is their official statement: Hey, it's only a couple months away. Thanks to everyone who complained to them about your subpar dvd players. More hilarious twenty years later... ...a Python fan since about twelve, I vividly remember this film coming out when I was thirteen or so. I loved it. It's great that it has not only held up but, like fine wine, it has gotten better with age. Maybe Terry Gilliam's right when he says, in one of the commentaries, that, today, comedy's standard is so low that "our crap seems good no." But it reveals their genius in so many ways. It reveals a confidence they clearly didn't feel--as tho' they'd gotten their sea legs--in the first two efforts. Though "Brian" is their supreme achievement, I have to say that this film must be placed ahead of "Holy Grail"--which given its budget looks distincly like badly shot TV. Hysterically funny, but the budget limits are are even more glaring in a high res medium like DVD. In "Meaning of Life" the entire cast are masters of the medium (something Cleese proved independently in "A Fish Called Wanda") and they use their skills, rising even to lyrical heights (Eric Idle's paen to the universe in "Live Organ Transplants"). And the effects are more hysterical twenty years later. This movie is also remarkable for the rather bitter satire of American pop culture. Heretofore, the Python's had stayed within the classic tradition of British comedy--filled with whimsy and just plain silliness and the class structure. American humor is generally either observational or political--and these days it almost entirely the latter. Even the masters of observation, Goldberg and Carlin, have abandoned it for bitter political diatribes attacking former fans like myself in the basest terms because out political beliefs differ. And it follows, as it should, that the movie's best skits are the ones true to their tradition. George Harrison once called Python the continuation of the Beatles (to the point of chipping in $8M for distribution and advertising for "Brian"!). And, especially in the all too brief Gilliam animations, this is completely accurate. Without being at all derivative, they capture the whimisical sensibility the Beatles had updated and transformed and ran with it. One draw back is the rather low-rent 5.1 remix. I've other films--e.g. the Godfather films--which are older than have far better jobs. So don't expect much. In fact, you might even consider using the 2CH option as the remixing engineer makes little use of the rear speakers. That gentle bitch aside, the deleted scenes are mixed (why on Earth Jones thought anyone would want to see more of Mr. Creosote is beyond me?) and clearly wisely hit the cutting room floor (especially the horrendously unfunny Martin Luth g Victorian times. It falls short of a 5 star rating as it lacks the high degree of > Buy Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life Search with the Priority Search Engine on Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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